Barack Obama
Flashback: Is Obama Flipping on Highway Corruption Laws?
As Washington waits for the next federal transportation bill to emerge, Streetsblog Capitol Hill is taking a featured look at debates from the last congressional go-round that could impact the upcoming re-write. For today's installment, let's take a trip to New Jersey, circa late 2004.
June 15, 2009
Flashback: Obama Once Led Push for ‘Complete Streets’
With Congress out of town on its Memorial Day break, the nation's capital is a quiet place to be -- but all of that will change next week, as the appearance of the House transportation bill is expected to kick off an intense battle to reshape federal policy on transit, bikes, roads and bridges.
May 28, 2009
Want a Clean Bill of Health for the MTA? Call Obama.
Former MTA CEO Lee Sander spent the last two-and-a-half years doing his best to make the MTA a transparent, accountable public agency, and in doing so restore its reputation. He let the sunshine in, but was unable to undo the damage to the agency's image caused by years of attacks from transit advocates, unions and politicians.
May 8, 2009
Doomsday Across America
Following up on Sarah's post about transit funding woes in Illinois, this CNN segment from earlier in the month brings home the effect of service cuts and fare hikes in St. Louis. Similar scenarios are playing out all over the country. According to the latest tally from Transportation for America, 85 transit systems serving 22 million riders are facing some combination of shrinking service and higher fares.
April 30, 2009
Is the Obama Administration Poised to Push Transit?
While President Barack Obama promoted wind power and cap-and-trade legislation, VP Joe Biden spent Earth Day talking up transit. Public radio's "The Takeaway" reports that Biden held a presser at a bus maintenance facility in Landover, Maryland, to tout a $300 million investment in hybrid buses and other municipal vehicles as part of the federal stimulus package. Said Biden:
April 24, 2009
Rail Across America
You've probably seen this already. It's the latest graphic representation of the nation's proposed high-speed rail corridors, and it's been all over the transportation blogosphere since President Obama stood beside it at a press conference yesterday.
April 17, 2009
Obama Falls Prey to Ribbon-Cutting Syndrome
At a press event in DC yesterday, President Obama touted the two thousandth transportation project to receive federal stimulus funds. I'm speculating a bit here, but the White House probably had some discretion when choosing which item to highlight for this milestone. So did they pick a refurbished transit station? A new bike route? Perhaps a bridge repair project to signal that we're not going to repeat the mistakes that led to the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis?
April 14, 2009
Is “Cash for Clunkers” a Good Idea, Ever?
The New York Times today endorsed a bill from Senator Chuck Schumer, and its companion in the House, co-sponsored by Long Island Democrat Steve Israel, which would offer up to $4,000 in vouchers to drivers who give up their gas guzzlers (averaging 18 miles-per-gallon or worse) in exchange for "a new or used car that exceeds the corporate average fuel economy for vehicles in its class by 25 percent."
April 7, 2009
Obama: America “Cannot Walk Away” From the Automobile
In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama last night emphasized his administration's commitment to keeping the domestic auto industry afloat, while offering only a passing mention to the nation's mass transit systems. Said Obama:
February 25, 2009
Hope Springs Eternal for American Transpo Policy
In case you missed the broadcast on Friday, watch this episode of NOW. Told mostly from the perspective of Charlotte's Pat McCrory, the Republican mayor who brought light rail to North Carolina's biggest city, the show hits just about every major transportation issue to surface during the stimulus bill debate. Federal policies that discriminate against transit, state DOTs that throw money at politically-driven highway projects, transit agencies in dire need of federal support as local tax revenues shrivel up -- it's all here.
February 18, 2009