Today’s Headlines

By Elana Schor
Apr 14, 2010

Supporters of more federal transit operating aid planning nationwide advocacy day next week, staged as a "funeral" for local rail and bus service (TEN Press)

LaHood hails New York Times’ Pulitzer win as a victory for distracted driving campaigners (DOT Blog)

Oklahoma state DOT delays projects as federal funding from recent jobs bill has yet to materialize (T. World)

Amtrak starts high-speed rail group to maximize partnership potential on federally funded projects (Bond Buyer)

Safety Q&A with Jeff Moskos, former Baltimore police officer, author, and professor (Streetsblog NYC)

Obama administration’s oil-drilling proposal raises the question: Just how much fossil fuel would it produce? (Newsweek)

Chrysler sharing technological info with NASA (CNNMoney)

China looks to rail to propel future economic growth (NYT)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Rail Expert Reutter: White House Misfired on High-Speed Rail Stimulus

By Elana Schor | Feb 18, 2010

Mark Reutter, author of the industrial tome Making Steel and a veteran editor of Railroad History, can safely be called an expert on the train industry. And in a new memo for the Progressive Policy Institute, he is issuing a warning to the Obama administration on its high-profile push for high-speed rail. California’s high-speed rail […]

State DOT Official, Rail Exec Talk High-Speed Rail Infighting, Bureaucracy

By Elana Schor | May 12, 2010

The push for dedicated U.S. high-speed rail funding began anew yesterday with the launch of a campaign aimed at securing $4 billion from Congress for next year’s projects — but hours before that event, federal and state transport officials joined private-sector players for a discussion that highlighted the political challenges facing successful development of fast […]

Jindal’s Not Alone: Guvs Who Shunned Stimulus Warm to High-Speed Rail

By Elana Schor | Aug 20, 2009

Think Progress took note yesterday of a change of heart from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), who blasted the economic stimulus law for its $8 billion in "wasteful spending" on high-speed rail — only to later seek $300 million of that money for a rail link between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Gov. Mark Sanford […]

DOT Defines High-Speed Rail: ‘Reasonably Expected to Reach … 110 MPH’

By Elana Schor | Jun 17, 2009

The federal DOT has just released its guidance for states seeking a share of its $8 billion in high-speed rail funding — and tucked in the rules are standards that could prove crucial to the project’s success. President Obama helps his DOT chief prepare — for making high-speed rail decisions, perhaps? (Photo: whitehouse via Flickr) […]

McCain’s Transit Hit List: Get the Details

By Elana Schor | Sep 14, 2009

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a self-styled foe of what he labels wasteful government spending, has launched a broadside against transit projects in the U.S. DOT’s 2010 spending bill, which is slated for a vote this week in the upper chamber of Congress. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) (Photo: Scrape TV) McCain had proposed more than 20 […]

GAO Says We Need More Than a Vision for High Speed Rail

By Sarah Goodyear | Jun 24, 2009

Excited about the prospect of high speed rail in America? Lots of people have been. But as Yonah Freemark reports on The Transport Politic, yesterday the General Accountability Office threw a bit of a wet blanket on the growing enthusiasm. The GAO is saying the Obama administration has so far failed to provide clear goals […]