Ben Fried

Obama Summons Congressional Leaders to Avert Government Shutdown (WSJ) Boehner Rejects White House Offer of $33 Billion in Spending Cuts (The Hill) What to Look for in Paul Ryan’s Budget (CAP) Minnesota Senate Passes Bill to Slash Twin Cities Transit Budget (Star-Trib) CT Gov Malloy Will “Aggressively Pursue” Hartford-New Britain Busway (MTR, W. Hartford News) … Continued

Senator Chuck Schumer broke his long public silence on the redesigned Prospect Park West in dramatic fashion this morning, leading members of Congress on a two-wheeled tour of the physically separated bike lane that runs past his Brooklyn home. Schumer used the occasion to announce that he'll be introducing new legislation to promote investment in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

I promise this will be quick, and probably even fun.

After yesterday's electoral drubbing, the Obama administration will have to deal with a starkly different Congress when they make their expected push for a multi-year transportation bill early next year. We know that some influential House Republicans, like John Mica, don't necessarily believe that bigger highways will solve America's transportation problems. And we know that some pro-transit voices in Washington originate from the right. But no one expects the GOP ascendancy to make transportation reform any easier.

Well, we've now entered a phase of the ARC drama where I think it's fair to wonder whether Chris Christie may simply be adept at brinkmanship. After having a sit-down with Ray LaHood in Trenton today, Christie agreed to reconsider his decision to kill the trans-Hudson rail tunnel project. Sprawl vs. compact development, traffic vs. trains, economic stagnation vs. an engine for growth -- it all hangs in the balance.

You may have noticed a new byline popping up on Streetsblog lately, and it's time to finally make it official: We're pleased to announce the arrival of Tanya Snyder as our new reporter tracking the national transportation policy beat.

This spring, the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology made a big policy splash when they released the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index. CNT's work -- including a nifty mapping tool -- made it easy to see that "affordable" housing wasn't so affordable when it's located in car-dependent areas that come saddled with high but underappreciated transportation costs.

The Colorado governor's race was always going to be one for sustainable transportation advocates to keep an eye on. The likely Democratic nominee, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, has built a solid resume of support for transit and bicycling. But recent events suggest the green transportation/livable streets stakes may be waaaaay higher than expected.

The Senate Banking Committee voted 12-10 yesterday in favor of the Livable Communities Act, legislation that would bolster the Obama administration's initiatives to link together transportation, housing, economic development, and environmental policy.

Earlier this week, Ken Archer at Greater Greater Washington posted this revealing graphic showing the relationship between the amount of driving we do in the United States and the death toll on our roads. Even as conventional traffic safety techniques have made driving less deadly, the rise in miles driven knocked back those improvements. It wasn't until our collective mileage flattened out that safety gains could be fully realized. Thousands of lives were saved when the growth in driving came to a halt.