Transit
Basics
Can the Feds Fix Detroit’s Uniquely Terrible Transit System?
There is no better evidence of the sharp social divisions that continue to haunt metro Detroit than the appalling state of its transit system.
September 21, 2011
Communities Urge Congress: “Don’t X Out Transit”
Yesterday, transit advocates in more than two dozen cities around the country held rallies to urge Congress to maintain funding for public transportation. The “Don’t X Out Transit” events brought attention to the massive cuts in service and fare hikes that have besieged U.S. transit agencies, and made it clear that the 30 percent funding cut in the House transportation bill would be a death blow to many systems.
September 21, 2011
Senate Strips High-Speed Rail Funding
The Senate's transportation budget proposal is still under wraps, but we're getting some clues about what's in it.
September 20, 2011
House Prepares to Vote on Extension, Coburn Will Try to Kill Bike/Ped
In a couple of hours, the House will vote on the transportation extension bill – under unanimous consent rules. That means a single vote in opposition could delay passage.
September 13, 2011
The Housing-Value Bonus for Rail Transit: 10, 20, Even 50 Percent
How much extra would you be willing to pay to live near rail transit?
September 12, 2011
House GOP’s 2012 Transportation Budget: Deep Cuts, Especially for Livability
In about an hour, Congressional appropriators will vote on how much money to allocate for transportation in the next fiscal year. It won't be pretty.
September 8, 2011
The Consequences of Political Foot-Dragging
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is meeting tomorrow to discuss a four-month extension to the current transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU. The map above is from a short but powerful document the Federal Transit Administration put out this week explaining "The Impacts of Failing to Extend Surface Transportation Funding" [PDF]. How much transit work would grind to a halt in your state without an extension?
September 7, 2011
Behind President Obama’s Call For More Infrastructure Projects
Tomorrow night, President Obama will unveil his jobs plan before a skeptical Congress. It’s unclear how much of the $300 billion proposal will go to infrastructure, but the president has said that will be a centerpiece of the proposal. An infrastructure bank and a new version of the expired Build America Bonds program could also be on the agenda.
September 7, 2011
Post-Irene Open Thread: A Teachable Transportation Moment
Sometimes the best way to understand the ordinary is to examine the extraordinary. Watching Hurricane Irene wreak havoc on the entire transportation system from North Carolina to the Canadian border brought certain patterns and questions into high relief. Here's some of what we thought about while the power was down.
August 29, 2011
Brookings: 700,000 Carless Americans Stranded Outside Reach of Transit
There are almost of them 38,000 in Atlanta. Another 65,000 between Dallas and Houston. Nearly 18,000 in Phoenix.
August 19, 2011