Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

Barack Obama is justly renowned for his speaking style; he chooses his words with professorial precision. But on today's featured Streetsblog Network post, the NRDC's Deron Lovaas, writing at The Infrastructurist, points out that the president used the "H" word -- that would be "highways" -- inaccurately during a recent visit to the USDOT:

2679715060_146174080d.jpgPhoto by robotbrainz via Flickr.

[Obama] offered some inspiring words about the infrastructure investments in the recovery bill that he just signed into law. Unfortunately, he erred in terming the largest single category of funding in those provisions -- $27.5 billion of Surface Transportation Program (STP) monies -- "highway" spending... This is not just highway money and we shouldn’t refer to it as such. Congress wisely used STP as the vehicle for this investment, knowing that this is a highly flexible way to funnel money into infrastructure. Why? Because there are fifteen eligible uses for the funding.

Those uses, as Lovaas notes, include bike and pedestrian infrastructure, as well as environmental clean-up projects.

Positive USDOT news from the network: the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia passes along word of the appointment of Roy Kienitz as the department's undersecretary for policy. Kienitz is deputy chief of staff to PA governor (and progressive transportation booster) Ed Rendell, and the former director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project.

Plus, Ryan Avent at The Bellows turns an economist's eye on the nation's declining vehicle miles traveled, and explores the idea of a traffic congestion "tipping point," courtesy of a post at CEOs for Cities. And EcoVelo thinks it's some kind of a sign that Wal-mart is marketing a $132 bike as a "commuter" model.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Thursday’s Headlines Are Charged Up for the Fourth

The Republican megabill is bad for the electric vehicle industry, but it could be worse.

July 3, 2025

Why is the Secretary of Transportation Begging Americans to Take More Road Trips?

Instead of making America easier to see on all modes, the US Department of Transportation is encouraging U.S. residents to just get in their cars and drive.

July 3, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are for the Children

From mothers with babies in strollers to preteens on bikes, much of the U.S. is hostile to families just trying to get around without a car.

July 2, 2025

Ambulance Data Reveals That Boston Drivers Are 4 Times More Likely to Run Over Pedestrians From Black Neighborhoods

"Overall, residents of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods are about four times more likely than residents of predominantly white neighborhoods to be struck as a pedestrian."

July 1, 2025
See all posts