Today’s Headlines

  • When it comes to consuming fewer resources to save the environment, Energy Secretary Steven Chu says Americans are a lot like teenagers: they "aren’t acting in a way they should act." (WSJ)
  • Are states that outlaw texting while driving encouraging rule-breaking by posting traffic updates on Twitter? (AP)
  • What’s in Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s wallet? (Politico)
  • Kentucky state DOT, plagued by tight budget, makes room to create a brand-new position for a Democratic congressman’s wife (Herald-Leader)
  • New federal inquiry into potential terrorism plot prompts extra warnings about transit security (AP)
  • LaHood heads to Georgia’s Spelman College to unveil a new program aimed at boosting women’s involvement in the transport industry (ENEWSPF)
  • More proof of the trend reported here last month — trucks were more popular picks in the "cash for clunkers" program than the Obama administration admitted (Free Press)
  • What’s a "velomobile"? Short answer: the bike hybrid popularized by one locally famous resident of Washington state. Long answer: check out these pictures (Olympian)

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Today’s Headlines

By Katie Pearce |
Congress Crunches Numbers on Transpo Funding (Politico) LaHood Announces $12.5M for Transit in Parks (eNews Park Forest) Oregon Adviser to Head Washington State Transpo (Seattle Times, Seattle PI) More Transpo Secretary Speculation: AZ Rep. Ed Pastor? (AZCentral.com) D.C. Mayor Sets Out Ambitious Sustainability Plan (WaPo) New Hampshire: Some Want Gas Tax (NHPR), Some Want Gambling Tax […]

Arizona Nixes Speed-Limit Enforcement Cameras

By Elana Schor |
In the latest in a series of high-profile conservative moves, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s (R) administration has announced it will stop using cameras to enforce speed limits on the state’s highways — ending a program once billed as a boon to road safety that would also help raise revenue. A speed-camera image of the car […]

Senior Dems Release New Distracted Driving Bill as LaHood Testifies

By Elana Schor |
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) today unveiled his plan to take an incentive-based approach to distracted driving as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testified on the Obama administration’s campaign to end the use of electronic devices behind the wheel. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) (Photo: Wired) Rockefeller’s bill, co-sponsored by three Republicans […]

U.S. DOT Proposes Giving Minority-Owned Firms Greater Shot at Contracts

By Elana Schor |
Women- and minority-owned companies would have an easier time winning federal transportation contracts under a new rule released by the Obama administration today, which comes in the wake of complaints from social-equity advocates that such firms had received just 2 percent of infrastructure contracts awarded under last year’s economic stimulus law. (Photo: CA DOT) The […]