Federal Funding
Basics
Report: Get Out of the Highway-Obsessed Eisenhower Era
Building America’s Future, led by former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, has added their voice to the chorus calling for greater investment in U.S. infrastructure, lest the country fall behind its global competitors. In a new report, Falling Apart and Falling Behind, BAF recommends more focus on mass transit, a switch away from formula funding without performance requirements, and more emphasis on metropolitan areas.
August 8, 2011
Debt Deal Could Mean More Painful Cuts for Transportation
The House and Senate are getting close to voting on a deal, reached over the weekend, to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending.
August 1, 2011
Bike League: “Eligibility” for Bike-Ped Isn’t the Same As “Dedicated Funding”
At this point, we’re not expecting any movement on a transportation bill, in either house, before the August recess. (After that, get ready for a panicked frenzy of activity ahead of the September 30 deadline.)
July 27, 2011
The Dangers of Touting the Job-Creation Benefits of Transpo Investment
Earlier this week, President Obama spoke to reporters at the White House. Fully aware of the growing concern in the country over the “jobless recovery,” Obama led off by talking about jobs – and pushing Congress to pass a transportation reauthorization. But was he using the wrong talking point?
July 1, 2011
Stimulus-Backed Programs Struggle to Stay Alive After Funds Run Out
In an old supermarket space in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, a diverse community of bicycle aficionados are getting greasy. Young and old, Latino and white, they are truing wheels and replacing cables and adjusting brakes in L.A.’s newest, and completely unplanned, bike co-op.
June 29, 2011
NJ Rep. Frelinghuysen Goes After HSR Money Destined For His Own State
As towns flanking the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers continue to be inundated with historically high water, it’s good to see Congress taking action to provide some relief. Unfortunately, that relief comes on the back of high-speed rail programs.
June 23, 2011
Bipartisan Policy Center Proposes Major Redesign of Federal Funding
With the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee set to introduce its reauthorization bill the first week of July and the Senate EPW Committee already behind on its own timeline to introduce its own, think tanks and policy groups have a limited amount of time left to influence the process. The Bipartisan Policy Center got into the act yesterday with its report, “Performance Driven: Achieving Wiser Investment in Transportation.”
June 17, 2011
Fmr. Comptroller General: We Can’t Solve Our Problems With Spending Cuts
In an op-ed in this morning’s New York Times, Laura D’Andrea Tyson argues for increased investment in infrastructure, pointing out that the nation’s infrastructure will deteriorate quickly if spending is not increased. Tyson chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton and currently serves on President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
June 3, 2011
Highwayman Inhofe Still Wants to Rob Bike/Ped Funding From Transpo Bill
Last week, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) briefed reporters on the points of consensus reached by the four leaders of the Environment and Public Works Committee with regard to the transportation bill. In answer to a question by Streetsblog, she said that guaranteed federal funding for bike and pedestrian programs would be in the bill. She made it clear that bicycling and walking were important modes of transportation that deserve “good attention” in the bill.
June 3, 2011
What The Debt Ceiling Vote Means For Transportation
Yesterday, the House of Representatives took a “symbolic” vote on raising the debt ceiling without any “strings attached” – i.e., the trillion dollars worth of spending cuts the Republicans are insisting on before they’ll agree to raise the debt ceiling.
June 1, 2011