Transit

Professional innovation guru Dominic Basalt wondered aloud in yesterday's Washington Post, "Has the new golden age of transportation arrived?"

The failure of Atlanta’s transportation ballot measure late last month led to speculation among many analysts about what the vote meant for other regions across the country looking for ways to fund infrastructure projects. But though the Atlanta vote captured the lion’s share of media attention, another vote cast in July could hold as much – if not more – importance in coming years.

Transit agencies can have a hard time finding the money to expand rail lines and busways. While federal grants for road projects require a 20 percent local match, transit projects need to get 50 percent or more from local funding sources. The byzantine federal funding bureaucracy creates high hurdles, especially for smaller agencies without on-staff expertise in applying for and managing these grants. Loans and private sources of funds are also difficult, since they need to be paid back, and transit tends not to make back its capital outlays from the farebox.

We mentioned last week that transit advocates were losing one supporter in Congress: Russ Carnahan of Missouri. They'll be suffering another grave loss come January: Ohio Republican Steve LaTourette.

Summer gives permission to set aside serious reading for the refreshment of fluffier stuff. This year, though, several meaningful books on transportation are out that you might want to tuck into your beach bag. Each is that rare thing: a should-read that’s also a want-to-read.

Sustainable transportation advocates may read news headlines about new voter ID laws, roll their eyes at the prejudices of red-state legislators, and turn the page -- at their own peril. This seemingly unrelated issue may have far-reaching consequences for transportation policy. New state laws mandating photo ID for voters threaten to disenfranchise nondrivers, and the skewed elections that would result could lead to political control by forces hostile to transit, cities, and even Safe Routes to Schools.

The Atlanta Beltline project isn't going away. Project staff want to make that clear. Sure, last week, Atlanta turned down -- by a wide margin -- a major transportation spending package that would have awarded $600 million to the Beltline project. But this project -- an innovative transit and trails corridor that will circle Atlanta's central city -- has seen big setbacks before, says Ethan Davidson, the Beltline's spokesman.

Well, the Atlanta region has spoken.

Every week, the White House honors leaders and innovators in a chosen field, and yesterday was transportation's turn. Their choices of honorees spoke volumes about this administration's principles around transportation.