Is Obama Opposed to the Bipartisan Gas Tax Proposal or Just Noncommittal?
Yesterday, The Huffington Post ran this headline: “White House Appears More Open To A Gas Tax Hike.” Minutes later, The Hill published this one: “White House opposes gas tax hike to fix transportation funding.” So, which is it?
June 24, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: Rondo Revisited
Finally, there is a light rail line connecting the Twin Cities. The Green Line, running 11 miles from Union Depot in downtown St. Paul to Target Field in downtown Minneapolis, cost $957 million and took decades to build. The process of choosing stations was contentious but eventually incorporated the proposals of low-income communities that wanted them, and the line is already being held up as a model. It's not the fastest way between the two downtowns, but it might be the best way. Jeff and I discuss.
June 20, 2014
The “Worst Cities for Driving” Include a Lot of America’s Best Cities
Don't you just hate going to a really lively city with a pulsing street life? Where there's a lot going on and people can walk from one place to the next? You might if you're trying to drive there. And once again, NerdWallet has delivered the windshield perspective on America's cities.
June 18, 2014
Senators Murphy (D) and Corker (R) Propose 12-Cent Gas Tax Increase
There are several proposals on the table to stave off the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (which pays for transit, biking, and walking projects too) in two months. Just now, two senators teamed up to announce one that might actually have a chance.
June 18, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings In the Metro
The metro is coming to Loudon County, Virginia. Eventually.
June 13, 2014
Trucker in Tracy Morgan Crash: Lay Off, It Was an “Accident”
Kevin Roper, the Walmart trucker who reportedly slammed into a limo bus carrying several comedians early Saturday morning, is having his say on Twitter. He wants the world to know that the crash that killed James “Uncle Jimmy Mack” McNair and critically injured Tracy Morgan and three others was an "accident."
June 10, 2014
“Every Street’s Going to Prioritize Pedestrians”: MoveDC’s Lovely Fine Print
Livable streets advocates all over the country are buzzing about DC’s far-sighted new transportation plan, called MoveDC. So yesterday Streetsblog sat down with some of the people responsible for writing and implementing the plan. I spoke to Matt Brown, the District Department of Transportation's new acting director; Colleen Hawkinson, strategic planning branch manager at DDOT’s Policy, Planning and Sustainability Administration (PPSA); and Sam Zimbabwe, associate director of the PPSA.
June 4, 2014
One Year of Traffic Crashes Costs America $871 Billion
You can’t put a price tag on human life. But to address the scourge of traffic violence, it helps to measure how much harm it inflicts. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has done that by attaching a dollar figure to the economic loss and human suffering caused by traffic crashes.
May 30, 2014
The House GOP’s Campaign Strategy: Do Nothing on Transportation
A Senate committee has unanimously approved a transportation bill. Three other Senate committees are holding hearings on the bill. But over in the House? Crickets.
May 29, 2014