Federal Funding
Basics
Dems Grudgingly Approve House Transpo Extension’s Disastrous Timeline
Yesterday, during the one-hour debate period over the House proposal to extend transportation funding through May 31, lawmaker after lawmaker stood up to condemn the bill. America needs a long-term transportation bill, they said. A short-term stopgap only creates more uncertainty.
July 16, 2014
House, Senate Take Different Paths to Prop Up Transportation Funding
This morning, the House Ways and Means Committee passed its plan to prop up the Highway Trust Fund -- which pays for transit and bike/ped infrastructure in addition to roads -- until May 2015. A few hours later, the Senate Finance Committee approved a plan of its own, with no deadline attached.
July 10, 2014
House Proposes 8-Month Transpo Bill In Hopes for a Republican Senate in 2015
While a six-year Senate transportation bill languishes in partisan purgatory, the House Ways and Means Committee has proposed an eight-month patch that would backfill the Highway Trust Fund until May 31, 2015. That would punt the transportation bill debate until a new Congress takes over -- one that’s expected to have Republican majorities in both chambers.
July 9, 2014
With No Transport Funding Fix, USDOT to Cut Payments to States Next Month
State transportation departments could see the federal funding they receive pared back as early as a few weeks from now if Congress doesn't come up with a transportation funding solution.
July 2, 2014
FHWA: Bike-Ped Investments Pay Off By Cutting Traffic and Improving Health
Nine years after launching a program to measure the impact of bike and pedestrian investments in four communities, the Federal Highway Administration credits the program with increasing walking trips by nearly a quarter and biking trips by nearly half, while averting 85 million miles of driving since its inception.
June 26, 2014
Senator Pat Toomey Fights to Spare America From Safe Streets
You know the Senate is close to passing transportation legislation when someone introduces a hare-brained amendment to ban bike and pedestrian programs.
June 25, 2014
“Rally for Roads” Demands Transportation Funding Fix
This morning, the road construction industry rallied in front of the U.S. Capitol to demand that Congress invest in infrastructure. But some of the best-known transportation reformers in Washington were also on hand for an event that didn't focus on one mode over others.
June 11, 2014
Why the Senate Transportation Bill Will Devastate Transit
Transit officials lined up today to make clear that holding transit spending at current levels -- as the Senate’s transportation authorization bill does -- will put transit systems at risk of falling further into dangerous disrepair.
May 22, 2014
Sen. Bob Corker Sets Up for Gas Tax Increase, Yanks the Football
Last week -- Infrastructure Week, as it happens -- Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) sent an urgent plea [PDF] to the leaders of the Environment and Public Works Committee the day before they unanimously approved the committee's transportation reauthorization bill and sent it to the full Senate. Corker also sent his letter to the top members of the Finance Committee, who are actually in charge of finding funding for the bill, since the Highway Trust Fund alone comes $100 billion short.
May 20, 2014
Senate Transportation Bill Moves Forward With a Few Key Changes
The Senate’s proposal for the next transportation reauthorization took another step forward today with the unanimous approval of the Environment and Public Works Committee. The bill the members sent to the full Senate was slightly different from the one that was unveiled Monday night.
May 15, 2014