Reauthorization
Basics
Inhofe’s DRIVE Act — Not as Big a Disaster as You Might Think
No, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's new six-year bill, obnoxiously named the DRIVE Act (Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy) [PDF], won't usher in a more enlightened era of federal transportation policy. But neither would it be a significant step backward. And with the realization setting in that further extensions of current law might be impossible, the DRIVE Act could actually become the nation's first long-term transportation authorization in a decade.
June 23, 2015
A Quick Guide to the State of Transpo Policy on Capitol Hill
Coming back to Streetsblog after a few months away, I needed to get up to speed on the latest with transportation-related legislation, and I thought some of you might too. Here’s what you need to know:
June 19, 2015
Transpo Bill Update: Congress Tees Up Two More Months of the Same
Can anything spur Congress to overhaul a federal transportation policy that lets states run amok building highway expansions while the rest of our infrastructure goes to seed? Don't hold your breath -- the cycle of extending the status quo transportation bill is starting all over again.
May 18, 2015
4 Things to Know as Transportation Bill Negotiations Heat Up
Lawmakers in Washington are just beginning their latest attempt to craft the first long-term transportation bill in roughly a decade. The current bill expires in just a few months, on May 31, but in Congress that's an eternity. While it's a long way from go time, the contours of the debate are starting to become apparent.
February 18, 2015
Talking Headways: You’ve Got to Fight for Your Right to Party Politics
Has the stupor worn off yet? Election Day was last Tuesday, and we'll be living with the results for years. But Beth Osborne, a former Hill staffer and U.S. DOT official now at Transportation for America, says the changes on the Hill are no big deal: Nothing was getting done anyway.
November 13, 2014
Don’t Look Now, But the House Amtrak Bill Actually Has Some Good Ideas
Tomorrow, the House Transportation Committee will consider a bill that changes the nation’s policies on passenger rail. The proposal, while it includes some cuts, is a departure from the senseless vendetta many House Republicans have waged against Amtrak in the past. The National Association of Railroad Passengers, NARP, says the plan contains "commonsense regulatory and governance reforms."
September 16, 2014
Why the Next Fight Over Bike/Ped Funding Won’t Be Like the Last
When Congress passed a two-year transportation bill in 2012, active transportation advocates had to scrape and claw for every penny of funding for walking and biking programs. When the dust settled, it seemed they would have to repeat the same old battles when the law expired.
September 11, 2014
Congress Hits the Snooze Button on Transpo Funding Until May
Someone had to cave and last night, it was the Senate.
August 1, 2014
Time’s Up: 6 Things to Know About Today’s Transpo Showdown (UPDATED)
UPDATE 2:40 p.m.: The House has rejected the Senate amendment, as expected.
July 31, 2014
Dems Grudgingly Approve House Transpo Extension’s Disastrous Timeline
Yesterday, during the one-hour debate period over the House proposal to extend transportation funding through May 31, lawmaker after lawmaker stood up to condemn the bill. America needs a long-term transportation bill, they said. A short-term stopgap only creates more uncertainty.
July 16, 2014