- Very bad news for train riders in the northeast: The Obama administration's first rounds of high-speed rail money are unlikely to help improve Acela service, due to lengthy environmental reviews required by U.S. DOT (Globe)
- Two disparate takes on the House jobs bill: Does it represent "room forreal debate" on a new federal transportation bill or "Groundhog Day" for entrenched bureaucracy? (GreenWire, HuffPost)
- Pennsylvania state legislators head to the Hill to lobby against state leaders' push to toll I-80 (Pocono News)
- Embattled head of Washington D.C.'s transit agency vows to win back public confidence and work with Obama administration on its new safety bill (WaPo)
- Virginia becomes the latest state to slash transportation spending in a rough economy (AP)
- Maryland edges closer to approving per-mile tolls for its massive new ICC highway, sparking one Democratic candidate to rage against a "drive-to-work tax" (Gazette, Arora for Delegate)
- A less sexy but cheaper electric-car company is quietly making inroads (SFGate)
- Not transportation-related, but telling just the same: LaHood goes to bat for longtime friend Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff (Bloomberg)
Streetsblog
Today’s Headlines
By Elana Schor
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog USA
Friday Video: How ‘Car Brain’ Warps the Way We See the World
How can we fix the brains distorted by car culture?
January 16, 2026
Friday’s Headlines Are the Best
People for Bikes named its top bike lane projects of the past year.
January 16, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: The Lost Subways of North America
Author Jake Berman discusses transit histories through the lens of racial dynamics, monopolies, ballot measures and overlooked cities.
January 15, 2026
A ‘Demographic Time Bomb’ Is About To Go Off — And the Transportation Sector Isn’t Ready
A top firm is warning that the "silver tsunami" will have big implications for the climate, unless U.S. communities act fast.
January 15, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines Shoot for the Moon
What if the U.S. spent anything near what it spends on highways on transit instead?
January 15, 2026
Passenger Rail Is Headed for a Reckoning — and the First 90 Days of 2026 Will Decide It
Railfans: it's time to go full steam ahead.
January 15, 2026
