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Audit Finds U.S. DOT’s Transit Record-Keeping ‘Unreliable,’ ‘Inaccurate’
The disjointed state of "New Starts," the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) program to fund new rail and bus lines, is well-known
on the Hill -- in fact, House transportation committee chairman Jim
Oberstar (D-MN) recently quipped that it ought to be renamed "small
starts, low starts, and no starts."
August 6, 2009
Portland’s Transport Research Guru Headed to Obama Administration
The U.S. DOT is expected to announce today that it has tapped Robert Bertini,
a Portland State University professor who headed Oregon's state-wide
transport research effort, as the No. 2 at the Research and Innovative
Technology Administration -- the government's home for stats on all
things transportation.
August 5, 2009
How — and When — Can D.C. Help Local Transport Reform Happen?
In a new op-ed
for Citiwire, former Indianapolis mayor and GOP member of Congress Bill
Hudnut suggests six ways that Washington can train the nation's
350-plus metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) into tools for
smart and environmentally sound transportation policymaking.
August 3, 2009
The Capitol’s 10 Transportation Players to Know
Even occasional observers of the national transportation scene can
probably recognize House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar
(D-MN) or Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) --
but what about the advisers who act as their eyes and ears in drafting
policy?
July 27, 2009
Dems. in Senate Pushing Transit Into Climate Change
Addressing a climate change forum this morning, two Democrats on the
Senate environment committee said they are pushing for transit and
other green modes of transport to get 10 percent of the revenue generated by the upcoming Senate bill regulating carbon emissions.
July 22, 2009
Transit Outsourcing Booms — But Are There Safety Trade-offs?
The Wall Street Journal reports
today on the growing number of cities around the country that are in
talks to outsource local transit systems to cope with the budgetary
pressures of the recession.
July 13, 2009
Republicans Deem Transpo Stimulus — 6% of Total Spending — a ‘Failure’
Republicans on the House transportation panel held a press
conference today to deem the economic stimulus law a failure, citing
low infrastructure spending in the nation's highest-unemployment states.
July 10, 2009
Urban Traffic Report Sparks Clever Headlines, But Little Transit Talk
The latest edition of the Texas Transportation Institute's influential urban mobility report
was released today, prompting a flurry of mainstream media coverage
focused largely on a faux-ironic theme that would do Alanis Morrissette
proud -- the bad economy is giving us less traffic!
July 8, 2009
Lawmakers Aim to Bring ‘Sustainable Communities’ From Talk to Action
When three agencies in President Obama's Cabinet -- DOT, Housing and
Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency -- banded together to promote "sustainable communities," the initiative sounded promising but somewhat lacking in concrete ideas.
July 8, 2009
Getting the Message
Two things were clear at this morning's hearing
of the Senate Banking Committee concerning green investments in public
transportation. First, transportation experts and leading legislators
are very much in agreement on how transportation spending should
change. And second, Randal O'Toole's days as anything other than an
anachronism are numbered.
July 7, 2009