Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor
Feb 17, 2010

LaHood en route to Kansas City and Tucson this week — a sign that streetcars are poised to join Moynihan Station in snagging big TIGER money? (WH Press)

Japanese bullet-train magnate says he could build a Florida factory to help ensure a piece of the state’s ample high-speed rail pie (WSJ)

Transit stimulus is still a more efficient per-dollar job creator than road stimulus, according to congressional math (US PIRG Press)

Democrats try to avoid overselling their infrastructure-poor jobs bill (The Hill)

8 out of 10 metro regions ranked happiest by new Gallup well-being index have transit networks (Atlantic Blogs)

ConocoPhillips quits coalition in favor of congressional climate bills, claiming the proposals "have disadvantaged the transportation sector" (The Hill)

Nashville’s new mayor pursues ambitious new transit plan (Tennessean, WPLN)

Federal safety regulators launch formal inquiry into Toyota recalls (LAT)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

New Stimulus Data: Road Funds 77% Under Contract, Transit at 74%

By Elana Schor | Mar 26, 2010

As of the end of February, nearly $5.4 billion of transit stimulus money, or 74 percent, was under contract for projects in the 50 states and D.C., according to a Streetsblog Capitol Hill analysis of data released today by the House transportation committee. (Photo: DMI Blog) The success rate of transit stimulus spending was slightly […]

Killing the Myth of the ‘More Shovel-Ready’ Road Stimulus, Part II

By Elana Schor | Oct 2, 2009

It has become one of the most enduring anecdotes surrounding the Obama administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus law: Democrats’ contention that White House adviser Larry Summers sliced transit aid by more than half, to $8.4 billion, out of concerns that projects were not "shovel-ready" enough. (Photo: DMI Blog) Has Summers been vindicated by the data? […]

Stimulus Jobs From Transit vs. Roads: A Tale of Two States

By Elana Schor | Jan 5, 2010

Smart Growth America, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group today reported that transit stimulus spending created nearly twice as many jobs per dollar as highway stimulus projects — a conclusion that Streetsblog Capitol Hill first previewed a few weeks ago. But as the groups snag some big-media attention today, […]

New Report: Minority-Owned Businesses Left Out of Transport Stimulus

By Elana Schor | Dec 15, 2009

Women and minorities are getting shortchanged in the chase for transportation stimulus contracts, according to a report released today by the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) and Good Jobs First. (Photo: WBEZ) Using federal procurement data — which, the two advocacy groups acknowledged, represents just a slice of the White House’s economic recovery pie — the […]

Report: Nation’s Cities Not Getting Their Share of Stimulus Transpo Money

By Elana Schor | Jun 15, 2009

The nation’s largest metropolitan areas — which account for 63 percent of the U.S. population and 73 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) — have received less than half of the surface transportation money allocated so far underthe Obama administration’s economic stimulus plan, according to a new report compiled for the U.S. Conference of […]

Top 20 Metro Areas Get 28% of Road Stimulus, 61% of Transit Stimulus

By Elana Schor | Jul 9, 2009

Cities are getting a disproportionately small share of the road money given out by the White House’s stimulus plan, but the nation’s top 20 metro areas are doing better when it comes to transit — taking in 61 percent of the transit stimulus cash allocated so far, according to an analysis by Streetsblog Capitol Hill. […]