House of Representatives
Basics
Transit Tax Benefit Equalized With Parking Benefit in Fiscal Cliff Deal
Happy New Year, transit riders! Thanks to some shrewd maneuvering on the part of some U.S. Senators, transit commuters will be able to claim as much in tax benefits as car commuters do in 2013.
January 2, 2013
Blumenauer: Let’s Stop Hiding in Fear of a Mileage Fee
In June, the House of Representatives voted to ban U.S. DOT from even studying the viability of switching from the gas tax to a vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee. But the tide may be turning: The sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Chip Cravaack, has been ousted from Congress, the amendment itself is on the skids, and a new bill would actually require the government to study the VMT option.
December 17, 2012
LaHood: “We’re Not Giving Up on High-Speed Rail” in California
California Republicans from Fresno and Bakersfield put their foot down in a House hearing yesterday, rejecting the high-speed rail project whose initial segment would run between those two cities.
December 7, 2012
Four Republicans Who Might Work Across the Aisle on Transportation
UPDATE: An earlier version of this article included Robert Dold as the fifth potential aisle-crosser. I've since been informed that Dold lost his re-election bid this year. Charlie Bass and Judy Biggert, named briefly at the bottom for supporting the Senate transportation bill and Amtrak funding, also lost their elections, making this list even shorter.
December 4, 2012
UPDATE: Reminder: Amtrak Subsidies Pale in Comparison to Highway Subsidies
UPDATED 9/24 with chart.
September 21, 2012
Rep. Steve LaTourette Leaving Congress, Cites Disgust Over Transpo Bill
We mentioned last week that transit advocates were losing one supporter in Congress: Russ Carnahan of Missouri. They'll be suffering another grave loss come January: Ohio Republican Steve LaTourette.
August 16, 2012
How State DOTs Got Congress to Grant Their Wish List
Bike and pedestrian funding got slashed. Federal assistance for transit operations was rejected. Even the performance measures – arguably the high point of the recently passed federal transportation bill – are too weak to be very meaningful. For Americans who want federal policy to support safe streets, sustainable transportation, and livable neighborhoods, there were few bright spots in the transportation bill Congress passed last month.
July 24, 2012
Tea Party Deficit Hawks Don’t Mind Charging the Taxpayer For Personal Cars
From the Drivers-Don't-Pay-Their-Own-Way Department...
July 19, 2012
The Awful Truth About the Transpo Bill’s Bike/Ped Loophole
In the immediate, panicked moments after the MAP-21 conference report was released, I missed some of the nuances of just how bad a deal this bill is for bike policy.
July 12, 2012
Under New Bill, America’s Transpo Loan Program Ignores National Goals
In the highly polarized and antagonistic transportation bill negotiations, dragged out over the course of almost a year, there was one thing that Democrats and Republicans could agree on: vastly expanding the TIFIA loan program. The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program has, since 1998, provided federal credit assistance at favorable interest rates to surface transportation projects of national and regional significance.
July 3, 2012