Transportation Policy
Basics
Biden Says High-Speed Rail Money Ignored Politics — Was He Right?
During yesterday's Tampa event awarding $8 billion in federal rail grants, Vice President Joe Biden pointed to the two states receiving the biggest share of stimulus money for true high-speed train projects: Florida and California, both run by GOP governors.
January 29, 2010
Celebration in California As White House Awards $2.3B for High-Speed Rail
In California, the state's bid for a federal high-speed rail network with top speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour is often called the "only true" bullet train proposal on the table -- and the Obama administration agreed today, bestowing $2.34 billion on the Golden State to the delight of lawmakers and rail advocates.
January 29, 2010
Obama Taps High-Speed Rail Winners: Florida, California, Illinois and More
In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama hinted at what many in the transportation world have anticipated all week: Florida's emergence as a winner in the race for a share of the White House's $8 billion (and growing) high-speed rail fund.
January 28, 2010
One More Reason to Dig TIGER: Transit and Roads on the Same Footing
Being D.C.-bound, Streetsblog Capitol Hill could only watch with interest as the U.S. DOT kicked off a transportation "listening tour" this week with four senior lawmakers in Minnesota, which has become a transit hotspot of late with the imminent construction of a new light rail line.
January 27, 2010
Transit Riders Launch Grassroots Lobbying Push in Dire Political Climate
Advocates for urban transit riders in 14 metro areas climbed the Hill today to pitch lawmakers face-to-face on the need for extra federal transit operating aid, a grassroots lobbying effort that could face considerable challenges even as Democrats craft a new jobs bill with a focus on infrastructure.
January 27, 2010
Oakland’s Stimulus Flap: A Shot Across the Bow for Transport Equity?
The Obama administration's warning that the Bay Area has jeopardized federal stimulus funding for its Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) project could have national consequences for other urban transit proposals that risk harming low-income riders, civil rights and transit advocates predicted yesterday.
January 27, 2010
Democrats Learning to Love the I-Word — But Will Words Bring Action?
The White House is re-centering its message around economic and fiscal concerns ahead of tomorrow's State of the Union address, with a new package of job-creation measures expected to vault to the top of the agenda and a three-year "spending freeze" pitched to deficit-wary conservative Democrats.
January 26, 2010
In the White House’s High-Speed Rail Chase, a First Likely Winner: Florida
The prediction that Rep. John Mica (R-FL) backtracked on last month is starting to come true: President Obama is headed for Florida on Thursday, and the state is all but certain that he's coming with $2.6 billion in federal stimulus funding for a new high-speed rail link between Tampa and Orlando.
January 25, 2010
Obama Previews His New Budget’s Urban Policy Moves
When it comes to re-centering the Washington bureaucracy to better accommodate cities' needs, the first year of the Obama administration has brought its share of progress (a three-agency partnership set to spend $150 million on sustainable development) and hiccups (a White House urban affairs office with lots of talk but little action).
January 22, 2010
Feds on New Miami HOT Lanes: Good for Transit
Miami's conversion of HOV lane space to new high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes as part of the federal Urban Partnership program, which also prompted New York City's congestion pricing push, is cutting travel times for local transit and boosting use -- but overall bus ridership in the corridor has stayed static, according to a new report from the U.S. DOT.
January 22, 2010