Federal Transportation Bill
Streetsblog Basics
House Transportation Bill Officially Drops, Lands With a Thud
John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, officially unveiled his committee's transportation bill, the "American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act," at a press conference outside the House wing of the Capitol this afternoon. (We will post the full bill text here as soon as we can.)
January 31, 2012
Senate Transit Bill Would Let Federal Funds Support Transit Service
All eyes are on the House side of Capitol Hill today in anticipation of the Republicans' grand unveiling of their American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act at 3:00 p.m. But last night, some enduring questions about the Senate's transportation bill finally got some answers. Senators Tim Johnson and Richard Shelby, respectively the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, released a summary of the Federal Public Transportation Act of 2012, providing a preliminary guide to how the Senate will treat transit [PDF].
January 31, 2012
This Is Not a Drill: Highway Lobby Trying to Push Transpo Bill Thru Congress
For the 112th Congress, the path to passing a new transportation bill has been full of starts and stops, partisan politics and low expectations. While Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently said he doesn't expect a multi-year bill to pass this Congress, livable streets advocates should still be on alert in the weeks ahead. Momentum is building behind bills in the House and Senate, and there are strong indications that the bills could advance quickly in the coming days.
January 30, 2012
House Transportation Bill “a March of Horribles”
There was no grand unveiling of the House's five-year transportation bill today, but a summary of the bill has been kicking around for a few days. While there aren't any hard numbers available yet, the "American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act" looks like a return to 1950s-style transportation policy. It is particularly unkind to transit and bike/ped programs, and to cities in general.
January 27, 2012
Transportation Bill Heats Up Again in Congress
There’s been plenty of buzz over the last few days surrounding Congress’s efforts to pass a multi-year transportation bill.
January 26, 2012
OMB: Senate Seeking Too Much Highway Money to Fund Transportation Bill
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and his Finance Committee have been looking high and low for a $12 billion patch to fund the transportation reauthorization bill that passed the Senate EPW Committee a few weeks ago. According to Politico’s transportation reporters, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch, has already rejected several of Baucus’s ideas.
December 7, 2011
What Will the Senate Bill’s Transit Section Look Like?
Though the House Republicans are stealing the show these days with their endeavor to tie infrastructure funding to oil drilling, let’s not forget there’s a serious, bipartisan transportation reauthorization bill out there that actually has a chance of passage: the Senate’s MAP-21. On its path toward a full Senate vote, that two-year bill is paused at its latest checkpoint: the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The committee is now busy tackling the transit title of the “MAP-21” legislation, following unanimous approval of the "highway" portion two weeks ago by the EPW Committee. (Quick reminder: the funding in the highway title can be spent on many things that are not highways, like transit systems and bike lanes.)
November 22, 2011
House GOP Previews Transpo + Oil Drilling Bill, Details to Come Later
Rumors were flying that this morning House GOP leaders would unveil their proposal for a multi-year transportation bill funded in part by oil and gas extraction fees, but they revealed no details at their press conference.
November 17, 2011
Mica Warns Boxer on Highway Trust Fund; House Plans Hearing on “Drill Bill”
“I want to congratulate you on your Committee’s approval of the ‘Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” begins House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica’s letter yesterday to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
November 15, 2011
Senate Bill May Weaken Smaller Metros, Empower State DOTs
In Indiana, the state DOT wants to build a 142-mile extension of Interstate 69, but the Bloomington metropolitan planning organization won’t allow it – the group had written the road out of its three-year transportation plan and members are standing firm, refusing to write it back in. The MPO in Charlottesville, Virginia, similarly, is fighting the construction of a $245 million, six-mile bypass the state is planning to build to accommodate freight traffic.
November 14, 2011