Today’s Headlines

  • A must-read from Harold Meyerson: How the power of states’ rights, on infrastructure and other issues, threatens economic recovery (Prospect)
  • NYC health department releases new numbers that prove the connection between transportation reform and health reform (Streetsblog NY)
  • High-speed rail advocates escalate their push for the House’s proposed $4 billion investment in 2010 (NJBIZ)
  • New coalition forms to push streetcars for Northern Virginia (WashPost)
  • General Electric, still seeking American business for its fuel-efficient locomotives, signs a new deal with Brazil (JOC)
  • Missouri state lawmakers eager to crack down on texting while driving (AP)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Transportation for America Releases Blueprint for Transportation Reform

By Sarah Goodyear |
Today Transportation for America is releasing a 100-page document called "The Route to Reform," in which they outline policy recommendations related to the upcoming reauthorization of federal transportation funding legislation (download the executive summary here or the full report here).  From the executive summary:  The next transportation program must set about the urgent task of […]

Senate Health Bill Holds Onto Grants For Healthier Transportation

By Elana Schor |
Back in June, when the Senate was in the early stages of its marathon health care reform debate, several Republicans blasted the  proposed legislation for including a grant program aimed at encouraging construction of local infrastructure to promote healthier movement. The new Senate health bill held onto a billion-dollar grant program to promote walking to […]

Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor |
LaHood publicly, if informally, urges states to "treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes" (DOT Blog) Noise pollution alert: Opponents of health reform bill launch a "Honk No" protest (Newsweek) Do higher gas prices, whether through external factors or tax hikes, actually depress Americans’ urge to drive? (TNR’s The Avenue) Gauging high-speed […]

Obama Adviser Proves it: Transportation Reform is Health Reform

By Elana Schor |
Over the summer, Streetsblog Capitol Hill published a riff on the rhetorical stylings of White House budget director Peter Orszag that coined a new phrase: "Transportation reform is health reform." The logic behind the principle stems from the health benefits of walking and biking, but also from the simple truth that fewer miles driven represents […]

Complete Streets Could Help America Lose Weight, Says CDC

By Sarah Goodyear |
When people who aren’t transportation geeks ask me why transportation policy is a topic worthy of more attention on the national stage, I often start by talking about the public health implications. Not only are tens of thousands of Americans killed and injured in car crashes every year, not only are countless thousands of others […]