Today’s Headlines
Take that, George Will! LaHood hits Portland today to celebrate new streetcar production (Daily Journal of Commerce) Midwestern high-speed rail backers propose $11.5 billion plan for 220-mph service (AP, Transport Politic) Conservative columnist Michael Gerson: GOP climate ‘traitors’ did the admirable thing by supporting last week’s bill (Star-Trib) D.C. Metro trains to run manually for … Continued
July 1, 2009
The GOP Climate ‘Traitors’ Have Something Else in Common …
Conservatives are continuing to pull the Republican party towards self-immolation today, vowing to defeat the eight House GOPers who backed last week's climate change bill unless they change their votes.
June 30, 2009
EPA Okays Stronger Auto Emissions Standards Now in CA, 13 Other States
The Environmental Protection Agency today granted California's request for a waiver allowing greater limits on auto tailpipe emissions, a move that effectively speeds up the phasing-in of the Obama administration's fuel-efficiency standards in as many as 13 other states.
June 30, 2009
Lawmakers Investigating the Resignation of Amtrak’s In-House Watchdog
The House oversight committee has launched an official inquiry into the resignation of Amtrak's veteran inspector general (IG) earlier this month -- on the same day that an outside law firm reported on alleged interference with his work by management at the rail corporation.
June 30, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Oberstar: Midwest is ahead of California in high-speed rail planning (MinnPost) D.C. Metro chief rejects proposal to phase out rail cars that are subject to tax-shelter leases; instead, the cars will be sandwiched between newer models (WJLA) Biden heads to Colorado today to tout a new bike path that the state DOT is building with … Continued
June 30, 2009
How Did the Senate’s 2008 Climate Bill Treat Transportation?
As I hunted for the language in the House climate change bill that set aside emissions allowances for transportation projects, I wondered how the Senate treated the issue in its climate bill last year.
June 29, 2009
Report: States Used $6.6B in Stimulus Cash on New Roads, Not Repair
Today is the deadline for state DOTs to allocate at least half of the transportation money they received under the economic stimulus law, and Smart Growth America marked the occasion with a study of what types of projects are getting that cash.
June 29, 2009
House Climate Bill on Green Transpo: The Details
Late Update: An earlier version of this post used the committee-approved version of
the climate bill rather than the final, House-passed version. The climate bill's identifying number was changed at the last minute, from the original H.R. 2454 to H.R. 2998, which can be downloaded at the fourth link from the top on the House Rules Committee's website. Streetsblog Capitol Hill regrets the error.
June 29, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Cash-poor cities forced to sell off naming rights to transit lines and stations (Ad Age) Will House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar’s (D-MN) long journey come to naught this year? A profile to tell the story (CQ) Road-lobby chief calls for Washington to hike the federal gas tax (Baltimore Sun) Sen. Barbara Boxer … Continued
June 29, 2009
How Much Operating Aid is Your Local Transit Agency Getting?
President Obama has signed into law a $106 billion war funding bill that includes a provision allowing local transit agencies to spend 10 percent of their stimulus money on operating costs.
June 26, 2009