Transportation Policy
Basics
House Jobs Bill Could Make General Electric’s Amtrak Wish Come True
The House is poised to take up a jobs bill later today that provides $37.3 billion in new transportation spending, including $27.5 billion for roads, $8.4 billion for transit ... and a holiday gift for General Electric?
December 16, 2009
Geithner Adviser Backs ‘More Merit-Based’ Infrastructure Spending
Treasury Department counselor Gene Sperling told senators today that "we definitely support looking at ... more merit-based" approaches to transportation spending, particularly an expansion of the stimulus law's competitive TIGER grants and a national infrastructure bank.
December 16, 2009
VIDEO: LaHood Visits ‘The Daily Show’ to Talk Transportation
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood visited Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night to talk about his department's role in the stimulus debate, infrastructure modernization, and development of a U.S. high-speed rail system. Check out the video above (and let us know what you thought in the comments).
December 16, 2009
House Jobs Bill Mimics the Stimulus: $27.5B for Roads, $8.4B for Transit
The House is slated to vote as soon as tomorrow on a job-creation package that includes $27.5 billion for highways and $8.4 billion for transit, according to a transportation committee document obtained by Streetsblog Capitol Hill.
December 15, 2009
New Report: Minority-Owned Businesses Left Out of Transport Stimulus
Women and minorities are getting shortchanged in the chase for transportation stimulus contracts, according to a report released today by the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) and Good Jobs First.
December 15, 2009
The Footnote to All Those Complaints About Tax Cuts as Stimulus
Transportation reformers and status quo-lovers alike smacked their foreheads in frustration when the White House's first stimulus plan lowballed infrastructure to make room for tax breaks that had little demonstrable effect on job creation -- particularly the $70 billion adjustment of the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
December 15, 2009
On the Pitfalls and Benefits of National Transit Safety Standards
The second hearing in three days on the Obama administration's proposal for national transit safety rules made headlines mostly for its affect on the Washington D.C. area, where Sen. Barbara Mikulski's (D-MD) blistering critique of the local Metro rail system prompted high-level management switches.
December 15, 2009
‘Cash for Clunkers’ Backer Sutton Steps it Up for Ohio Transit
Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH) was one of the prime movers behind the economically and environmentally misguided "cash for clunkers" program, but she is switching gears to help save transit in Lorain County, Ohio, where bus service could be canceled in 2010 after voters rejected a sales tax increase to raise operating funds.
December 11, 2009
Congressional Black Caucus Calls for Bypassing States on New Jobs Bill
As the $787 billion stimulus law nears its one-year anniversary, Congress' choice to route the lion's share of recovery funds through state capitals -- including state DOTs where misplaced priorities are all too common -- remains a sore spot for mayors and urban advocates.
December 11, 2009
House and Senate Agree on $2.5B for High-Speed Rail — And More
After lengthy negotiations, the House and Senate agreed last night on a massive "omnibus" spending bill [PDF] that includes $2.5 billion for high-speed rail -- a compromise between the two chambers -- as well as $150 million for the Obama administration's sustainable communities effort and $150 million for the Washington D.C. Metro system.
December 9, 2009