Federal Funding
Streetsblog Basics
It’s Time to Stop Pretending That Roads Pay for Themselves
If nothing else, the current round of federal transportation legislating should end the myth that highways are a uniquely self-sufficient form of infrastructure paid for by "user fees," a.k.a. gas taxes and tolls.
November 25, 2015
Let This RPA Vid Explain Why We Need More Rail Tubes Under the Hudson
The Regional Plan Association produced a nice explainer video on why the region needs to build more rail capacity under the Hudson River, the risks facing the existing train tubes, and what will happen if one of them has to be taken offline for repairs before another tunnel gets built.
October 29, 2015
3 White Elephants That Help Explain America’s Infrastructure Crisis
A new report by the Center for American Progress zeros in on an under-appreciated culprit in America's much ballyhooed infrastructure crisis: All the money we waste on useless roads.
September 30, 2015
House Dems: We Won’t Support a Transpo Bill That Cuts Bike/Ped Funding
House Democrats won’t stand for any cuts to federal funding for walking and biking infrastructure. That was the gist of a letter signed by every Democratic member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week.
September 15, 2015
Cuomo and Christie Play Chicken With Trans-Hudson Train Commuters
It's been almost five years since New Jersey Governor Chris Christie killed the ARC tunnel. Things haven't improved since.
August 11, 2015
Congress Set to Pass Yet Another Short-Term Transpo Funding Patch
The 35th transportation extension in the last six years is about to pass. The House had passed a five-month extension, the Senate insisted on moving forward with its six-year bill, then the House proposed a three-month extension, and somehow that sounded great to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
July 29, 2015
Senate Preserves TIGER Program While House Punts on Long-Term Bill
Advocates successfully mobilized to prevent the Senate from eliminating the multi-modal TIGER grant program in its long-term transportation bill, but that bill appears to be on hold for at least another five months after the House passed another short-term extension of the current law.
July 16, 2015
Senate Committee Moves to Eliminate TIGER Program in Next Transpo Bill
The Republican-controlled Senate is poised to eliminate the TIGER program, one of the few sources of federal funds that cities can access directly to improve streets and transit.
July 14, 2015
Brace Yourself: Here Comes Another Attack on Bike/Ped Funding
If petty Congressional attacks on bike/ped funding were a drinking game, you'd be drunk by now. And now two House Republicans want to pour you another shot.
June 9, 2015