Federal Funding
Basics
How States Are Adapting to MAP-21’s Changes to Bike/Ped Funding
The current transportation law dealt a few hard knocks to bicycling and walking programs. One big one was the restructuring of the Transportation Enhancements program into something called Transportation Alternatives, which has to fund more types of projects with less money.
November 28, 2012
GAO: States “Flexing” Fewer Federal Dollars to Transit
Supporters of livable streets may hear about the “flexibility” of transportation dollars and cringe – after all, that word often refers to the ability of states to use bike/ped money for road building. But flexibility can work both ways. Between 2007 and 2011, states devoted $5 billion in surface transportation funds -- known in some quarters as "highway money" -- to transit programs, according to the Government Accountability Office.
November 21, 2012
Will the Next Transpo Chair Continue Attacks on Bike/Ped Funding?
This is the second of two posts examining Rep. Bill Shuster’s candidacy for the chairmanship of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Yesterday, we took a look at Shuster's positions on rail and his leadership style. Here we delve into his record on active transportation and the always-thorny topic of funding.
November 15, 2012
What Has President Obama Done to Improve American Transportation Policy?
With the election just days away, it’s a good time to reflect on what the Obama administration has done with transportation policy – and what a Romney administration might have in store. Streetsblog does not endorse candidates. This is an overview of their respective records and a look back at what we know of these two men. We’ll start with President Obama in this post and move on to Mitt Romney in the next one.
November 2, 2012
Why Recovery Aid Is Getting to Roads Faster Than Transit
As we reported yesterday, MAP-21 went into effect just in time for Hurricane Sandy, allowing the Federal Transit Administration similar emergency grant-making authority as FHWA. But Adam Snider at Politico reminded us this morning that the change is easier said than done.
October 31, 2012
At NACTO Conference, LaHood Delivers Straight Talk on MAP-21
After a rousing opening speech from NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took the stage at the "Designing Cities" conference of the National Association of City Transportation Officials yesterday. Streetsblog stringer Dani Simons was there and briefed us on the highlights.
October 25, 2012
Five Factors That Will Determine Whether TIFIA Benefits Transit
Phineas Baxandall is a senior analyst at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
October 16, 2012
How MAP-21 Allocates Transpo Funds Where They’re Needed Least
Transportation reauthorizations have typically not been a time for major discussions about national policy goals. They’ve been a time for getting while the getting’s good, a time for deal-making and pork and a lot of back-room transactions to make sure every member of Congress could go home and talk about how much federal money they were bringing home.
October 3, 2012
What Would Happen If Washington Cuts Transpo Funding 35 Percent?
The Republicans have retreated from their insistence on cutting transportation spending by 35 percent to match Highway Trust Fund revenues -- for now. But the problem is far from solved. As a reminder of the dangers such a policy presents, the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Eno Center for Transportation put out a new report yesterday on the potential consequences of a 35 percent cut in transportation spending.
September 14, 2012
Boxer Demands Restoration of MAP-21 Funding Levels
The MAP-21 transportation bill was just signed two months ago, and its funding levels, agreed to by a difficult and fragile compromise between warring political parties, are already under attack.
September 12, 2012