Transportation Policy
Streetsblog Basics
Congestion Pricing vs. Ravitch Plan: Which is Better for the Boroughs?
Under the Ravitch Plan, driving into Manhattan over the Third Avenue Bridge will be a relative bargain for Richard Brodsky's Westchester constituents.
December 19, 2008
Transpo Sec Rumor Mill: Rep. Ray LaHood the Leading Candidate
The Hill is reporting that Illinois Representative Ray LaHood, described as a centrist Republican, is in talks with the Obama team about taking a Cabinet post, most likely as Secretary of Transportation. The official announcement could be made as early as Friday.
December 17, 2008
Why Stimulus Money Should Go to Cities, Not States
I spoke earlier today to David Burwell, a co-founder of the Surface Transportation Policy Project who is currently a strategic consultant with the Transportation for America campaign, about how the stimulus package is shaping up for transportation projects, why it might go wrong, and what can be done to set it on the right track.
December 16, 2008
Stimulus Package on Track to Perpetuate Transpo Status Quo
A front page story in yesterday's Washington Post has the most thorough analysis to date of how infrastructure spending may be divvied up in an Obama stimulus package. Nothing is set in stone, but the dividing lines are increasingly clear: States and their DOTs are emphasizing road projects, while cities are looking for ways to reduce congestion. The emphasis on getting shovels in the ground quickly will also skew spending, says Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak:
December 15, 2008
Will Transit, Bikes, and Peds Get a Stimulus We Can Believe In?
Sam Schwartz has an op-ed in today's Daily News urging New York's leaders to get ready for the massive stimulus package taking shape in Washington:
December 5, 2008
How to Build a Better Infrastructure Plan
Economists and lawmakers are batting around increasingly large figures for the Obama admin's upcoming stimulus package -- 300 billion dollars, 500 billion, a trillion? Whatever the final sum, a big cut will get plowed into transpo projects. The question is whether all that money will perpetuate an outdated system or lead toward a future where cars and gas aren't seen as basic necessities for most Americans.
December 2, 2008
Tell the Highway Lobby About ’09 Transpo Spending
Not to be outdone, the road-building lobbyists at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) have launched their campaign to influence federal transportation spending priorities over the next year, including the 2009 TEA package.
December 1, 2008
Merge
Conservatives are fleshing out their next generation transportation ideas and Matthew Yglesias suggests that there could be a pretty big area of overlap between the left and right in this particular policy realm:
November 21, 2008