Today’s Headlines

  • Boxer: Senate considering breaking up its jobs bill into several pieces, with an infrastructure provision that would bail out the highway trust fund for this year (Dow Jones)
  • Conservative Rep. Don Young (R-AK), architect of the 2005 federal transportation bill, admits that Alaska’s plans for a gas tax suspension would endanger its financial support from Congress (AP)
  • Wisconsin governor touts plan for regional transit authority in Milwaukee, with possible taxes to help fund it (J-Sentinel)
  • Michigan lawmakers propose gas tax hike to avoid losing federal transport aid (MLive.com)
  • California Northern railroad shifts to green locomotives (Sac. Bee)
  • Two rural Virginia transit projects get $3.2m in federal aid (AP)

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Six Lies the GOP Is Telling About the House Transportation Bill

By Ben Fried and Ben Goldman |
The transportation-plus-drilling bill that John Boehner and company are trying to ram through the House is an attack on transit riders, pedestrians, cyclists, city dwellers, and every American who can’t afford to drive everywhere. Under this bill, all the dedicated federal funding streams for transit, biking, and walking would disappear, leading to widespread service cuts […]

Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor |
LaHood affirms the recent assertion by House Speaker Pelosi: Congress is unlikely to raise the gas tax to pay for transportation legislation (Pantagraph) Local lawmakers are hunting for strategies to fund a proposed commuter rail link between the Poconos and NYC in the absence of a new long-term federal transport bill (P. Record) San Francisco […]

Eight Senate Dems Offer $2B Plan for Emergency Transit Operating Aid

By Elana Schor |
Transit agencies forced to raise fares or cut service to close budget gaps would be eligible for $2 billion in emergency operating funds under legislation unveiled today by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and seven other Democratic senators, including two members of the party’s leadership. Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT), left, Charles Schumer (D-NY), […]

U.S. DOT Cagey on Funding New Transport Bill as Senators Seek Solutions

By Elana Schor |
Senators began searching today for new strategies to connect local planners with an ever-dwindling pot of federal infrastructure dollars, even as a senior U.S. DOT aide declined to say whether the White House’s upcoming principles for the next long-term transportation bill would include funding specifics. Antonio Villaraigosa is seeking a bridge loan from Washington to […]