The Upside of GOP ‘Hypocrisy’ on Transportation Stimulus Grants
To call Rep. Pete Sessions (TX), chairman of the House Republican campaign committee, a critic of the Obama administration's stimulus law would be putting it mildly. Sessions marked the one-year anniversary of the law's passage last week by labeling the stimulus a "massive spending binge" that only "allegedly" created jobs in his district.
February 22, 2010
Today’s Headlines
Washington D.C.’s Metrorail: The nation’s second-most popular subway, driven into disarray by underfunding and poor management (WashPost) New York’s state Senate president urges fellow leaders to get on the high-speed rail bandwagon (Times-Union) A second hole appears in Tulsa’s I-44 bridge, rated “structurally deficient” by the feds (T. World) The latest trend in electric cars: … Continued
February 22, 2010
Connecticut Lawmakers Livid at the State’s Transport Stimulus Shutout
Connecticut was not alone in its failure to win any funding from the Obama administration's competition for $1.5 billion in TIGER stimulus grants, but its Democratic members of Congress are not nursing their wounds quietly.
February 19, 2010
New Analysis: Major Cities Still Shortchanged by Transportation Stimulus
The Obama administration's awarding of $1.5 billion in competitive transportation stimulus grants on Wednesday sparked elation in cities such as Kansas City and New Orleans. But those celebrations were more than just anecdotal evidence of the so-called TIGER program's urban impact, according to a new analysis from the Brookings Institution's Rob Puentes.
February 19, 2010
Today’s Headlines
New poll finds 83 percent of respondents supporting more federal funding for high-speed rail and transit (HNTB Press via @beyondDC) Investor Carl Icahn is forming a consortium to go after a share of the high-speed rail pie (AP) Federal transportation safety regulators call for national crash-resistance standards for transit cars (Bloomberg) How blue is your … Continued
February 19, 2010
17 Democrats Urge Reid: Don’t Forget Infrastructure in Your Jobs Push
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to call up a job creation bill on Monday that includes a stopgap rescue of the highway trust fund but none of the new infrastructure spending okayed by the House. Even that pared-down measure faces a GOP filibuster threat, but many Democrats remain undaunted in their push for more federal aid.
February 18, 2010
A Day After Their TIGER Win, Freight Railroads Carve Out More Turf
The freight rail industry yesterday claimed the top three awards in the Obama administration's competition for $1.5 billion in TIGER stimulus grants, with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood singling out train shippers for an online shout-out:
February 18, 2010
Rail Expert Reutter: White House Misfired on High-Speed Rail Stimulus
Mark Reutter, author of the industrial tome Making Steel and a veteran editor of Railroad History, can safely be called an expert on the train industry. And in a new memo for the Progressive Policy Institute, he is issuing a warning to the Obama administration on its high-profile push for high-speed rail.
February 18, 2010
Today’s Headlines
More local takes on the White House’s TIGER transportation grant program (Sun-Times, Oregonian, KC Star, WaPo, Tribune, Morn News, Star-Trib) How D.C. is dealing with the road repair demands caused by its recent Snowpocalypse (WaPo) Is transit scary for women? (Grist) Houston isn’t about to let San Francisco command the spotlight as the nation’s “electric … Continued
February 18, 2010
Road and Transit Groups Join Boxer to Push for Senate Jobs Bill
Representatives from Washington's road and transit lobbies joined Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today to call for swift passage of job-creation legislation that is slated for a vote in the upper chamber of Congress on Monday.
February 17, 2010