Ben Goldman

NRDC’s Deron Lovaas Sees Congress’s Reputation at Stake Over Transpo Bill Award-Winning Journalist Puts Safe Routes to School on National Stage (LAB) Gas Tax Must Rise to Keep Pace With Fuel Efficiency Standards for U.S. Cars (Daily Tech) Millions in Gas Tax Revenue Sent to Wrong Jurisdictions in Virginia (Examiner) Lack of Transit Is Bad … Continued

In Chicago, Major Transit Overhaul Hinges on Transpo Bill Negotiations (Tribune) LaHood Sees Progress Made in VA Metro Talks, Might Be Only One (Hill) Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Dropped Slightly in April (Transpo Nation) But Overall Efficiency Increases Threaten Transpo Funding (Trans. Issues Daily) Bike Traffic on Par With Car Traffic on U.S. Highway 9W in … Continued

Last night, the names of the House delegates to the transportation bill conference committee were released. The 33 members -- 20 Republicans, 13 Democrats -- will join the 14 Senators already named to the panel, and will be tasked with hammering out a compromise before transportation policy expires on June 30.

Today, Walk Score -- developer of the popular method for evaluating neighborhood walkability (and filling out NCAA tournament brackets) -- announced its first ranking of cities by Transit Score, a measure of the "usefulness" of a city's transit system. On a 100-point scale, New York and San Francisco took the top two spots with scores of 81 and 80 respectively, while Boston (74), Washington D.C. (69), and Philadelphia (68) round out the top five (see the full rankings).

Conference Committee Roster Is Set as House Nominates Conferees (Hill) As Discussions Get Underway, T4America Looks at What the House Wants Dem Candidate for Indiana Governor Wants to Scrap Gas Tax (Journal Gazette) Small-Town Georgia Mayor Sings About Urban Planning (Atlantic Cities) New Jersey Is Having Trouble Covering Transpo Borrowing Costs (Bloomberg) From the People Who … Continued

The Senate unveiled its list of conference committee delegates yesterday to a widespread lack of surprise.

In Transpo Bill Negotiations, Harry Reid Draws the Line on Keystone Pipeline (Hill) Transportation Issues Daily Says That Kills the Odds of a Transpo Bill in 2012 …But Divisions Within House GOP Are Holding Things Up as Well (Reuters) 100 Years Ago, Jaywalking Didn’t Exist But ‘Technical Homicide’ Did (Atlantic Cities) Exceptions to Maryland’s Three-Foot … Continued

There's more than one way to approach transportation reform. One is to believe that an ideal transportation policy promotes the use of modes that are environmentally sustainable and which foster livable cities, while those that perpetuate overdependence on automobiles do neither.

The Senate has designated the 14 members who will represent the upper chamber on the transportation bill conference committee. The House will designate its own conferees soon, and the entire group will be tasked with reconciling the differences between the Senate's two-year bill and the 90-day "dirty" extension passed by the House last week.

Wheels Begin Turning on Transportation Bill (Hill) If We Do Pass a Transpo Bill, Does That Mean the System Works? (National Journal) Boehner Sees 1-in-3 Odds GOP Loses Control of House in 2012 (WaPo) Development Policies That Encourage Road-Building Don’t Solve Anything (GGW) Study Shows Public Supports Transpo Spending, But Is Silent About Revenue (WaPo) … Continued