Northeastern Republicans, like New York's Nan Hayworth and Pennsylvania's Mike Fitzpatrick, have signed on to an amendment, sponsored by Manhattan Democrat Jerry Nadler, that would restore dedicated federal funding for transit.
The House GOP bill, drafted with significant input from Speaker John Boehner's office, would eliminate mass transit's dedicated funding stream, first signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1982. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former House Republican, has called it "the worst transportation bill I’ve ever seen during 35 years of public service."
Some congressional Republicans, especially those who represent transit riders, agree that de-funding transit would be unacceptable. The Nadler amendment has bipartisan support from six Democrats and six Republicans. The GOP side includes New York's Chris Gibson, Bob Turner, Michael Grimm and Nan Hayworth, as well as Ohio's Steve LaTourette and Pennsylvania's Mike Fitzpatrick.
For the other Republicans, though, it's not clear whether the attack on transit is a dealbreaker. Hayworth, for example, made it clear in a statement to Streetsblog that her district needs a strong and well-funded transit system, but didn't commit to a particular course of action on the transportation bill.
"I am concerned about the way in which the transportation bill that is developing within the House of Representatives may affect mass transit and infrastructure in New York. Adequately funding improvements to the Metro-North Railroad and replacing the aging Tappan Zee Bridge are critical priorities for the Hudson Valley," she said. "As the bill advances, I will continue working with my colleagues both in Congress and the Hudson Valley to ensure that our mass transit and infrastructure needs are supported as fully as possible."
Gibson and Grimm's offices have not responded to Streetsblog inquiries about the transportation bill.
New York's editorial boards have widely opposed the bill. The New York Times, the New York Daily News, and the Newark Star-Ledger have all editorialized against the House transportation bill. This weekend, Newsday joined the fray, calling the bill "catastrophic for our region."
Noah joined Streetsblog as a New York City reporter at the start of 2010. When he was a kid, he collected subway paraphernalia in a Vignelli-map shoebox.
Before coming to Streetsblog, he blogged at TheCityFix DC and worked as a field organizer for the Obama campaign in Toledo, Ohio. Noah graduated from Yale University, where he wrote his senior thesis on the class politics of transportation reform in New York City. He lives in Morningside Heights.
Delivery vans and trucks are responsible for nearly a third of urban emissions, and a lot of congestion and traffic violence, too. Here's how cities can replace many of them with clean, safe cargo bikes.
Santa Monica's recently completed 17th Street bikeway improvements have a "region leading design" featuring Southern California's first protected "Dutch-style" intersections, plus concrete curb protection, and makes great connections to the city's growing bikeway network.