U.S. DOT
Basics
High-Speed Rail Lobbying Campaign Revives the “$4B” Rallying Cry
The lobbying coalition that helped prod Congress into approving $2.5 billion for high-speed rail last year -- twice as much as the Senate had originally set aside -- today kicked off a new campaign urging lawmakers to approve $4 billion for bullet trains next year and $2.6 billion for Amtrak.
May 11, 2010
U.S. DOT Proposes Giving Minority-Owned Firms Greater Shot at Contracts
Women- and minority-owned companies would have an easier time winning federal transportation contracts under a new rule released by the Obama administration today, which comes in the wake of complaints from social-equity advocates that such firms had received just 2 percent of infrastructure contracts awarded under last year's economic stimulus law.
May 7, 2010
LaHood Answers GOP Critic, Soothes Dem Skeptic of Sustainability Budget
As Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tangled with a senior GOP senator today over the White House's $500 million-plus request for its inter-agency office of sustainable communities -- a new project aimed at channeling federal energy towards local transit-oriented and smart growth plans -- an influential Democrat joined her fellow senator in raising questions about diverting highway money to the effort.
May 6, 2010
Expectations for High-Speed Rail Coming Down to Earth
Three months after the Obama administration announced the first winners of what it hopes will be the first of many federal grants to build U.S. high-speed rail networks, advocates and planners are settling in for a long battle to surmount the obstacles and unknowns that stand in the way of long-term bullet train development.
May 5, 2010
Senate Dems Unveil Auto Safety Legislation
Democrats are moving quickly on their plan to take a unified approach to auto safety reforms in the aftermath of the Toyota recalls, with Senate Commerce Committee members releasing a new bill today that would quintuple the maximum existing penalties for carmakers who -- like Toyota -- fail to promptly notify the public of defective products.
May 4, 2010
Alabama ‘English-Only’ Ad Raises Specter of Lost Federal Transport Money
Some campaign commercials win instant fame, while others go the infamy route -- as is the case with an ad cut by Alabama Republican Tim James, who promises voters that if he is elected governor this fall, drivers' license exams will be given only in English.
May 3, 2010
RITA Speaks: What Technology Can Do for Transportation Safety
Among the myriad of smaller agencies that comprise the U.S. DOT, the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) tends to stay in the background, not unlike the wonky, computer-hacking sidekicks often found in action movies.
April 29, 2010
Dem and GOP Senators Seek More Long-Term Rail Vision From Obama Aides
The senior Democratic and Republican senators in charge of setting annual transportation spending levels today urged the leader of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to develop a more comprehensive plan for using the White House's high-speed rail program to spur the development of viable U.S. train networks.
April 29, 2010
U.S. DOT Releases Rules for ‘TIGER II’ Grants, Bringing HUD on Board
The U.S. DOT today released its first round of guidance for the so-called "TIGER II" program, a $600 million pot of competitive transportation grants considered a quasi-sequel to the popular $1.5 billion merit-based fund included in last year's stimulus law.
April 26, 2010
Congress Approves Repayment for U.S. DOT Workers Furloughed by Bunning
After a six-week delay, Congress last night agreed to repay U.S. DOT employees for the two days of work they missed when Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) filibustered an extension of the 2005 transportation law, forcing a temporary shutdown of much of the federal agency's business.
April 16, 2010