House Punts on Budget, Votes on Yearlong Extension Instead
Back in February, the Department of Transportation requested a two percent budget increase for next year (FY 2011). [PDF] The extra $2 billion would pay for things like a new Distracted Driver Prevention Program, high speed rail, and livability grant programs.
December 8, 2010
What the GOP Spending Rollback Would Mean for Transportation
Back in September, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), now Speaker-elect, told Good Morning America he wanted to “pass a bill this month at 2008 spending levels – you know, before the TARP, before the bailouts, before the stimulus – and let’s put some certainty in the economy.”
December 8, 2010
Would an Infrastructure Bank Have the Power to Reform Transportation?
Our report yesterday on transportation financing may have left you with a few more questions. We started with a look at TIFIA, which provides credit assistance for infrastructure projects. Many observers see the program as limited by its position inside the DOT and its opaque decision-making process.
December 7, 2010
Why Reformers Should Care How We Pay for Transportation
TIFIAs and TIGERs and NIBs -- oh my! The alphabet soup of infrastructure funding mechanisms can be alienating even to committed transportation advocates. But with the power of the gas tax diminishing and elected officials refusing to raise it, other financing options are taking on increasing importance. If you're interested in reforming our transportation system for the 21st Century, it pays to know the differences between them.
December 6, 2010
Deficit Commission Pushes For Anti-Sprawl Reforms
If political pandering and bad economic policies have encouraged sprawl and an autocentric transportation system, better incentives can start to correct past mistakes. Here’s one place to start: the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform report, released this Wednesday.
December 3, 2010
EPA Recognizes Small Towns and Big Cities For Smart Growth Efforts
When Don White was young, his dad would drive him from the Boston area to Blue Hill, Maine up coastal Route 1. “In those days,” he reminisces, “the road wound through little, small towns. And some of that has been bypassed.”
December 2, 2010
Clock Ticks on a Popular Way to Pay for Infrastructure
A few weeks ago, when a new ferry was inaugurated in Puget Sound, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire smashed a bottle of champagne and declared, “God bless this boat."
December 2, 2010
Rahall Says His Transpo Record Is About More Than Just Highways
Earlier this month, we reported that Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) was in the running for Ranking Member on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in the House. We mentioned our alarm that his ideas about transportation seemed limited and road-centric – specifically, that his website’s issue page on Transportation mentioned only highways, water, and broadband. Got us wondering what he thought about bike-ped access and transit.
November 30, 2010
Earmark Ban Goes Down to Defeat in the Senate
The Senate just voted down the Republican proposal to ban earmarks.
November 30, 2010
Another Day, Another Revelation That a Gas Tax Hike Is Necessary
Add another vote in favor of increasing the gas tax to pay for infrastructure investment. A few weeks ago, a couple of senators proposed raising it 25 cents. Then the deficit commission came out in favor of a 15-cent hike. And now, three left-leaning think tanks – Demos, the Economic Policy Institute, and The Century Foundation – are calling for a bump in the fuel tax too.
November 29, 2010