Transportation Policy
Basics
Why Deficit Politics Matter in the Infrastructure Debate
Infrastructure will be on the menu tomorrow when the White House hosts a "jobs summit" aimed at assuaging public concern over mounting unemployment. Labor leaders have vowed to push for new transport projects, and invitee Paul Krugman is already on record backing a Wall Street transaction tax that some House Democrats want to see benefit the built environment.
December 2, 2009
Who Wants to Buy a New Locomotive? General Electric Hopes Amtrak Does
General Electric's Transportation division inked a high-speed rail technology-sharing deal with China last month, but the prospects on the home front for its fuel-efficient locomotives are downright "bleak" heading into 2010, as its chief executive recently told Dow Jones.
December 1, 2009
Blumenauer: Let’s Redirect Wall Street Bailout Money to Infrastructure
The war in Afghanistan and the health care bill are consuming much of Washington's oxygen today, but looming in the background is a high-stakes clash over what to do with an estimated $210 billion in unspent and returned cash from the government's rescue of Wall Street.
December 1, 2009
In New Orleans, LaHood Unveils $280M in Streetcar and Bus Grants
During a visit to New Orleans, where city planners are seeking nearly $100 million in federal stimulus money for three new streetcar lines, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced plans to award $280 million in grants for streetcar and bus networks.
December 1, 2009
The Missed Opportunity For an Urban Stimulus: Mayors ‘Were Ignored’
Two-thirds of America's population, and more than three-quarters of its economic productivity, come from major cities. So why did the Obama administration's economic stimulus law end up giving metropolitan areas the short end of the stick?
December 1, 2009
LaHood: Gas Tax Increase in Congressional Hands
As Congress maneuvers to end the political impasse over the next long-term national transportation bill, lawmakers are going to have to debate an increase in the federal gas tax, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today.
November 30, 2009
Climate’s 17 Undecided Dems Got $2.3M From Transport & Electric Lobbies
The trouble with broad analysis pieces on campaign cash is that they often go for eye-popping numbers while obscuring uncomfortable political realities. For example, Greenwire reported this morning that the 27 senators who remain undecided on the chamber's pending climate bill took "more than $20 million ... over the past two decades from energy interests with a direct stake in pending legislation."
November 30, 2009
The Case For a Merit-Based and Front-Loaded Infrastructure Bill
Even as much of official Washington pauses for the holiday weekend, the congressional winds keep shifting in favor of a job-creation bill that aims to front-load infrastructure spending between next year and the 2012 election.
November 25, 2009
Streetsblog Capitol Hill Q&A: Four Questions For Mike McKeever
America's transportation and infrastructure policies affect literally
everyone who moves from place to place in the country, but often they
are under-discussed and over-simplified by the mainstream media. To
help broaden the debate, Streetsblog Capitol Hill runs a Q&A series called "The Four Questions."
November 25, 2009
New Report: Road Funding From Non-Road Users Doubled in 25 Years
The myth that U.S. roads "pay for themselves" thanks to user fees is a subject that's likely familiar to many Streetsblog Capitol Hill readers -- but just how much of the nation's highway funding is provided by charging drivers?
November 24, 2009