Year: 2009

On the issue of clean transportation, from transit to bike paths to clean water, few members of Congress are as knowledgeable or active as Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). Chief of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus and founder of the new Livable Communities Task Force, the Portland lawmaker is on the front lines of Washington's biggest infrastructure debates. Streetsblog Capitol Hill spoke with him yesterday about the prospects for transportation in the coming jobs bill, which he has said could be paid for in part with Wall Street bailout money. Below is a lightly edited transcript of the discussion.

In yesterday's post about the Streetsblog Network's first birthday, I should have mentioned the crucial role that Transportation for America played in the network's conception and inception. We couldn't have done it without them.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

This Saturday will bring wide-ranging changes to Muni, a broad reorganization of the city's transit system that MTA Executive Director Nat Ford called the most complex service changes in a generation. But while this round of changes will be virtually net-neutral in terms of overall service and revenue, Ford said the MTA's looming $19 million mid-year budget deficit will force the agency to consider much deeper future service cuts.

Though it might sound incredible to San Franciscans who have followed bicycle issues for the past three years, not only are more bicycle infrastructure improvements coming, they might be better than anyone imagined. Streetsblog has learned that in addition to the lanes striped today on Mississippi and Howard and seven more bike lanes expected in the next few weeks, the MTA will install a separated bike lane on Market Street.

In an annual performance review of San Francisco's Muni transit service presented at the final MTA Board Meeting of 2009 yesterday, several troubling indicators cast a shadow on the agency's efforts to improve its reputation and service performance.

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.

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.

One year ago today, we announced the launch of the Streetsblog Network -- a national and international network of blogs covering transportation policy, sustainable planning, smart growth and active transportation. We conceived of the network as a way to get people who are passionate about these issues literally on the same page.