Hastily-Debated Collins Measure Could Put More Tired Truckers on the Road
It just wouldn’t be Congress if we weren’t trying to debate substantive policy changes, with drastic implications for public safety, with a government shutdown deadline fast approaching.
December 9, 2014
Today’s Headlines
Senator Susan Collins Pushes Back Against U.S. DOT Trucker Safety Move (LandLine) Supreme Court Appears to Agree Amtrak Didn’t Overstep Authority in Regulating Freight (E&E, CQ) House Transpo Appropriations Chair Tom Latham Retiring (The Hill) Bike Messenger Profession Gets New Life With Amazon Prime Now (TechSpot) Settling Soil Halts Attempt to Get Road Tunnel Borer Back Up and Running in Seattle … Continued
December 9, 2014
Poll: Support for Active Transportation Funding Is High Across Party Lines
When will Congress debate a new transportation bill? Your guess is as good as mine (May 31 expiration date of the current extension notwithstanding). But here’s some advice for whenever they do: Increase federal funding for biking and walking. Your voters demand it.
December 8, 2014
How to Make Shared-Vehicle Services Accessible to People of All Incomes
Washington’s Capital Bikeshare is one of the biggest and most well-established bike-share systems in the nation. Its annual fee of just $75 buys you unlimited free half-hour trips. The system now has 2,500 bicycles at 300 stations in the District and the nearby suburbs.
December 8, 2014
Today’s Headlines
Senator Carper Gives Up on Lame Duck Transpo Bill (News Journal) AAA Expects Gas Prices to Keep Dropping (CBS/AP) And Here’s Why (Vox) …Sounds Like a Perfect Time for a Gas Tax Hike, Says Ed Rendell (CNBC) The Atlantic Explores the Reasons Behind Congress’s Gas Tax Paralysis Tampa — One of the Deadliest Cities in America … Continued
December 8, 2014
Eno: Stop Obsessing Over the Gas Tax and Change How We Fund Transpo
Twenty years ago, Japan’s electoral reform redistributed power, giving urban constituencies a greater voice. One result: Japan eliminated its version of the Highway Trust Fund, which urban voters saw as satisfying the interests of the construction lobby, not their own.
December 4, 2014
What Would a National Vision Zero Movement Look Like?
Earlier this week, New York-based Transportation Alternatives released a statement of 10 principles that emerged from the Vision Zero symposium the group sponsored last Friday. It was the first-ever national gathering of thought leaders and advocates committed to spreading Vision Zero’s ethic of eliminating all traffic deaths through better design, enforcement, and education.
November 21, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: I’m Not a Scientist
Do you ever think about the ecology of the city you live in? Not just the parks and the smog. Scientists are starting to examine urban ecosystems more holistically: the trees and the concrete, natural gas lines and soil, water pipes and rivers. The natural and the synthetic feed off each other in surprising ways. We're not scientists, but we found it interesting.
November 20, 2014
The Parking Tax Benefit: A $7.3 Billion Subsidy for Traffic Congestion
The federal government spends billions of dollars a year on tax subsidies that make traffic congestion worse, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by TransitCenter and the Frontier Group. The culprit is the parking commuter tax benefit, which costs taxpayers $7.3 billion in foregone revenue each year, all while adding more than 800,000 cars to rush-hour traffic on the nation's roads each workday, the authors estimate.
November 18, 2014
Today’s Headlines
Complete Streets Advocate Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) Finally Concedes the Race (The Hill) Will This Climate-Savvy Louisiana Republican Be Able to Speak the Truth in the House? (MoJo) Why a Georgia Public School Official Is Bullish on Raising the Gas Tax (AJC) MassDOT Wrestles With Impact of Gas Tax Repeal Vote (MassLive) Wisconsin Wants to … Continued
November 18, 2014