Transportation Policy
Basics
The Political Climate That Makes Transportation Reform Run
When House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) recently accused his colleagues of lacking the "political will" to pursue long-term reform of infrastructure policy, he wasn't simply employing a D.C. rhetorical flourish. To understand what Oberstar meant, let's travel to Berlin for a moment.
October 20, 2009
What the Virginia Campaign Can Teach Us About Transportation Policy
However the Virginia off-year gubernatorial race ends up -- and at the moment it looks as though Republican Bob McDonnell will reclaim the governor's mansion for the GOP after years of Democratic dominance -- the media will frame the story as a referendum on the policies of national Democrats.
October 19, 2009
Has Kentucky’s ‘Zombie Highway’ Met its Demise?
Interstate 66, a planned multi-billion-dollar road through the heart of Appalachia, has become a quintessential "zombie highway," holding on long after economists dismissed its potential -- thanks largely to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), who has earmarked $96 million for the project even as its chances of going beyond Kentucky dimmed to virtually nil.
October 19, 2009
Rep. Earl Blumenauer: Announcing the Livable Communities Task Force
With much excitement, today we are launching the Livable Communities Task Force -- an official initiative of the House Democratic Caucus that will work to improve community livability and Americans’ quality of life.
October 19, 2009
Transport Debate Still Stalled As Oberstar Decries ‘Lack of Political Will’
Halfway through the extra month that Congress gave itself to resolve a long-simmering dispute over funding the nation's transportation system, Democratic leaders remain deadlocked over whether -- and how long -- to wait before debating a broad reform of federal infrastructure policy.
October 16, 2009
What Washington Can Do For — And Alongside — Metro Area Planners
At one point midway through yesterday's Brookings Institution forum on metropolitan planning, moderator Chris Leinberger quipped that Portland was deliberately not represented. It's not that Portland isn't a model of sustainability, he explained, but that "we all have Portland fatigue" -- that urban policy thinkers are eager to expand the models of local development beyond Oregon.
October 14, 2009
Six States Seek Stimulus Aid to Add Rail to Congestion-Plagued I-81
Interstate 81 stretches for 846 miles through six states -- New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee -- and serves as a crucial corridor for freight traffic. But crucial doesn't mean safe or enjoyable, and I-81 is an undisputed hotbed of traffic accidents.
October 13, 2009
Senior House GOPer: We Shouldn’t Force Amtrak to Allow Guns on Board
Rep. Peter King (NY), the House Homeland Security Committee's senior Republican, has joined panel chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) in urging congressional leaders to abandon a pending provision that would threaten Amtrak with loss of federal funds if it did not allow guns in checked baggage.
October 13, 2009
Obama Ally Breaks With White House on Timing of New Transport Bill
Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), the No. 2 Democratic leader in the upper chamber of Congress and a close ally of the president, broke with the White House yesterday and called for a new long-term transportation bill to pass by early next year -- not after the Obama administration's preferred 18-month delay.
October 13, 2009
How Congress Can Help Create Suburbia 2.0
As Obama administration adviser Shelley Poticha noted this week, building more energy-efficient and hospitable cities -- not to mention suburbs and rural areas -- starts with clear terminology. "Sustainability" and "livability" are positive concepts that can be hard to define, but how can "transit-oriented development" be brought home to someone unfamiliar with the nuts and bolts of policy?
October 9, 2009