U.S. DOT
It Could Cost More to Shut Down Cincy Streetcar Than Finish It
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory is frustrated that all his work to bring the streetcar to fruition might be for naught, now that anti-streetcar John Cranley has been elected to take his place. “I’m from the tough part of town,” Mallory joked. “I will take the guy in a dark alley. I’m not afraid to use the threat of physical violence.”
November 21, 2013
HUD and U.S. DOT Embrace Housing + Transportation Metric for Affordability
A few years ago, the Center for Neighborhood Technology gave a wonderful gift to urbanists and planners: the Housing + Transportation Index. This simple calculation clarified and popularized a key concept: that transportation costs must be taken into account in any measurement of “affordability.”
November 12, 2013
U.S. DOT Still Has Time to Get MAP-21 Performance Measures Right
Many transportation reform advocates were disappointed in the performance measures included in MAP-21, which was signed into law in July 2012. They weren’t tied to funding, they gave states and localities too much leeway to set their own performance targets, and they measured the wrong things. But there’s still a chance for them to get much stronger.
October 11, 2013
Shutdown: Congress Prepares to Furlough One-Third of U.S. DOT Staff
Looks like we’re heading for a real, honest-to-goodness government shutdown tomorrow due to a childish Congressional food fight over budgets and health care. Already this year, thousands of government employees faced furloughs due to sequestration, and now they're looking at an indefinite unpaid leave. It'll last until Congress can play nice and make a deal on the budget and health care, and who knows when that will be.
September 30, 2013
Why Are State DOTs So Afraid of Accountability?
Deron Lovaas is the federal transportation policy director for NRDC. A version of this article appeared on his blog this morning.
September 13, 2013
Old Solutions: U.S. DOT’s Proposed Strategic Plan Falls Short
Andy Clarke is the president of the League of American Bicyclists. This article originally appeared on the League's blog.
September 6, 2013
BTS Releases Confusing, Erroneous Transit Stats
I was all set to write a feel-good story about how the latest report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics [PDF] shows that transit ridership is up and driving is down. I made up my mind to write that story before I even looked at the report, so sure was I that that was the message.
August 16, 2013
U.S. DOT Launches “Everyone Is a Pedestrian” Campaign
UPDATED 5:43 p.m. with more details from NHTSA on eligible grant activities.
August 6, 2013
Infographic: U.S. DOT Promotes the Health Benefits of Active Transportation
"Transportation investments that support active travel -- like greenways, trails, sidewalks, traffic-calming devices, and public transit -- create opportunities to increase routine physical activity, improve health, and lower health care costs," writes U.S. DOT's Todd Solomon this morning on Secretary Anthony Foxx's Fast Lane blog. "The same investments promote sustainability."
August 2, 2013
Foxx: “We’ve Got to Look at Transportation in a Multimodal Fashion”
Tomorrow marks the end of Anthony Foxx’s first month as the U.S. secretary of transportation. Today he met with reporters who have been eager for an on-the-record meeting with him.
August 1, 2013