Today’s Headlines

  • After years of arguing that transit demand is too low to matter, conservatives protest D.C. transit’s failure to accommodate high demand from conservatives (WSJ)
  • More on the Senate’s vote to let Amtrak passengers travel with guns (CNN, AP)
  • LaHood still reassuring auto dealers they’ll get "cash for clunkers" money (Bloomberg)
  • Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) gets behind his state high-speed rail plan … (Dayton DN)
  • … and speaking of Ohio, a new study says half a million people would ride high-speed rail in the state (NBC4)
  • House votes to authorize $200 million in extra research on fuel-efficient vehicles (AP)
  • Check out the full agenda for the U.S. DOT’s distracted driving summit (DOT Press)
  • Can the EPA really regulate emissions without Congress taking action? The complete answer (Grist)

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Winning Votes for Transit: Lessons From a Conservative

By Angie Schmitt |
The work of a transit advocate is never done. That’s the story taking shape in California, where the establishment of a high-speed rail network, approved by voters in November, 2008, is facing legal challenges from a number of city governments near San Francisco. A rendering of the proposed California HSR line, via The Wall Street […]

Coming Soon to Popular Transport Stimulus Programs: Local Funding

By Elana Schor |
Two of the most popular transportation programs in the Obama administration’s stimulus law, the $1.5 billion in competitive grants known as TIGER and the $8 billion high-speed rail initiative, had an added feature that made them even more attractive to cities and states: the federal funding awards would not require a local match. Amtrak’s Empire […]

Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor |
Oberstar agrees to back Senate jobs bill after getting a written promise from Senate majority leader that $932 million in pre-earmarked transportation funding will be redistributed (Politico) Cost inflation and fears of higher ticket prices are already dogging California high-speed rail (LAT) Ohio River Bridges project, dubbed one of the nation’s "highways to nowhere," might […]

Conservative Tea Party Movement Targets Florida Rail Plan

By Elana Schor |
The conservative "tea party" movement, last seen complaining about the government-funded local transit system that they took during an anti-government march in Washington D.C, is veering back to form in Florida with an organized protest against the state’s proposal for broad new investments in rail transit. The "Tea Party" is now a registered political party […]

Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor |
Obama administration officials put the kibosh on plans to use stimulus money on a pedestrian footbridge to the New England Patriots football stadium (AP) Do lists of "shovel-ready" projects translate into quick transportation job creation? Not in the Michigan town of Jackson (Citizen-Patriot) How can the Obama administration make sure local (especially urban) governments get […]