Tanya Snyder

It has a nice ring to it: using oil and gas revenue to shift transportation off oil and gas dependence. President Obama announced a plan to do just that on Friday -- but the details of his plan are disappointing if you want to see the conversation on clean transportation go beyond cars.

Obama: Let’s Use $2B in Oil and Gas Revenues to Get the Country Off Oil and Gas (NYT) Senate Transpo Bill Fully Funds MAP-21 Except For One Key Part (Transpo Issues Daily) Economist Special Report: Deteriorating U.S. Infrastructure Catalyzes Fresh Thinking Gov. Scott Walker Is Considering a White House Bid (WaPo) Ten Reasons to Be … Continued

So, right now you're thinking, "God save me, not another post about the budget!"

If you've been on a U.S. street anytime in the past few years, it comes as no surprise to hear that way too many Americans are yammering away on their cell phones -- or worse, OMG'ing and LOL'ing with their friends on text and email -- while driving. A new report from the CDC -- from their "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" -- shows just how bad the American habit is.

“In 2014, federal investment in surface transportation -- which is currently about $50 billion per year -- will drop to $6 billion or $7 billion. In one year.”

Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal has gotten a conversation going about a tax code rewrite. Rep. Dave Camp, head of the Ways and Means Committee, recently put out a small business proposal that included some tax reform, and he’s pledged to pursue more reforms this year. His committee has already set up 11 bipartisan working groups to work on it. Sen. Max Baucus, chair of the Finance Committee, has expressed a similar readiness to tackle the issue.

Now that the surface transportation bill fight is over -- at least for the moment -- transportation reformers are eying the expiration date of another key piece of legislation later this year. The reauthorization of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) could be a chance to make some needed changes to jump-start progress in the passenger rail system. Or it could be the next partisan battleground, making it a process as unnavigable as the lead-up to the passage of MAP-21.

No New Transpo Secretary Yet, But the Buzz Is Still All About Deborah Hersman (WaPo) Buy America Fight Returns to Congress (National Journal) Behind the Veil at U.S. DOT: A Tour for Bike Advocates (Bike Portland) Here’s an Idea: Rake in Transpo Revenues and Bankrupt Everything Else (Cyclelicio.us) With the Feds Out of the Picture, … Continued

As driving continues to stagnate in America, transit ridership keeps rising. Last year saw the second highest annual ridership since 1957, despite the fact that the nation's busiest transit systems had several days of blackout due to Superstorm Sandy.

House Budget Locks in Sequestration, Senate Unveils Its Proposal Today (Transpo Issues Daily) This Could Be the Year For Major Tax Reform (and a Solution to the Transpo Fiscal Cliff?) (WaPo) What the Bike Summit Teaches Us About the State of the Movement (Bike Portland) How Bike Advocates Can Make MAP-21 Work For Them (Bike … Continued