Today’s Headlines

  • Obama administration pressing governors to ensure minority and female contractors have equal access to transportation stimulus aid (McClatchy)
  • Battle heats up over federal approval for tolling on Pennsylvania’s I-80 (Times-Herald)
  • North Carolina transit taking a $470m hit during the recession (News-Observer)
  • Senate clears hurdle towards approval of massive transportation-centric spending bill… (Politico)
  • … which includes money for Minnesota’s Northstar commuter rail (SC Times)
  • Local foe of Florida rail legislation alleges politicization of the process (Ledger)
  • Car-free cities: A European update (Guardian)

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Today’s Headlines

By Ben Goldman |
Federal Transportation Bill Moving in House (Trans. Issues Daily) Secretary LaHood Proposes Streamlining Transit Approvals (Cypress Times) High-Speed Rail for 80 Percent of Americans Is Still Goal (TranspoNation) Funding Transportation: Gas Tax vs. Tolls (WTOP) APTA Applauds State of the Union Despite Rail Snub (Hill) Accusations of Delay in Disclosing Chevy Volt Fires (NYT) Five […]

Inside the Rail Worker Disability Program That Never Says ‘No’

By Elana Schor |
Independent auditors at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have just released the results of their lengthy investigation of the Railroad Retirement Board, the federal agency that evaluates disability claims by commuter railroad workers — and has historically approved more than 99 percent of them. (Photo: NYT) The New York Times obtained an early copy of […]

Obama Administration Sends Transportation Bill to Congress

By Tanya Snyder |
The Obama administration today sent Congress its proposal for a multi-year transportation bill, which it’s calling the GROW AMERICA Act. The bill, based on the budget proposal President Obama released two months ago, relies on corporate tax reform to raise $87 billion to fill the hole in the Highway Trust Fund. The four-year bill would cost $302 billion. […]

Florida Gov. Scott Finds a Rail Project He Doesn’t Hate

By Tanya Snyder |
Florida Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad has announced that Gov. Rick Scott’s administration will support the development of SunRail commuter rail. Acknowledging the strong support of Florida Republican John Mica, chair of the House Transportation Committee, Prasad said that his recent conversations with citizens and stakeholders convinced him that the project was worthwhile and that the […]

The Freedom to Not Drive

By Ben Fried |
The thought of the day comes to us from the island of Oahu, where Doug Carlson writes the "Yes to Rail" blog. Carlson advocates for construction of the Honolulu rail system, recent recipient of a key approval from the Federal Transit Administration. Over the July 4th weekend, he wrote: Traffic backed up after a collision […]