Boxer Changes Her Tone, Adopts a Fighting Stance
The transportation bill conference committee negotiations have been difficult and contentious, by all accounts -- all except Senator Barbara Boxer's account. The EPW chair has been optimistic when others have been bitter, consistently focusing on how much the two sides agree rather than the places where they're still far apart.
June 14, 2012
House Attack on Safe Streets Makes Transpo Bill Ever More Elusive
We reported last week that the House had proposed allowing states to “opt out” of funding bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements in its counter-offer to the Senate during transportation bill negotiations. The House GOP essentially wants to reject the Cardin-Cochran amendment, which gave local governments control over half the “Additional Activities” funding set aside for bike/ped programs, letting states make decisions about the other half.
June 11, 2012
House GOP Threatens to Wipe Out Local Control Over Bike/Ped Funding
The House GOP couldn't pass a transportation bill of their own, so now they want to undo one of the major bi-partisan achievements in the Senate transportation bill.
June 8, 2012
Conference Devolves Into Talk Of Extensions
If you were still hoping a real bill could come out of the transportation conference, here’s a bitter pill: House Speaker John Boehner is now talking about a six-month extension of the current law.
June 7, 2012
House Appropriators Leave TIGER, HSR Out of Next Year’s Budget
It's always confusing when, in the middle of endless bicameral hand-wringing about transportation spending, the House Appropriations Committee puts out a budget for transportation without much ado.
June 6, 2012
Stakeholders Beg Conferees to Stop Acting Like Children
Sen. Barbara Boxer's noon press conference started out as a bit of a mess. The Senate press gallery announced it was canceled five minutes before it was due to start. Then three minutes later, the EPW committee sent out a notice that the event had changed locations and would start 20 minutes later. Needless to say, there was much confusion.
June 5, 2012
FRA Chief: America Is Driving Less and Congress Needs to Catch Up
Speaking to reporters earlier today, Federal Railroad Administration chief Joe Szabo said that people are driving less and using transit more -- and that those changes are permanent. "America’s travel habits are undergoing rapid change," he said. It's a fact, he said ("not opinion -- statistically proven"), calling on Congress to show that it understands these changes by moving in a new direction.
June 4, 2012
Tea Party Republicans Take Aim at Bike-Ped Funding in Conference
Although Senate Republicans had hoped the carefully crafted compromise over the Transportation Enhancements program would stand, some House members are stating their insistence that the program be stripped out entirely in conference.
May 23, 2012
Washington Post: Have We Lost Our Passion for the Automobile?
The data tell us that young people are driving less; that Americans are driving fewer miles -- and it's not just because of the economy. Now the Washington Post asks a more transcendental question: Is the spark gone?
May 22, 2012
U.S. DOT Spells Out Priorities For Conference Bill
Hint to lonely hearts everywhere: If you're looking for some correspondence, join the transportation conference committee. Those folks are getting a lot of mail these days.
May 22, 2012