Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor
Jun 25, 2009

House transportation committee clashes over the speed of stimulus spending (USA Today)

D.C. Metro crash sharpens focus on aging transit equipment (NYT)

Dems go after senior GOPer Cantor on high-speed rail (Culpeper Exponent)

Democratic lawmakers write to Obama to back up Wednesday’s transportation hearing (AP)

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The Political Climate That Makes Transportation Reform Run

By Elana Schor | Oct 20, 2009

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. A German-made high-speed rail car. (Photo: Spiegel) Colby Itkowitz, CQ’s crack […]

Senate Panel Backs $1.2B for High Speed Rail, $1.4B Extra For Highways

By Elana Schor | Jul 29, 2009

The Senate panel in charge of transportation spending has just released its version of the budget bill that passed the House last week, giving less to high-speed rail and more to highways than the lower chamber of Congress. The Senate’s transportation bill, shepherded by senior appropriator Patty Murray (D-WA), provides $1.2 billion for the Obama […]

$8B for High-Speed Rail, $1.5B in Transport Stimulus Coming This Winter

By Elana Schor | Oct 6, 2009

It’s shaping up to be anything but a quiet winter for the U.S. DOT, with $9.5 billion in grants for clean transportation set for release to the winners of two highly competitive contests for federal aid. (Image: Treehugger) Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo announced today that his agency would release all $8 billion of the […]

High-Speed Rail Lobbying Campaign Revives the “$4B” Rallying Cry

By Elana Schor | May 11, 2010

The lobbying coalition that helped prod Congress into approving $2.5 billion for high-speed rail last year — twice as much as the Senate had originally set aside — today kicked off a new campaign urging lawmakers to approve $4 billion for bullet trains next year and $2.6 billion for Amtrak. (Photo: TreeHugger) At an event […]