Stimulus Jobs From Transit vs. Roads: A Tale of Two States
Smart Growth America, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group today reported that transit stimulus spending created nearly twice as many jobs per dollar as highway stimulus projects -- a conclusion that Streetsblog Capitol Hill first previewed a few weeks ago.
January 5, 2010
Environmental Reviews: Helpful (and Hurtful) to Many Ideologies
Writing at the Heritage Foundation's blog, Nick Loris says that the White House's pending decision on whether to consider climate change in federal environmental reviews amounts to "more green tape."
January 5, 2010
Grassley Looking Into Citibank’s Million-Dollar ‘Clunkers’ Deal
Chuck Grassley (IA), the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, today asked the U.S. DOT to answer a question Streetsblog Capitol Hill first wondered about months ago: How did Citibank, the beleaguered recipient of a $45 billion government bailout, snag a contract to administer the Obama administration's "cash for clunkers" program?
January 5, 2010
Transit Fare Inflation Hitting Health Insurance-Like Levels?
That's the implication buried in a roundup of dismal news from urban transit agencies that ran in Saturday's Wall Street Journal. After noting the overall ridership decreases tallied by APTA and the specter of punitive service cuts in many cities, the newspaper noted:
January 5, 2010
Today’s Headlines
Republicans still hammering away at the House jobs bill as it edges toward a stop in the Senate (AP) Add Nebraska to the list of states considering a gas-tax increase to solve the frustrating puzzle of transportation finance (NP Telegraph) GOP senators may not be able to stop the Obama administration from requiring that climate … Continued
January 5, 2010
Economic Downturn Hits Transit Ridership — But Not in These Cities
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) got the mainstream media's attention during the holiday season after reporting that the dismal economy had helped push transit ridership down by 3.8 percent during the first three-quarters of 2009, when compared with the previous year.
January 4, 2010
A Step Towards Pricing of Pollution? 11 States Back Low-Carbon Fuel Rules
While many in Washington spent their holiday breaks wondering if Senate Democratic opposition would deal a major blow to progress on a climate change bill, 11 northeastern governors were agreeing on a deal that suggests otherwise.
January 4, 2010
Today’s Headlines
Bills to limit distracted driving poised for momentum in 2010 (NYT) A preview of what the year holds for transportation news (Daily Herald) An editorial on the toll that transit cuts take in Baton Rouge (Advocate) Minnesota’s Central Corridor transit extension at the top of state’s agenda this year (Star Trib) Detroit is closer than … Continued
January 4, 2010
The 2009 Capitol Hill Streetsies: Meet the Winners!
It's been a momentous, dramatic year for transportation policy in Washington -- which made choosing the winners of this year's Streetsies all the more difficult. But after tallying up readers' votes and breaking a couple of ties, we're ready to single out the brightest (and dimmest) of 2009. Congratulations to all the winners, and Happy New Year to all! We'll see you back here bright and early on Monday.
December 31, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Obama administration sends $3.5 billion in new taxpayer money to the mortgage arm of auto lender GMAC, making the federal government its majority shareholder (WaPo) The landscape of interest groups lobbying on climate change is getting big — crazy big (NYT Blogs) Build America Bonds are spurring a big uptick in municipal bond sales for … Continued
December 31, 2009