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

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 […]

An Orszag-ian Principle: Transportation Reform is Health Reform

By Elana Schor |
During the Washington budget debate earlier this year, a phrase widely attributed to White House budget director Peter Orszag was rolling off many a reporter’s keyboard: "Health reform is entitlement reform." Orszag’s idea, in a nutshell, is that controlling the nation’s skyrocketing health care costs, which are fueled in part by the obesity epidemic, would […]

Centers for Disease Control: Transportation Reform is Health Reform

By Elana Schor |
The connection between transportation and public health has slowly edged into the mainstream since Streetsblog Capitol Hill began covering it last year, first through a billion-dollar grant program added to Congress’ sprawling health care bill and now in a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) brief that connects existing U.S. infrastructure with chronic disease, obesity, and […]

Study: Even in Car-Centric Atlanta, Transport Reform is Health Reform

By Elana Schor |
The connection between transportation reform — an emphasis on land use that makes biking and walking as viable as auto travel for routine trips — and health reform is one that’s not often made, despite the best efforts of the Obama administration. Even in traffic-choked Atlanta, denser residential neighborhoods had positive health effects. (Photo: MSNBC) […]

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 […]

GOP’s New Attack on Health Care Reform Bill: It Promotes Walking!

By Elana Schor |
Despite a growing awareness among conservatives that walking and biking are causes worth backing, Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to condemn bike-ped programs as wasteful "pork". The GOP’s latest potshots at sustainable transportation come during debate over a health care bill that focuses mainly on insurance and hospitals, but also includes a public health grant […]