Elections

With the election just days away, it’s a good time to reflect on what the Obama administration has done with transportation policy – and what a Romney administration might have in store. Streetsblog does not endorse candidates. This is an overview of their respective records and a look back at what we know of these two men. We’ll start with President Obama in this post and move on to Mitt Romney in the next one.

The election is less than a week away. Americans have a choice between a) a president who has overseen notable transportation and land use innovations but failed to provide leadership when the national transportation bill could have been reformed, and b) a former governor who enacted a progressive, pro-smart-growth agenda but who has renounced those positions as a candidate.

President Obama released a blueprint for his second term yesterday, a 20-page booklet focused on job creation [PDF]. Let's be clear: This came from his campaign machine, not the White House.

At last night's presidential debate in Nassau County, the best opening for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to talk about transportation policy came when undecided voter Phillip Tricolla asked the following question of the President:

The vice presidential debate last night took an unexpected turn toward traffic safety, amid a lot of predictable chest-thumping about saving Detroit. After Vice President Joe Biden said what is by now a standard favorite in the administration repertoire -- "Romney said, let Detroit go bankrupt" -- Rep. Paul Ryan countered with this: "Mitt Romney’s a car guy."

Next month, 19 transit-related measures will come before voters. If the rest of this year is any guide, 16 of them will pass.

However controversial a rail project is, is it a good idea to pull the plug after construction has already begun? Honolulu residents have that question to ponder from now until Election Day.

Last week, delegates and visitors at the Republican National Convention in Tampa helped themselves to 1,250 free rides on a bicycle bus -- a sort of communal bike-share system called Freewheelin, sponsored by health insurance company Humana. According to the Freewheelin website, those RNC attendees logged 542 miles on the 20 free pedal-buses, burned 18,137 calories, and reduced their carbon footprint by 596 metric tons. Even Mayor Bob Buckhorn was inspired. "I think I'm going to trade in the big, black SUV that we took from a pimp and make this the new Mayor Mobile," he said.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick got wild applause last night when he told the Democratic Convention audience: