Government Organizations
Basics
You Can Help Make State DOTs Accountable for How They Spend
Pressure is mounting on the president and Congress to keep roads and bridges from falling apart by increasing transportation funding. But a big part of the problem is states, which receive the lion's share of federal transportation funds but opt to spend most on new roads, instead of maintaining existing infrastructure.
April 27, 2015
Boxer and Inhofe Say Transportation Bill Almost Ready, Funding Still TBD
Two leading Washington lawmakers assured reporters Wednesday that a long-term transportation bill is coming, but provided little in the way of details.
April 17, 2015
FHWA Will Help Cities Get Serious About Measuring Biking and Walking
The lack of good data on walking and biking is a big problem. Advocates say current metrics yield a spotty and incomplete picture of how much, where, and why Americans walk and bike. The U.S. Census only tells us about commuting -- a fairly small share of total trips. The more detailed National Household Transportation Survey comes with its own drawbacks: It's conducted infrequently and doesn't provide useful data at a local scale.
April 15, 2015
5 Things the USDA Learned From Its First National Survey of Food Access
The links between transportation, development patterns, and people's access to healthy food are under increasing scrutiny from policy makers trying to address America's obesity epidemic.
April 10, 2015
Meet the Man on a Mission to Make Florida Walkable and Bikeable
Billy Hattaway just might have the most challenging job in any American transportation agency. As the Florida Department of Transportation's lead official on bicycle and pedestrian safety, he's charged with making Florida -- consistently rated among the deadliest states for walking and biking -- safe for people to get around under their own power.
March 30, 2015
Movement in Congress to Let Cities and Towns Access Federal Transpo Funds
Finally, proof that Congress is capable of crafting smart transportation legislation and not just zany ways to avoid raising the gas tax.
March 23, 2015
The American Highway Safety Establishment Warms Up Some Leftovers
A group of heavy hitters in the road building and traffic safety establishment recently came out with a plan called "Toward Zero Deaths" [PDF], presented as an ambitious strategy to cut traffic fatalities in America. But don't get too excited by the branding -- the ideas inside don't present much of a challenge to practices that have made the U.S. a shameful laggard on traffic safety compared to other affluent nations.
March 20, 2015
How the Lure of Spending Keeps Dumb Highway Projects Alive
Decades ago, Ohio officials drew a line on a map -- the Eastern Corridor, a highway for commuters living in Cincinnati's eastern suburbs. No matter how much time has passed and how little sense it makes to build that highway today, that line can still seem like destiny.
March 2, 2015
Americans Are Driving Less, But Road Expansion Is Accelerating
Americans drive fewer miles today than in 2005, but since that time the nation has built 317,000 lane-miles of new roads -- or about 40,000 miles per year. Maybe that helps explain why America's infrastructure is falling apart.
February 20, 2015
Wisconsin Dumps One Urban Highway Boondoggle in Favor of Another
One of the nation's most poorly conceived highway proposals will become slightly less ridiculous. Transportation officials in Wisconsin recently announced they will no longer consider double-decking a portion of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee. The billion-dollar project would have raised the highway to building height in the Story Hill neighborhood.
February 19, 2015