Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor
Jul 7, 2009

Senate environment committee kicks climate drafting into high gear, scheduling a hearing on transportation (Greenwire)

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) criticizes the stimulus but supports stimulus cash for high-speed rail, and sees no problem with that (Politico)

New paper in Science affirms Jane Jacobs: Urban-style population density helped shape human cognition (Scienceblogs via Andrew Sullivan)

Be afraid, be very afraid … the Obama DOT and senior members of Congress want you to get out of your cars (WSJ)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Jindal’s Not Alone: Guvs Who Shunned Stimulus Warm to High-Speed Rail

By Elana Schor | Aug 20, 2009

Think Progress took note yesterday of a change of heart from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), who blasted the economic stimulus law for its $8 billion in "wasteful spending" on high-speed rail — only to later seek $300 million of that money for a rail link between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Gov. Mark Sanford […]

$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 […]

Final Stimulus Bill Slaps Transit Riders in the Face

By Ben Fried | Feb 12, 2009

The final tally is in, and we now have a breakdown for transportation funding in the stimulus bill that President Obama will sign, barring some unforeseen turn of the screw. Via Transportation for America: $29 billion for highways and bridges $8.4 billion for transit $8 billion for high-speed rail $1.3 billion for Amtrak To compare […]

House Lawmakers Hail Transportation Stimulus — But Add Three Caveats

By Elana Schor | Feb 23, 2010

At a House transportation committee hearing today that marked the one-year anniversary of the Obama administration’s economic recovery efforts, lawmakers offered praise for the stimulus law’s impact on local infrastructure investments even as they hit upon three key areas of concern with its implementation. The Port of Los Angeles was shut out of the stimulus’ […]

Report: Nation’s Cities Not Getting Their Share of Stimulus Transpo Money

By Elana Schor | Jun 15, 2009

The nation’s largest metropolitan areas — which account for 63 percent of the U.S. population and 73 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) — have received less than half of the surface transportation money allocated so far underthe Obama administration’s economic stimulus plan, according to a new report compiled for the U.S. Conference of […]

Stimulus Spotlight: Delaware Town Boosts Bike-Ped Access to Bus Stop

By Elana Schor | Sep 11, 2009

The new Route 43 bus in Middletown, Delaware, stops at many popular places: the local high school, the retail shopping district, and the Methodist church, to name a few. But the park-and-ride that helped riders access the bus was clogged with cars, which the state DOT attributed to higher transit demand. The Middletown park-and-ride, before […]