Today’s Headlines

  • House Democrats on track to approve more transportation spending as part of a December jobs bill, but health care is likely to postpone Senate action until 2010 (NYT)
  • LaHood calls for a national crackdown on texting while driving — but doesn’t pick a side, legislatively speaking (WashPost)
  • Missouri is on the verge of a transport funding crisis, but political fears of talking new taxes are putting prospects for a solution even further out of reach (Missourinet)
  • North Texas hosting LaHood today for its annual transport conference (Star-Telegram)
  • A Nevada editorial board backs the street retrofitting recommendations in the new pedestrian safety report released by Transportation for America … (LV Sun)
  • … while the editors of Cleveland’s newspaper call on the feds to step in with transit operating aid for the city (Plain Dealer)
  • While U.S. high speed rail waits for takeoff, London unveils plans for a new bullet train to Madrid (Gadling)

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LaHood Answers GOP Critic, Soothes Dem Skeptic of Sustainability Budget

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As Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tangled with a senior GOP senator today over the White House’s $500 million-plus request for its inter-agency office of sustainable communities — a new project aimed at channeling federal energy towards local transit-oriented and smart growth plans — an influential Democrat joined her fellow senator in raising questions about diverting […]

LaHood Talks Budget: “Very Bright” Future for Infrastructure Fund

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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today that he sees "very bright" prospects for congressional approval of the Obama administration’s $4 billion National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund, the new iteration of the long-discussed National Infrastructure Bank proposal. Transportation Secretary LaHood, at left, with the president. (Photo: NYT) "There is a great deal of interest in […]

White House Staying Quiet For Now on Transit’s Role in Climate Bill

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Delivering his climate-change message to Congress yesterday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned that fuel-efficiency advances secured by the Obama administration would not be enough to reduce emissions from transportation — not without encouraging Americans to drive less. Transportation Secretary LaHood said today he’ll weigh in later on climate-change money for transit. (Photo: HillBuzz) But when […]