Today’s Headlines

7:50 AM EST on December 18, 2009

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)

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