Tanya Snyder

WaPo‘s Dr. Gridlock Urges Caution on Plan to Dismantle DC’s DOT Detroit Is Raising Parking Ticket Fines for the Wrong Reasons (Freep) The Case Against Funding Roads With Sales Taxes (Columbia Daily Tribune) Newsday Editorializes About the Need for Congress to Approve New Revenue for Transpo New VA Governor McAuliffe Re-Thinking McDonnell’s Transpo Projects (Times Dispatch) … Continued

If sea levels rise just one foot in the Washington, DC, area, nearly 1,700 homes could be lost. Is the region’s transportation planning agency doing enough to stop that from happening? Several environmental and smart-growth organizations in the region are saying no. Seventeen groups have signed on to a letter, being delivered today, urging the agency to take action. The comment period on the agency's latest long-range transportation plan closes tomorrow.

Last year, while the House flailed in partisan misery, the Senate passed a transportation bill 74 to 22. When the bill was signed into law, it was considered one of the few real achievements of a deeply divided Congress. Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer got tremendous credit for enacting legislation three years in the making. And yet, it left a lot of good provisions on the cutting-room floor. While MAP-21 included some modest reforms, lawmakers missed an opportunity to prioritize transit, biking, and walking -- modes that are gaining popularity and help achieve national goals like congestion mitigation and air quality improvement.

Quick quiz: What city is the world leader in highway teardowns? San Francisco? Portland? Madrid?

Ray LaHood Pessimistic on Transpo Bill Prospects (Fleet Owner) Transit Agencies Won’t Get Blindsided By GOP Attacks This Time Around (Roll Call) Disagreement Over Bikes Brings Missouri Transpo Bill Debate to a Halt (WDG, MoBikeFed) Philly Transit Contract Talks Apparently at an Impasse (CBS Philly) Ohio Becoming Friendlier to Bikes (WKBN) DC Cyclists Get a … Continued

“Ten lanes is not an option. A doubling of the current width of I-70 through Denver is not acceptable.”

T&I Top Dem Rahall, Targeted by Koch Bros., Would’ve Retired Without More Campaign Funds (The Hill) Despite Gabe Klein’s Departure, Chicago Building 20 Miles of Bike Lanes This Summer (Tribune) Next Few Months Critical to California HSR Future (Sac Bee) Caltrain Turns to Reddit to Communicate with Riders About Safety Issues (Examiner) North Carolina Debates … Continued

Just four months ago, the country was hailing a bipartisan budget deal negotiated by Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray and her House counterpart, Paul Ryan. It was a respite from the deeply partisan posturing over spending that has gridlocked Washington for years. Even better, it was a two-year budget resolution, meaning it seemed the next fight would be a long way off.

On Tuesday, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean announced that he might do away with dedicated transit lanes on two stretches of the Amp, the proposed seven-mile bus rapid transit line that could set an important precedent for the car-centric city. Dean is the main political backer of the project, so the fact that he's buckling says something about the mounting pressure to water down or kill the Amp. And that pressure isn't going to let up any time soon, because Dean and other supporters of effective transit in Nashville are up against opponents with very deep pockets.

Jeff and I had a great time this week, getting all outraged at the short-sighted move by the Tennessee Senate to ban dedicated lanes for transit, and high and mighty about cities that devote too much space to surface parking at the expense of just about everything else. And then we treat ourselves to a fun conversation about the origin of the American playground -- and whether the entire city should be the playground.