Today’s Transit Dreams May Come True — 78 Years From Now
By the looks of it, my humble hometown of Washington, DC is winning the transit space race. The region currently has 45 transit projects either planned or underway -- and one that's stalled. You may have heard of the Silver Line to Dulles Airport, but a new map from Reconnecting America proves that that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to transit starts in the DC area.
January 22, 2013
FTA Grapples With Likely Funding Cuts
After fighting to maintain reasonable funding levels in the transportation bill – and for the inclusion of dedicated transit funding in the first place – the Federal Transit Administration now finds itself up against almost certain funding cuts that imperil rail and bus expansion projects, as well as the agency's own staffing.
January 18, 2013
Outgoing AASHTO Director: Assess Gas Tax By the Dollar, Not By the Gallon
When the federal gas tax was set at 18.4 cents per gallon, it represented 17 percent of the cost of a gallon of gas. Now it's barely 5 percent.
January 17, 2013
Pro-Bike Republican Tom Petri to Chair Key House Transpo Panel
The Republican co-chair of the Congressional Bicycling Caucus is getting a leadership position with some real gravitas. Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) was just named the new chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee in the House -- the epicenter of the chamber's surface transportation legislation.
January 16, 2013
Biking Uphill Is Satisfying, and Other Bicycle Research From TRB 2013
Today is Day Three of the Transportation Research Board’s annual conference. Interested in pavement composition and performance? There are 200 workshops with your name on them.
January 16, 2013
Today in Foreign Policy: American Interests Demand Walkable Communities
If you’ve had your head stuck inside street design manuals or engineering guides – if you’ve been thinking at the level of the bulb-out or the bollard – I’ve got a present for you.
January 15, 2013
Today’s Headlines
The Hill Asks: Is It LaHood’s Last Week? MA Wants to Spend Half as Much on Bike/Ped as the Feds Do For the Whole Country (Boston Herald) Lawmaker Wants to Cut Transit Tax Benefit to “Pay For” Sandy Aid (GovExec) Support Is High For Public Spending on Transit (The Hill) Will Congress Throw Bicycling Off the … Continued
January 15, 2013
GAO: Mileage Fee Could Be More “Equitable and Efficient” Than Gas Tax
While governors debate raising (or eliminating) their states' gas taxes, buzz is building about mileage-based fees, or a vehicle-miles-traveled charge. A House provision to ban U.S. DOT from studying such a fee has gone away (along with its sponsor), while Rep. Earl Blumenauer is trying to get the Treasury Department to look into how it could work. And a new report from the Government Accountability Office says that would be a good idea.
January 14, 2013
Today’s Headlines
Dems and Reps on the House T&I Committee, Dems and Reps on Senate EPW (Trans. Issues Daily) Infographic: Bike League Explains How Active Transpo Funding Works Under MAP-21 Aide Says 88-Year-Old Sen. Frank Lautenberg Could Still Run For Re-Election (The Hill) Happy Anniversary to One of the Nation’s Least Successful Transit Systems (Yahoo News) Richard Layman Deconstructs How DC Became a Great City (Hint: It’s … Continued
January 14, 2013