Government Organizations
Basics
There’s No Doubt: Traffic Enforcement Cameras Save Lives
Gawker dished out some richly-deserved ridicule to Tennessee State Senator Jon Lundberg yesterday, following reports that he is co-sponsoring legislation to outlaw the specific speeding camera that nabbed him doing 60 in a 45 zone last October. Lundberg denied that the incident had any impact on his decision to sponsor in the legislation, and contested the violation to boot.
May 16, 2013
NTSB: States Should Have Tougher Drunk Driving Rules
The National Transportation Safety Board announced today it will recommend lowering the legal blood-alcohol limit from .08 to .05 percent, saying the U.S. is too tolerant of drunk driving. The recommendation comes as the NTSB released a new report on drunk driving [PDF], establishing a goal of zero deaths.
May 14, 2013
Will the Nation’s First Strategic Freight Plan be Multi-Modal?
Congress is joining U.S. DOT in committing more resources to a national freight plan, a more strategic way of moving goods than the current haphazard and fragmented current approach. As mandated by MAP-21, U.S. DOT is working on a strategic plan for a nationwide freight network, and last month, Congress kicked off its contribution, holding an inaugural hearing of the new, specially-appointed freight panel of the House Transportation Committee. At that first hearing, panel members heard from representatives of the trucking, freight rail, and shipping industries, as well as labor.
May 6, 2013
Sustainability Busts Out of Its Cubicle, Permeates DOT, HUD, and EPA
The Partnership for Sustainable Communities has had a rough couple of years. The program got zeroed out of the 2012 budget, and the 2013 budget is just a carbon copy of 2012. But they’re looking to make a comeback.
May 3, 2013
A Golden Opportunity for Congress to Avoid the Transportation “Fiscal Cliff”
MAP-21 expires in a year and five months. When it does, if lawmakers haven’t already found a solution to the “transportation fiscal cliff,” they’ll have to do one of three things, according to a report issued last week by the Congressional Budget Office [PDF]:
May 1, 2013
Meet Your Next Transportation Secretary
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx just accepted President Obama’s nomination to be the next transportation secretary.
April 29, 2013
Congress Indulges in Crazy Talk About De-Funding Transit and Taxing Bikes
The House is a dangerous place these days. You want to have a fruitful conversation about how to solve the transportation funding crisis and you end up ruminating about whether to tax bikes.
April 26, 2013
TIGER’s Love Affair With Freight — And Bikes
This article is the second of a two-part series about how U.S. DOT's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program -- TIGER, a discretionary grant program that got its start under the Recovery Act in 2009 -- has made transportation planning more strategic, based on a benefit-cost analysis and national goals. Read the first part here, about Republicans' empty charges of political bias.
April 26, 2013
In Colorado, a Big Legal Victory for Active Transportation Funding
Believe it or not, in many U.S. states one of the biggest obstacles to active transportation is in the constitution.
April 25, 2013