Transportation Policy
How Bus Transit Can Help the Auto Industry
When Vice President Joe Biden visited Minnesota's New Flyer bus company to tout the economic stimulus law's $8.4 billion investment in transit, hopes were high for a boom in cleaner-burning vehicle production -- which made for some bad press when the nationwide transit funding crunch forced New Flyer to lay off 13 percent of its workers.
October 26, 2009
GOP Senators Protest Evaluating the Climate Impacts of Transport Projects
The 40-year-old National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), which requires the federal government to evaluate the environmental consequences of future projects, is a valuable tool for local residents and green groups that work to defeat highway expansions -- but as Streetsblog L.A. noted earlier this year, NEPA can be an equally valuable tool for opponents of clean transportation projects.
October 26, 2009
Senate Signals 6-Month Delay for Transport Bill — But Will the House Agree?
The Senate is leaning towards abandoning the Obama administration's push for an 18-month delay of the next long-term transportation bill and now plans to pursue a six-month extension of existing federal infrastructure law, according to a report from CQ this afternoon:
October 23, 2009
Deeds Wants More Money for Transportation — But Not From a Climate Bill?
Earlier this week, Ryan noted Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Creigh Deeds' (D) willingness to endorse tax increases to pay for more efficient transportation -- without fully explaining what the benefits of that extra transport spending would be. Ryan wrote:
October 23, 2009
Seeking Stimulus Money For Bike Sharing, D.C. Looks Beyond Cutting CO2
The Transportation Planning Board (TPB), the Washington D.C. area's metropolitan planning organization (MPO), recently made a pitch to the U.S. DOT for a share of the economic stimulus law's $1.5 billion in innovative transport grants. Among the suggested projects was $13 million for bike sharing, enough to expand the D.C. program into a regional network that would use wi-fi internet to guide travelers.
October 22, 2009
The Top 10 States for Energy Efficiency — And Some Surprising Achievers
As Congress continues to debate climate change legislation that would include energy efficiency measures, states are already making progress in reducing the consumption of vehicles, utilities, and other fuel users.
October 21, 2009
How the $8.7 Billion Transportation Contracting Gap is Hitting Your State
Earlier this month, Streetsblog Capitol Hill reported on the fallout from Congress' failure to prevent an $8.7 billion "rescission" -- fancy legislative talk for the cancellation of funds -- from taking effect on September 30. Though media coverage focused largely on the rescission's impact on road projects, the lost money has hit clean transportation hard.
October 20, 2009
The Political Climate That Makes Transportation Reform Run
When House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) recently accused his colleagues of lacking the "political will" to pursue long-term reform of infrastructure policy, he wasn't simply employing a D.C. rhetorical flourish. To understand what Oberstar meant, let's travel to Berlin for a moment.
October 20, 2009
What the Virginia Campaign Can Teach Us About Transportation Policy
However the Virginia off-year gubernatorial race ends up -- and at the moment it looks as though Republican Bob McDonnell will reclaim the governor's mansion for the GOP after years of Democratic dominance -- the media will frame the story as a referendum on the policies of national Democrats.
October 19, 2009
Has Kentucky’s ‘Zombie Highway’ Met its Demise?
Interstate 66, a planned multi-billion-dollar road through the heart of Appalachia, has become a quintessential "zombie highway," holding on long after economists dismissed its potential -- thanks largely to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), who has earmarked $96 million for the project even as its chances of going beyond Kentucky dimmed to virtually nil.
October 19, 2009