ALSO ON STREETSBLOG
This Week in Livable Streets Events
By Michael Rhodes |
Last week, many of you came out to support Streetsblog at its first birthday party. This week, lend a hand to efforts to make the Bay Bridge accessible for all users, redirect funds from the Oakland Airport Connector to struggling local transit agencies, and raise money to help those affected by the Haiti earthquake. Here […]
As Minneapolis Joins NACTO, Oberstar Backs Shift on Transit Operating Aid
By Elana Schor |
At an event in Minneapolis yesterday, House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) announced his support for giving urban transit agencies more flexibility to spend federal transportation formula money on operating — a change in the current law that has already won the backing of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood but has split the transit industry. […]
Mica is “Pretty Confident” That New Rules Won’t Starve Highway Trust Fund
By Tanya Snyder |
The Journal of Commerce reported yesterday that the House Transportation Committee chair, Rep. John Mica (R-FL), is “’pretty confident’ in the assurances he has received in talks with House leaders” that recent changes to House rules wouldn’t jeopardize Highway Trust Fund spending. The new rules break the previous assurance that the full balance of the […]
Republicans Line Up to Oppose Obama’s Transportation Proposal
By Adam Voiland |
The critical multi-year transportation bill, which lawmakers have sidelined since last summer as they’ve quarreled about how to pay for it, looks to be back on the agenda after President Obama’s pugnacious Labor Day speech, in which he called on Congress to ramp up investment in transportation. The broad outline of Obama’s plan calls for […]
New Stimulus Data: Road Funds 77% Under Contract, Transit at 74%
By Elana Schor |
As of the end of February, nearly $5.4 billion of transit stimulus money, or 74 percent, was under contract for projects in the 50 states and D.C., according to a Streetsblog Capitol Hill analysis of data released today by the House transportation committee. (Photo: DMI Blog) The success rate of transit stimulus spending was slightly […]
White House and Congress Take Issue With AP’s Transport Stimulus Claims
By Elana Schor |
The Associated Press published a piece today that, after putting "economists and statisticians" to work on analyzing $21 billion in federal stimulus money for transportation, reached a volatile conclusion: (Photo: WBEZ) Local unemployment rates rose and fell regardless of how much stimulus money Washington poured out for transportation, raising questions about Obama’s argument that more […]