Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Warner Scores a (Small) Win for White House’s Transportation Agenda
While it pushes for an 18-month delay in the next federal infrastructure bill, the Obama administration has proposed a data collection effort that would help states and localities begin tracking ridership and usage of transit, roads, buses, and the like -- a small put pivotal step towards enacting national performance standards for transportation.
September 17, 2009
A Few Words on Transportation User Fees
We tend to have a few good laughs when Randal O'Toole fires up his Cato computer and weighs in on transportation issues. It's hard to take seriously a man who thinks that having the government tax people to build something which it then gives away for free is the libertarian ideal.
September 17, 2009
Conservatives: If We Can’t Kill Off the U.S. DOT, Let’s ‘Fix’ It!
Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, an early conservative cheerleader for the Bush tax cuts, coined an instantly classic phrase in 2001: "My goal is to cut government in half in 25 years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
September 16, 2009
Klobuchar & Webb: Dems’ Unlikely Opponents of Bike-Ped Investment
Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) attempt to curb federal investment in bicycle and pedestrian paths, as well as other "transportation enhancements," was defeated on the Senate floor today -- but it managed to pick up two unlikely Democratic supporters in the process.
September 16, 2009
New Investigation Finds 2,100 Transport Lobbyists Working the System
Interest groups seeking to influence transportation policy-making have long flooded the capital with campaign cash and lobbyists -- and their numbers are rising at an eye-popping rate. Nearly 1,800 interests are employing at least 2,100 transportation lobbyists to work the system in anticipation of the next federal infrastructure bill, according to a Center for Public Integrity investigation unveiled today.
September 16, 2009
More on McCain’s Anti-Transit and Coburn’s Anti-Bike Amendments
As Streetsblog Capitol Hill reported yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) offered amendments striking money for more than 20 transit projects from the bill that funds the U.S. DOT next year.
September 15, 2009
The New White House Fuel Efficiency Rule: Count the Loopholes
The final fuel-efficiency rule released by the Obama administration this morning includes what some lobbyists have nicknamed "the German provision," giving automakers that sell less than 400,000 vehicles in the U.S. an exemption for 25 percent of their fleet.
September 15, 2009
White House Releases Fuel Efficiency Rules — Will the Loophole Make it in?
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson will head to the White House briefing room this afternoon to release the final version of fuel-economy rules that will bring the nation's auto fleet to an average of 35.5. miles per gallon by 2016.
September 15, 2009
California County Now Offers Ride Insurance to Car-Free Commuters
Transit and bike commuters in many cities are able to rush home quickly if an emergency strikes -- but for commuters looking to give up their cars in less dense areas, an emergency often means a pricey cab ride. One California county that falls in the latter camp, Santa Cruz, has come up with a unique solution: "ride insurance."
September 14, 2009
Planetizen Unveils Its Top 100 Urban Thinkers
She may be experiencing an intellectual reconsideration in some corners, but Jane Jacobs is still a beloved figure for the urban planners and designers of Planetizen.
September 14, 2009