Transportation Policy
Basics
The Top 10 States for Energy Efficiency — And Some Surprising Achievers
As Congress continues to debate climate change legislation that would include energy efficiency measures, states are already making progress in reducing the consumption of vehicles, utilities, and other fuel users.
October 21, 2009
How the $8.7 Billion Transportation Contracting Gap is Hitting Your State
Earlier this month, Streetsblog Capitol Hill reported on the fallout from Congress' failure to prevent an $8.7 billion "rescission" -- fancy legislative talk for the cancellation of funds -- from taking effect on September 30. Though media coverage focused largely on the rescission's impact on road projects, the lost money has hit clean transportation hard.
October 20, 2009
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