Today’s Headlines
Regional partnerships are helping to maximize the impact of federal stimulus dollars (TNR) Arizona craziness: Traffic safety officials allege man is evading 37 photo-enforced speeding tickets by wearing a monkey mask (AZ Republic) Is suburbia the real by-product of government regulation? (Yglesias, Ryan Avent) National Transportation Safety Board bans staff from using cell phones behind … Continued
September 9, 2009
How Many Trips Are ‘Captured’ By More Diverse Urban Land Use?
Current methods of predicting the traffic-calming effects of mixed-use development are "woefully lacking" and risk underestimating the transportation benefits of more compact, diverse land use, according to a new report from the Transportation Research Board (TRB).
September 8, 2009
D-Day Approaches for Detroit Transit Riders
As the recession squeezes the pocketbooks of the nation's cities, Detroit has become an unfortunate symbol of urban decline -- so much so that Time Warner recently bought a house there for reporters to use while covering the locals' struggle for financial survival.
September 8, 2009
Compromise or Concession: Congress Faces Tough Transport Choices
Health care and transportation funding are very different items on Congress' to-do list, but the Washington Post's assessment of the former issue fits the latter as well: Lawmakers return today from a month-long recess to find a political landscape that has barely shifted from the impasse of late July.
September 8, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Bus factory made famous by Obama’s stimulus is now laying off workers (NYT) Illinois works both sides of the high-speed rail equation (Trib) LaHood promises to deliver federal transit aid to help Chicago win the 2016 Olympics (WLS-TV) U.S. DOT strengthens drug-testing rules for commercial license holders (Morning News)
September 8, 2009
Happy Labor Day Weekend
President Obama faces some difficult transportation and environmental choices this month: Should he insist on an 18-month delay for a new infrastructure bill or strike a compromise with House transport committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN)? Should he push the Senate forward on a climate bill before year's end or tell the EPA to step in?
September 4, 2009
GOP Guv Hopeful Hit Motorcyclist With His BMW But Wasn’t Ticketed
New Jersey GOP gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie, who holds a solid lead over incumbent Jon Corzine (D) despite a less-than-stellar political climate for his part, today was forced to explain away his poor driving record for the second time in two weeks.
September 4, 2009
LaHood on Transport: ‘We Don’t Want to Pit One Mode … Against Another’
While Vice President Biden was giving a candid take on cities' difficulties taking advantage of the economic stimulus, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was giving a recovery speech of his own in Chicago -- where he sent a message of transport reform to an audience that might not have expected it.
September 4, 2009
Today’s Headlines
LaHood: Gas tax hike and VMT tax are still on the table … but only once the economy improves (Dow Jones) D.C. Metro contends with a tragic bus accident (WaPo) U.S. DOT has approved just 20 percent of “clunkers” payments — thanks, Citigroup! (Det News) Federal highway chief celebrates sprawl-inducing MN road project (Fast Lane) … Continued
September 4, 2009
Mmmm, This ‘Pork’ Sounds Tasty: Senators Serve Up Transit Aid
One of Washington's most enduring truisms is that "pork" is in the eye of the beholder. Self-styled anti-earmark crusaders are fond of bashing clean transportation projects as improper uses of taxpayer money, but most of them recognize privately that rail, bus, and bike investments are a good thing.
September 3, 2009