Today’s Headlines

  • Transit unions to run ads urging GOP senators’ support for Dem bill approving $2B in transit aid (WSJ)
  • Washington D.C. city council initially scraps streetcar funding to close budget gaps … (WaPo Blogs)
  • … before local advocacy efforts push most of the funding back on the table (GGW)
  • Oberstar talks about the ongoing Gulf oil spill crisis (MPR)
  • PA Gov. Rendell (D) to disband unit of state DOT that focused entirely on fulfilling auto-paperwork requests for state legislators (Inquirer)
  • Dem challenger accuses incumbent Gov. Perry (R-TX) of transport mismanagement (AP)
  • Seattle metro-area planners envision tolls on all local highways within 20 years (S. Times)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

TIGER Restored, Transit Expansion Funds Cut in 2016 Spending Bill

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As the House and the Senate get to work on hashing out a multi-year transportation bill in conference committee, Congress is also putting together its annual spending package for transportation. The annual bill decides the fate of several discretionary programs, and earlier this year it looked like US DOT’s TIGER grants, which tend to fund multi-modal projects at […]

AFL-CIO Flexing Its Muscle for Senate Transit Operating Aid Bill

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The AFL-CIO, a formidable lobbying force in Washington, is throwing its weight behind a Senate bill offered last week that would authorize $2 billion in emergency funding for transit agencies forced to hike fares or cut service in lean budgetary times. Rev. Jesse Jackson, second from left, has joined transit workers’ unions in their Save […]

House Bill Makes Connection Between Transit Funding and Gas Price Relief

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Here’s an alternative to the "Drill Now!" mantra that doesn’t involve ethanol subsidies or depleting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Earlier this month, Congressman Earl Blumenauer introduced the Transportation and Housing Choices for Gas Price Relief Act [PDF]. Blumenauer’s hometown paper, The Oregonian, calls the measure a "smart bill": The key word in that title is […]