Transportation Policy
Basics
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
DeFazio, Perlmutter Drafting New Version of Wall Street Transport Tax
Reps. Pete DeFazio (D-OR) and Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) are working on a broader version of the former lawmaker's plan to pay for U.S. infrastructure investment by imposing a small tax on stock transactions, despite a note of caution sounded last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
November 24, 2009
Higher Gas Prices Alone Won’t Make Cleaner Cars a Reality
It's a storyline that the media and the auto industry have embraced: Higher gas prices are the magic ingredient that U.S. carmakers need in order to sell more fuel-efficient vehicles to consumers.
November 20, 2009
Carlyle Group’s New Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership: Donuts
As the federal deficit squeezes the Obama administration's options for financing ambitious new infrastructure projects, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are gaining currency as a possible solution. And in an illustration of PPPs' potential, the $86 billion private-equity firm Carlyle Group yesterday struck a deal with the state of Connecticut to run ... 23 highway rest stops.
November 20, 2009
When State DOTs Run Amok: $266M For Widening, Crumbs For Waterfront
Streetsblog New York reported last week on the state DOT's expensive plan to widen part of the Major Deegan Expressway in the southwest Bronx, even as the agency fails to maintain upstate bridges.
November 20, 2009
DeFazio: Summers, Geithner Oppose Using Bailout Money on Infrastructure
As Streetsblog Capitol Hill readers may know, there is no love lost between lawmakers on the House transportation committee and President Obama's economic advisers.
November 19, 2009
‘This Needs Attention’: Senators Seek Shot in the Arm on Transportation
Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and fellow lawmakers today pressed the Obama administration to take a more active role in ending the current political stalemate over federal transportation funding, but the sense of urgency they sought emerged only intermittently during an 80-minute session on infrastructure.
November 18, 2009
Streetsblog Capitol Hill Q&A: Four Questions For Rob Puentes
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 is kicking off a new Q&A series called "The Four Questions."
November 18, 2009
3 GOPers, 4 Dems Ask Reid to Call Up Six-Month Transport Bill Extension
The senior Republicans on three of the Senate's four infrastructure-centric committees today signed a bipartisan letter asking the leaders of Congress' upper chamber to call up a six-month extension of the 2005 transportation law.
November 17, 2009