Government Organizations
Basics
Streetsblog’s Suggested Edits to U.S. DOT’s Seven Priorities for 2014
Just before we went on holiday break, U.S. DOT’s Inspector General’s office released a document [PDF] detailing the department’s top challenges for the year ahead. The document calls them “management challenges” but by and large it’s just a list of seven things the Inspector General thinks DOT needs to do to meet its mission of providing a “safe and well-managed transportation system” to strengthen the U.S. economy and improve “the quality of life for the traveling public.”
January 8, 2014
Bike Signals Get the Green Light From Engineering Establishment
Think of it as a Christmas gift: On December 24, the gatekeepers who determine which street treatments should become standard tools for American engineers decided to add bike signals to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sometimes called "the bible of traffic engineering."
January 6, 2014
Leadership Shakeup at U.S. DOT: What Will It Mean for Transit and Biking?
Two of the Obama administration's top transportation officials are heading elsewhere, creating a leadership shake-up at U.S. DOT.
January 3, 2014
NYC’s Next Transportation Commissioner Is Polly Trottenberg
Bill de Blasio has appointed U.S. DOT Under Secretary for Policy Polly Trottenberg to lead the New York City Department of Transportation. Trottenberg is a veteran federal policy maker, whose resume includes stints working for New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan on the 1998 federal transportation bill and for Senator Chuck Schumer.
January 2, 2014
New Layer of Red Tape From FHWA Threatens to Delay NYC Bike Projects
The Federal Highway Administration is seeking to impose a new layer of bureaucratic review on New York City bike projects, which could significantly delay the implementation of street redesigns that have proven to reduce traffic injuries and deaths.
December 20, 2013
Transpo Agencies Are Terrible at Predicting Traffic Levels
Americans' travel behavior is changing dramatically. It seems like not a week passes without a new report about the decline in driving. But are state and local transportation agencies -- which are responsible for much of the nation's highway and transportation planning -- keeping up with the facts on the ground? A review of the evidence by the State Smart Transportation Initiative finds the answer is a definitive "No."
December 17, 2013
Will Old Transit Systems Eat Up All the New Starts Grants?
One of MAP-21’s many mixed blessings was the New Starts Core Capacity program. It expanded eligibility for New Starts grants -- normally reserved as capital assistance for new transit lines -- to existing corridors. To qualify, the system just had to show that the improvements would expand the capacity of the line by at least 10 percent.
December 17, 2013
It Could Cost More to Shut Down Cincy Streetcar Than Finish It
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory is frustrated that all his work to bring the streetcar to fruition might be for naught, now that anti-streetcar John Cranley has been elected to take his place. “I’m from the tough part of town,” Mallory joked. “I will take the guy in a dark alley. I’m not afraid to use the threat of physical violence.”
November 21, 2013
Senators Warner and Blunt Take Another Stab at an Infrastructure Bank
You’d be forgiven for being cynical about big plans in Washington to create an infrastructure bank.
November 19, 2013
Lawmakers Score Conservative Bona Fides By Attacking Efficient Transport
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Congressman Tom Graves (R-Georgia) have introduced a bill to eliminate federal involvement in transportation policy, which would spell disaster for funding that supports transit, biking, and walking. A largely symbolic vote in favor of "devolution" will allow Republican members of Congress to demonstrate their conservative bona fides.
November 18, 2013