Ray LaHood
Streetsblog Basics
Obama Calls For ‘More Creative’ Ways to Pay For Infrastructure
At a meeting today with his outside economic recovery advisers, President Obama emphasized the importance of shoring up the nation's crumbling infrastructure but warned that the mounting federal deficit would require "more creative, new approaches to financing" investment in transit, bridges, and road repairs.
November 2, 2009
Transport Debate Still Stalled As Oberstar Decries “Lack of Political Will”
Halfway through the extra month that Congress gave itself to resolve a long-simmering dispute over funding the nation's transportation system, Democratic leaders remain deadlocked over whether -- and how long -- to wait before debating a broad reform of federal infrastructure policy.
October 16, 2009
Obama Bans Texting While Driving for Guv Workers — And There’s More
The U.S. DOT's distracted driving summit came to a close today with the unveiling of an executive order from President Obama that prohibits federal employees from texting behind the wheel of a government car or using a government-provided messaging device while driving any vehicle.
October 1, 2009
LaHood’s Distracted Driving Summit: Follow It Live
If you've got some free time at your desk over the next couple of days, drop in on the U.S. DOT distracted driving summit.
September 30, 2009
LaHood Praises NYC But Shrugs at Transport Reform to Empower Cities
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised the New York City area's clean-transportation strategy today in a speech to the region's metropolitan planning organization (MPO), promising a stronger focus on urban priorities even as he all but ruled out two reforms long sought by the nation's cities.
September 24, 2009
White House Staying Quiet for Now on Transit’s Role in Climate Bill
Delivering his climate-change message to Congress yesterday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned that fuel-efficiency advances secured by the Obama administration would not be enough to reduce emissions from transportation -- not without encouraging Americans to drive less.
July 15, 2009
Obama Talks Urban Policy as LaHood Seeks More Urban Transpo Money
The White House Office of Urban Affairs, which has drawn criticism for its inactivity at a rocky economic time for the nation's cities, capped a day-long summit today with a speech by President Obama.
July 13, 2009
LaHood Asks for 18-Month Extension of Four-Year-Old Transpo Law
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is asking Congress to extend the existing federal transportation law for 18 months, averting the coming insolvency of the nation's highway trust fund while putting off broad-based transport reform for as long as the Bush administration did in the days surrounding the 2004 election.
June 17, 2009
LaHood Vows to Avert Federal Transpo Bankruptcy and Pay For It
The Obama administration is working on a plan to fill the shortfall in the nation's highway trust fund by August without adding to the federal deficit, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Congress today.
June 4, 2009
LaHood, Biden Meet With Governors on High-Speed Rail
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.
June 3, 2009