U.S. DOT
As Geithner Touts Infrastructure, Skepticism Persists on $4B ‘I-Fund’ Plan
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, considered a skeptic of transportation stimulus spending by some lawmakers, yesterday joined two other White House economic advisers in endorsing new infrastructure investment as a means to
jump-start the economy.
March 17, 2010
LaHood Reaches Out to Transit Industry, Lamenting ‘Lousy Economy’
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sought to commiserate with the cash-strapped transit industry today, declaring the Obama administration an ally of local rail and bus agencies even as the "lousy economy" clouds prospects for passage of a new long-term federal transportation bill.
March 15, 2010
Bike-Ped Access to Cleveland’s New Bridge Picking Up Political Support
The push to add a bike-ped lane to Cleveland's planned new Cuyahoga River bridge, a replacement for the crumbling Innerbelt span, is picking up new political support this week after a local advocacy campaign.
March 12, 2010
Las Vegas Monorail Has Few Lifelines After Losing Earmark Cash to Buses
The beleaguered Las Vegas monorail, which filed for bankruptcy in January after repeatedly failing to meet ridership targets, lost a possible lifeline yesterday when the local metropolitan planning organization, known as RTC, said it would not aid the monorail for fear of diverting resources from its own bus expansion.
March 12, 2010
Could Transport Bill Inaction Hurt the White House’s Sustainability Push?
The White House's lack of interest in passing a new long-term federal transportation bill before next spring at the earliest is common knowledge in Washington, but the Obama administration has paid little political price so far for its approach to the issue. That began to change today, thanks to two lawmakers on the House panel that controls the U.S. DOT's purse strings.
March 10, 2010
House Moves to Repay U.S. DOT Workers Furloughed by Bunning Filibuster
The House voted today to compensate nearly 2,000 U.S. DOT workers who were forcibly furloughed last week when Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) mounted a five-day blockade of legislation extending federal transportation spending for the month of March.
March 10, 2010
Dodd Vows to Pass Livability Bill Amid Skepticism From Rural Senators
Even as the Obama administration ramps up its work on a sustainability initiative that treats transportation, housing, and energy efficiency as interconnected aspects of development policy, the effort remains without an official congressional authorization -- a situation that Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) vowed to fix yesterday.
March 9, 2010
LaHood Faces Off With GOP Senator Over High-Speed Rail, Livability
When Cabinet secretaries appear in front of Congress' appropriations committees, which control the annual budgets for each federal agency, the proceedings tend to be dry affairs dominated by local concerns and arcane fiscal debates.
March 4, 2010
Bunning Throws in the Towel, Congress Restores Transport Funding
Workers at the U.S. DOT and on transportation projects around the country are back on the job today after Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) lost his politically hazardous battle against a 30-day extension of federal infrastructure law and unemployment benefits.
March 3, 2010
Transportation Filibuster Update: Bunning Won’t Yield to Fellow GOPer
Federal infrastructure funding and many U.S. DOT workers remain in limbo today as Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) continues his one-man filibuster of legislation extending the 2005 transport law, turning himself into a Democratic target and a poster child for Washington gridlock.
March 2, 2010