Government Organizations

One of the most important federal transit programs has undergone a makeover, and transit advocates are cheering the results.

Cross-posted from the Strong Towns blog. 

Perhaps Rep. John Mica's most remarkable legacy as chair of the House Transportation Committee is the single-minded focus he gave to attacking Amtrak. Under the guise of wanting it to succeed, Mica has repeatedly excoriated it as a "Soviet-style monopoly" and a waste of taxpayer dollars. He's tried to sell off its only profitable line, the Northeast Corridor, and made a mockery of every aspect of its operations, right down to food service. If there's anything he got more glee out of criticizing, it was the Transportation Security Administration.

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.

Senate titan Daniel Inouye passed away Monday at 88. The Hawaii senator was the longest-serving member in the chamber at the time he died.

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.

As you might expect, given the billions America spends on highways, measuring the activity of motorists is practically an industry unto itself.

OK, truth: Raise your hand if you find federal transportation legislation intimidating and incomprehensible.

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.