Streetsblog Capitol Hill
As “Cash for Clunkers” Sputters, a Privately Funded Spinoff Picks Up
The U.S. DOT began signaling yesterday that it would bring the "cash for clunkers" program to an end amid growing unease from auto dealers about the government's slow pace of reimbursement and General Motors' decision to begin fronting "clunkers" repayments to its own salesmen.
August 20, 2009
Climate Change and Health Care: A Tale of Two Polls
As health care reform remains the No. 1 item on Washington's agenda, the brewing Senate battle over climate change legislation -- which has the potential to dramatically reshape transportation policy -- is remaining in the background.
August 19, 2009
Crunching June Stimulus Numbers: Roads Create Pricier Jobs Than Transit
Transportation spending under the economic stimulus law created close to 15,000 jobs in June, or three times as many as were created in May, according to estimates released today by the U.S. DOT.
August 19, 2009
Carper: Climate Bill Must Focus on Transport, Not Just Power Plants
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), chief sponsor of a plan to give green transportation 10 percent of the emissions allowances in the upcoming climate change bill, took to the pages of his home-state newspaper yesterday with an op-ed that begins with a pithy description of "the problem":
August 19, 2009
Glaeser Goes Out With a Whimper
For those just tuning in, economist Ed Glaeser has been writing a four-part series on the potential costs and benefits of high-speed rail at the New York Times' Economix blog. He began three weeks ago with an introduction. The following week he addressed direct costs and benefits from a hypothetical line, and last week he attempted to gauge the environmental benefits of high-speed rail construction.
August 19, 2009
Know Your Transportation Lobbyists: Transit Beats Roads — Sort Of
Transportation lobbying is a complicated universe, in which multi-issue environmental groups can be as active as organizations that exist only to influence infrastructure decision-making.
August 18, 2009
Behind the ‘Bridge in a Backpack’ That Could Go National
It sounds like the start of a wonky transportation joke: Have you ever crossed a "bridge in a backpack"?
August 18, 2009
Transit Cuts Report Underscores Cities’ Congressional Influence Gap
In a report released this morning, Transportation for America (T4A) expands on its months-long effort to map transit cutbacks across the nation and concludes that 10 of the largest 25 local agencies are being forced to hike fares by more than 13 percent.
August 18, 2009
Tracking Transport Subsidies: As Tough as Following the Stimulus Money
The $787 billion economic stimulus effort was intended to be a model of government transparency -- but a privately run website called Recovery.org soon began beating out the government in the race to trace federal dollars. Now, as the Pew Charitable Trusts begins to expand its Subsidyscope fiscal monitoring project, some similar gaps in spending data are emerging.
August 17, 2009
Could Ending the ‘War on Drugs’ Help Ease Urban Budget Crises?
Despite talk of a nascent economic recovery, the brutal toll exacted on state budgets by the recession continues -- with palpable consequences for transit riders and already lower-income urbanites. Could the cure for cities' fiscal woes be a dramatic shift in drug policy?
August 17, 2009