Brown Offers Senate Plan For More Federal Operating Aid to Local Transit
Local transit officials seeking more federal operating aid during lean budgetary times got a new ally today in Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who introduced legislation in Congress' upper chamber to give rail and bus agencies more flexibility to spend funding from Washington on averting service cuts and layoffs.
March 16, 2010
LaHood Reaches Out to Transit Industry, Lamenting ‘Lousy Economy’
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sought to commiserate with the cash-strapped transit industry today, declaring the Obama administration an ally of local rail and bus agencies even as the "lousy economy" clouds prospects for passage of a new long-term federal transportation bill.
March 15, 2010
Is 2010 the Year for Federal Bike Aid? The Answer: A Big ‘Maybe’
This week's National Bike Summit culminated in an ambitious new campaign to recruit a million bike advocates and the unveiling of a new Google Maps bike feature. But in a Wednesday session dedicated to the outlook for federal bike investments, cycling advocates hesitated to declare that they could secure new commitments from Washington.
March 12, 2010
New House Jobs Bill Dominated by Direct Aid to Cities
Soon after the Senate signed off yesterday on a $150 billion package of tax extenders and unemployment benefits that was promoted as a job-creation measure -- a bill that lacked dedicated new funding for transportation -- Democrats on the House education and labor committee were releasing their own jobs legislation.
March 11, 2010
U.S. Transit Trips Hit 10.2B in 2009, With Light Rail Up in Nine Cities
The nation's transit systems hosted 10.2 billion trips last year, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reported yesterday. While that figure represents a 3.8 percent decline from 2008, APTA's data showed light rail ridership rising in nine cities and the long-term increase in transit use continuing to outpace growth in population and vehicle miles traveled.
March 10, 2010
Dodd Vows to Pass Livability Bill Amid Skepticism From Rural Senators
Even as the Obama administration ramps up its work on a sustainability initiative that treats transportation, housing, and energy efficiency as interconnected aspects of development policy, the effort remains without an official congressional authorization -- a situation that Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) vowed to fix yesterday.
March 9, 2010
LaHood Faces Off With GOP Senator Over High-Speed Rail, Livability
When Cabinet secretaries appear in front of Congress' appropriations committees, which control the annual budgets for each federal agency, the proceedings tend to be dry affairs dominated by local concerns and arcane fiscal debates.
March 4, 2010
Senate Starts Work on New Transport Bill, With House Version as a Guide
The Senate today took its first steps towards voting on a new long-term federal transportation bill, with environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) vowing to take up a successor to the 2005 infrastructure law before 2011 and indicating she would use the House's already-introduced version as a framework.
March 3, 2010
Bunning Throws in the Towel, Congress Restores Transport Funding
Workers at the U.S. DOT and on transportation projects around the country are back on the job today after Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) lost his politically hazardous battle against a 30-day extension of federal infrastructure law and unemployment benefits.
March 3, 2010
Transportation Filibuster Update: Bunning Won’t Yield to Fellow GOPer
Federal infrastructure funding and many U.S. DOT workers remain in limbo today as Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) continues his one-man filibuster of legislation extending the 2005 transport law, turning himself into a Democratic target and a poster child for Washington gridlock.
March 2, 2010