The White House Transportation Budget: What’s In Line for the Axe?
In a fiscal year 2011 budget that proposes to increase spending on several core transportation
priorities, the White House also aims to eliminate a few
infrastructure programs that may prove popular with lawmakers.
February 1, 2010
White House Budget Includes $530M for Local Sustainability, $1B for HSR
The White House officially unveiled its $3.8 trillion budget
for the fiscal year 2011 this morning, seeking $1 billion to continue
its high-speed rail investment and $530 million for the transportation
leg of the Obama administration's inter-agency push to promote sustainable planning on the local level.
February 1, 2010
Biden Says High-Speed Rail Money Ignored Politics — Was He Right?
During yesterday's Tampa event awarding
$8 billion in federal rail grants, Vice President Joe Biden pointed to
the two states receiving the biggest share of stimulus money for true
high-speed train projects: Florida and California, both run by GOP
governors.
January 29, 2010
The Urbanist Case Against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), an advocacy group working to
reform local development practices, is seizing on House Financial
Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank's (D-MA) recent call for a new system of housing finance to replace government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
January 29, 2010
White House Awards $2.3B for California High-Speed Rail
California's bid for a federal high-speed rail network with top speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour is often called the "only true" bullet train proposal on the table -- and the Obama administration agreed today, bestowing $2.34 billion on the Golden State to the delight of lawmakers and rail advocates.
January 28, 2010
A Bike-Ped State of the Union: 9.6% of Trips, 1.2% of Federal Funding
With the nation still digesting the State of the Union address, the
Alliance for Biking & Walking picked an auspicious day to release
their biennial Benchmarking report on America's bike-ped behavior. The
group's bottom-line conclusion: federal transportation funding
continues to disproportionately shortchange travelers powered by their
own two feet.
January 28, 2010
New Report Links Homeowners’ Auto Dependence With Foreclosure Risk
Homeowners in car-dependent areas without access to alternative transportation are at greater risk of foreclosure, according to a report
released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that
calls for mortgage underwriting standards to begin taking so-called "location-efficiency" into account.
January 28, 2010
Obama Taps High-Speed Rail Winners: Florida, California, Illinois and More
In his
State of the Union address last night, President Obama hinted at what
many in the transportation world have anticipated
all week: Florida's emergence as a winner in the race for a share of
the White House's $8 billion (and growing) high-speed rail fund.
January 28, 2010
Transit Riders Launch Grassroots Lobbying Push in Dire Political Climate
Advocates for urban transit riders in 14 metro areas climbed the Hill
today to pitch lawmakers face-to-face on the need for extra federal
transit operating aid, a grassroots lobbying effort that could face
considerable challenges even as Democrats craft a new jobs bill with a
focus on infrastructure.
January 27, 2010
Oakland’s Stimulus Flap: A Shot Across the Bow for Transport Equity?
The Obama administration's warning
that the Bay Area has jeopardized federal stimulus funding for its
Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) project could have national
consequences for other urban transit proposals that risk harming
low-income riders, civil rights and transit advocates predicted today.
January 26, 2010