Today’s Headlines

A response to the New York Times piece claiming that America no longer builds ‘mega-projects’: We’re paying for them in the Mideast (Foreign Policy via Yglesias)

The Wall Street Journal quotes construction company chiefs lamenting transportation job losses and wishing for a "pavement fairy" — prompting LaHood to fire back (DOT Blog)

Oberstar says the price tag for a high-speed rail link between Duluth and Minneapolis-St. Paul is too high (MPR)

A new study says Denver area residents may never see the transit improvements for which they agreed to pay higher taxes (Times-Call)

Parking cash-outs: Environmentally healthier, and more accessible, than free parking (EDF Blog)

How green is your economic stimulus? Not very much, based on actual spending data released so far (Green Bldg Law Blog via NRDC)

Wichita transit authority using stimulus money to replace its old Ford cars with new hybrids (Eagle)

Lee

RE: Yglesias response – is this not the exact same case that Obama made for his timeline for withdraw in his speech last night? ie. “a nation’s leaders can hurt the country just as easily by under-investing at home as by neglecting its defenses”.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

LaHood Reaches Out to Transit Industry, Lamenting ‘Lousy Economy’

By Elana Schor | Mar 15, 2010

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sought to commiserate with the cash-strapped transit industry today, declaring the Obama administration an ally of local rail and bus agencies even as the "lousy economy" clouds prospects for passage of a new long-term federal transportation bill. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (Photo: Getty Images) In an address to the American Public […]

Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor | Nov 20, 2009

Controversy grows over the Obama administration’s ill-starred attempt to count jobs created or saved by the economic stimulus law, including transport projects (Bloomberg, NYT Blog) Nominee for Amtrak’s board of directors says the train network needs better financial management (NorthJersey.com) Green transportation analyst: Let’s redirect unused infrastructure stimulus money to transit (Det. News) Untapped demand […]

New Analysis: 59% of Road Stimulus Went to Repair, 33% to New Capacity

By Elana Schor | May 4, 2010

(Photo: DMI Blog) In the first year of the Obama administration’s economic stimulus law, 59 percent of its $27 billion in transportation formula funds went to projects that preserve existing roads, while 33 percent was used to build new pavement, according to an analysis by the advocacy group Smart Growth America (SGA). The new data, […]

Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor | Oct 20, 2009

The Yes Men follow up on their New York Post prank by posing as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the media takes the bait (Mother Jones) LaHood announces a $341 million loan for a direct freight tunnel to the Port of Miami (JOC) An editorial board picks up on the imbalance between tax-credit subsidies […]

New Report: Feds Subsidizing Parking Six Times as Much as Transit

By Elana Schor | Sep 29, 2009

(Image: Subsidyscope) "Subsidy" is a word used quite often in transportation policy-making circles, whether by road acolytes who claim (falsely) that highways are not federally subsidized because of the gas tax or by transit boosters who lament Washington’s unceasing focus on paying for more local asphalt. But the subsidy debate often overlooks the government tax […]

The Challenges in Getting Transit Funded

By Sarah Goodyear | Feb 13, 2009

One of the most unusual members of the Streetsblog Network is the Santa Rosa CityBus blog, written by staffers from the municipal bus system in that Northern California city and "intended to highlight for the public some of the activities, efforts and challenges of operating a bus system in a mid-size California city." It’s a […]