Who Lost Out in the Bid for a Piece of TIGER Transportation Stimulus?
With more than $56 billion in applications submitted for just $1.5 billion in available funding, the Obama administration's TIGER grants -- short for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery -- was one of the stimulus law's most hotly contested programs. So it's no surprise that the process resulted in its share of losers as well as winners.
February 17, 2010
Freight Rail, Streetcars Are Tops in Stimulus’ TIGER Chase
The Obama administration today announced the winners of $1.5 billion stimulus in highly competitive stimulus grants under the program known as Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER. Southeastern and midwestern freight rail projects were the day's biggest winners, with urban streetcar projects also making a big splash.
February 17, 2010
Today’s Headlines
LaHood en route to Kansas City and Tucson this week — a sign that streetcars are poised to join Moynihan Station in snagging big TIGER money? (WH Press) Japanese bullet-train magnate says he could build a Florida factory to help ensure a piece of the state’s ample high-speed rail pie (WSJ) Transit stimulus is still … Continued
February 17, 2010
Study: Even in Car-Centric Atlanta, Transport Reform is Health Reform
The connection between transportation reform -- an emphasis on land use that makes biking and walking as viable as auto travel for routine trips -- and health reform is one that's not often made, despite the best efforts of the Obama administration.
February 16, 2010
NYC’s Moynihan Station is the First Big TIGER Stimulus Winner
New York City's Moynihan Station project has snagged $83 million in grant money from the stimulus law's Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced today.
February 16, 2010
What’s Wrong With America’s Ambivalence About Crumbling Infrastructure?
In today's New York Times, Bob Herbert celebrates the cause of infrastructure maintenance -- a less exciting proposition for politicians than cutting the ribbon at new transportation projects, but in many ways more vital to economic growth.
February 16, 2010
Today’s Headlines
LaHood affirms the recent assertion by House Speaker Pelosi: Congress is unlikely to raise the gas tax to pay for transportation legislation (Pantagraph) Local lawmakers are hunting for strategies to fund a proposed commuter rail link between the Poconos and NYC in the absence of a new long-term federal transport bill (P. Record) San Francisco … Continued
February 16, 2010
Today’s Headlines
(ed. note. Streetsblog Capitol Hill will not publish today, in observance of the Presidents' Day holiday. See you back here tomorrow.)
February 15, 2010
GM and Chrysler Get 6,666% Return on 2009 Lobbying Investment
Washington lobbyists' 2009 spending levels became final today, and the Detroit Free Press was the first to tally auto industry data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
February 12, 2010
White House: Transit Inflation Outstripping Private Transportation
The White House's annual economic report, in addition to its endorsement of inter-city rail and transit spending, also sheds more light on transit inflation, which is often reported anecdotally in the many cities struggling with fare hikes but rarely put in statistical terms by economists.
February 12, 2010