U.S. DOT
Basics
Silver Lining to the U.S. DOT Shakeup: Barbara McCann Joins the Team
The loss of Polly Trottenberg and John Porcari from U.S. DOT was a blow for livability advocates. But into the void has slipped Barbara McCann, an architect of the Complete Streets movement. McCann starts Monday as the new director of the Office of Safety, Energy and Environment in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation.
January 8, 2014
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
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
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
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
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
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
Why Are State DOTs So Afraid of Accountability?
Deron Lovaas is the federal transportation policy director for NRDC. A version of this article appeared on his blog this morning.
September 13, 2013
Old Solutions: U.S. DOT’s Proposed Strategic Plan Falls Short
Andy Clarke is the president of the League of American Bicyclists. This article originally appeared on the League's blog.
September 6, 2013