Today’s Headlines
The Arlington neighborhood in suburban D.C. is an unabashed success story — might have something to do with its proximity to transit and dense, mixed-use development (NYT) Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) likes the sound of a second stimulus dedicated entirely to infrastructure, regardless of what some colleagues might think (Politico) Before Obama was president, he … Continued
October 8, 2009
SF, NYC, and DC Sign Deals to Upgrade Transit Technology
IBM's Smarter Planet project, which uses technology (and sometimes plain old polling) in an effort to revamp urban infrastructure, today signed deals with transit agencies in San Francisco, New York City, and Washington D.C. to "smartly" manage the ins and outs of keeping trains and buses running.
October 7, 2009
Obama’s Engaged With Transit More in 9 Months than Bush Did in 8 Years
The Obama administration has brought both good news and bad news to transit riders. But here's a positive sign you haven't heard before, straight from Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff: In the nine months of the new presidency, the FTA has fielded more requests for information "directly from the White House" than in the entire eight years of the Bush administration.
October 7, 2009
Team Obama Adviser: Here’s How to Make Sustainability Mainstream
Shelley Poticha, head of the Obama administration's inter-agency sustainable communities push, is so new to the job that the legislation creating her office has yet to be officially approved by Congress -- but she has already hit upon two goals aimed at remaking the way Americans, and their government, view local development.
October 7, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Former Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, appointed by George W. Bush, says a vehicle miles traveled tax ultimately must replace the gas tax (Cascadia Prospectus) Uh-oh: A pivotal aide to Boxer’s Senate environment committee jumps ship right as her climate change bill comes out (ClimateWire) Gas prices to keep dipping towards the $2 per gallon mark, … Continued
October 7, 2009
$8B for High-Speed Rail, $1.5B in Transport Stimulus Coming This Winter
It's shaping up to be anything but a quiet winter for the U.S. DOT, with $9.5 billion in grants for clean transportation set for release to the winners of two highly competitive contests for federal aid.
October 6, 2009
White House Urban Affairs Chief: Promising Words But Little Hint of a Plan
Adolfo Carrion Jr., director of the White House's new Office of Urban Affairs, today vowed to begin reconnecting Washington with the needs of the nation's cities -- even as he offered few tangible plans for breaking through the morass of the federal bureaucracy and effecting change in the near term.
October 6, 2009
Is a Bigger Transportation Bill — This Year — Back on the Table?
That's the suggestion that an anonymous "Senate aide" made to Bloomberg News this morning, recounting a possible White House change of heart as mounting job losses stoke new debate over a second stimulus bill:
October 6, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Big business interests roll out new campaigns in favor of congressional action on climate change (Politico) LaHood’s message to Florida: Get serious about funding commuter rail, or forget about having a slice of the Obama administration’s high-speed rail pie (Sentinel) Federal Transit Administration is hard at work on a new proposal that would set minimum … Continued
October 6, 2009
LaHood’s Twelve-Word Definition of ‘Livability’
The White House's effort to promote sustainable communities has prompted serious (and inadvertently humorous) hand-wringing from conservative pundits who fear the concept of livability will translate into governmental edicts on lifestyle choices. What's the best way to counter such tactics?
October 5, 2009