Ray LaHood

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Vice President Biden met at the White House this afternoon with officials from 20 states in contention for funding as part of the Obama administration's high-speed rail program.

Ray LaHood is known for his disarming candor -- his recent admission that he's not "that great a transportation person" being a case in point -- and those qualities were on vivid display today as the Transportation Secretary delivered an address to the National Press Club.

I'll add a few more impressions to Bobby Cuza's report on yesterday's ABNY breakfast with federal transportation secretary Ray LaHood.

The New York Times reports this morning that the Obama administration's $787 billion economic stimulus package has hit a few snags:

It's a good day to talk about the costs of car ownership on individuals and families and the need to integrate transportation and land use planning regionally.

Let's hope California rail passengers can look back on the drama playing out between the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) and the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) as a small hiccup on the way to building the nation's preeminent rail network into one of the most impressive rail stations in the world. And for our sake, let's hope Washington isn't paying too much attention to the infighting and will still award California the lion's share of the $8 billion in federal stimulus money slated for high speed rail.

US DOT Secretary Ray LaHood made cyclists smile at the National Bike Summit when he pledged to be a "full partner" with them through his term as head of the agency.  Not content with good rhetoric at a gala event, he wrote about it on his official Welcome to the Fast Lane blog.

BikePortland's Jonathan Maus is in D.C. today for the National Bike Summit, where Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave the opening address this morning. From Maus's recap: