Government Organizations
Basics
Another Bike/Ped Safety Bill Coming Soon, Courtesy of Rep. Albio Sires
His remarks came on the heels of yesterday's release of national safety data that confirmed that pedestrian and cyclist fatalities comprise a growing share of overall traffic deaths.
November 15, 2013
It’s Official: 33,561 People Killed in Traffic on American Streets Last Year
The official 2012 death toll is out for our nation's poorly-designed, auto-centric transportation system. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic injuries on the nation's roadways claimed the lives of 33,561 people. The headline of the agency's press release, "NHTSA Data Confirms Traffic Fatalities Increased In 2012," is quickly walked back by the subhed, which attempts a silver lining: "Highway deaths over the past 5 years remain at historic lows."
November 14, 2013
HUD and U.S. DOT Embrace Housing + Transportation Metric for Affordability
A few years ago, the Center for Neighborhood Technology gave a wonderful gift to urbanists and planners: the Housing + Transportation Index. This simple calculation clarified and popularized a key concept: that transportation costs must be taken into account in any measurement of “affordability.”
November 12, 2013
With Senate on Fire, Can Cory Booker Save Its Transportation Committees?
Outside of New Jersey, Cory Booker is probably best known for running into a burning building to save a woman’s life. Inside New Jersey, he's better known for trying -- with mixed results -- to turn around the state's biggest and perhaps most troubled city, Newark. Nowhere has he made a particular name for himself on transportation.
November 1, 2013
Was TIGER Eliminated in the Shutdown Deal?
Soon after the government shutdown ended, we heard murmurs that the TIGER grant program for innovative transportation projects had been a casualty of the negotiations.
October 24, 2013
U.S. DOT Still Has Time to Get MAP-21 Performance Measures Right
Many transportation reform advocates were disappointed in the performance measures included in MAP-21, which was signed into law in July 2012. They weren’t tied to funding, they gave states and localities too much leeway to set their own performance targets, and they measured the wrong things. But there’s still a chance for them to get much stronger.
October 11, 2013
Cycling So Popular in Georgia That Lawmaker Carl Rogers Wants to Ban It
Responding to a cycling boom in northern Georgia, a bill introduced in the state house would require bicyclists to purchase license plates and limit how and where they ride.
October 7, 2013
Shutdown: Congress Prepares to Furlough One-Third of U.S. DOT Staff
Looks like we’re heading for a real, honest-to-goodness government shutdown tomorrow due to a childish Congressional food fight over budgets and health care. Already this year, thousands of government employees faced furloughs due to sequestration, and now they're looking at an indefinite unpaid leave. It'll last until Congress can play nice and make a deal on the budget and health care, and who knows when that will be.
September 30, 2013
As Deadline Approaches, Amtrak’s Indy-Chicago Line Faces Cuts
Notices may soon start appearing at train stations around the United States warning of possible service disruptions as states struggle to finalize funding agreements with Amtrak. All "state-supported" Amtrak routes -- those shorter than 750 miles -- are up against an October 16 deadline to come up with state funds to support passenger rail operations under the 2008 PRIIA law. So far, only seven out of 19 agreements in 15 states with state-supported lines have hammered out final agreements.
September 17, 2013
Despite Texas DOT’s Shenanigans, El Paso Will Go Ahead With Bike-Share
El Paso bike-share is moving forward, despite Texas DOT's attempt to kill the whole project. That's the word today from a state representative in El Paso on the latest development in the city's proposal for a 200-bike system.
September 13, 2013