Transit
Basics
Bi-Partisan Lawmakers Push Permanent Tax Equality for Transit Commuters
Right now, transit riders get the same commuter tax benefits as drivers: $245 a month in pre-tax income to spend to get to work. But next year, straphangers might go back to second-class status, getting just $125 for their ride.
June 7, 2013
Salt Lake City: How a Remote Red-State City Became a Transit Leader
It's number one in the nation in per-capita transit spending. The only city in the country building light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcars and commuter rail at the same time. And that city -- Salt Lake City -- is a town of just over 180,000 in a remote setting in a red state.
June 5, 2013
Is Your Rep a Member of the New Public Transportation Caucus Yet?
The answer to that question is: Probably not. Reps. Daniel Lipinski, a Democrat from Chicago, and Michael Grimm, a Republican representing Staten Island and a little slice of Brooklyn, announced their new transit-focused Congressional caucus just last week, and this week the House has been in recess.
May 31, 2013
Where’s the National Business Voice for Transit?
At the local level, business has been a key force in cementing transit victories. But at a national level, the business voice has been largely absent from heated, high-stakes debates about transit. With a new report called “Bosses For Buses,” Good Jobs First investigates the disparity between local- and national-level organizing efforts by employers.
May 30, 2013
Solo Driving Drops in DC as Transit and Biking Soar
We’ve been writing a lot this week about the national shift away from car travel and toward transit, biking, and walking. Yesterday, Washington area officials released new data that indicates the DC region is at the forefront of that trend.
May 16, 2013
Seven Ways Technology Is Rendering the Automobile Obsolete
As we try to understand why young people are so much less jazzed about driving than previous generations, one possible explanation always comes up: Kids today just love their smart phones.
May 15, 2013
Millennials Will Drive More As They Age, But Still Less Than Their Parents
At some point over the past few years, a lot of my friends started moving to Silver Spring and Takoma Park and Falls Church. These inner-ring, transit-connected suburbs of DC are still far less compact and walkable than the neighborhoods my friends moved from. So they bought cars.
May 14, 2013
If You Pay Sales Tax at Amazon.com, Your Transit System Could Improve
A bill moving through Congress could help struggling transit systems around the country.
May 9, 2013
Detroit Transit, Already in Desperate Situation, to Lose Money to Suburbs
Detroit has perhaps the worst transit crisis in the country on its hands right now. Almost a quarter of Detroit residents do not have access to an automobile, yet transit riders have to endure an unreliable system where the bus might never show, making it harder for economically vulnerable people to access jobs.
April 26, 2013