Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Barack Obama

State of the Union 2012: What Will Obama Say About Transportation?

Place your bets! The State of the Union address is on Tuesday, and Transportation Nation has put together an interactive chart that displays how many times Obama has used words like "trains," "roads," and "bridges" in his speeches over the last year.

Image: ##http://transportationnation.org/2012/01/20/interactive-chart-in-2011-obamas-infrastructure-focus-shifts-from-building-to-fixing/##Transportation Nation

In last year's State of the Union, you may recall, Obama announced his intentions to give 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years. (You may also recall that at that time very few people had heard of the debt ceiling.) Since then, his speeches have focused more on repairing damaged infrastructure in order to generate jobs, devoting many more words to roads and bridges than to transit.

There was a flurry of activity in September and October, when Obama was stumping for his jobs bill. There's also a noticeable blip in April, when Obama was asking for a long-term surface transportation bill that bolstered America's "roadways, runways, and railways." So far, Congress has given him neither.

Transportation Nation helpfully provides a link to the underlying data so you can make your own chart.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Does the Media Help Create the Traffic Violence Crisis?

Which came first: the chicken (deadly driving) or the egg (a culture that normalizes it)?

March 25, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Are Off Track

Amtrak's CEO resigned in an effort to protect the passenger rail system from the Trump administration, the AP reports.

March 25, 2025

It’s Time For State DOTs to Step Up and Do a Better Job

As federal support for active modes gets clawed back, state DOTs could play a more important role in America's transportation system — and a new report argues they need to innovate.

March 24, 2025

Monday’s Headlines Pedal Away

When you free yourself/ It's the chance of a lifetime

March 24, 2025

What’s Next for L.A.’s Groundbreaking Bike/Bus/Walk Law?

L.A. county is trying to get out of implementing a law that L.A. city passed with strong support.

March 21, 2025
See all posts