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Posts from the "Streetsblog" Category

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Today’s Headlines

  • Republicans Offering Bill on Transportation Funding Today (WaPo, Reuters)
  • Drilling for Highway Revenue Could Face Opposition From Both Sides (T4A)
  • NRDC to Congress: “Don’t Drill and Drive” (Hill)
  • Ranking Three Different Approaches to Transit Funding in Dallas (Atlantic Cities)
  • Transportation Nation Explains Why Your City Might Not Have Car Share Yet
  • Infrastructure and Job Creation Go Hand in Hand – Sometimes (Brookings Podcast)
  • Some Politicians in New Hampshire Want to Ban Sobriety Checkpoints (UnionLeader)
  • Why Everybody Loves a Chinatown Bus (WaPo)
  • NRDC’s Kaid Benfield Curates a Gallery of Walkability (Switchboard)
  • DOT Grants $3.5 Million to Sustainable Transportation Research (OIT)
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Today’s Headlines

  • Why USDOT’s Transit Funding Rule Doesn’t Work and What Could Fix It (Slate)
  • Boehner: GOP Will Tack Keystone Pipeline Onto Transportation Bill (Hill)
  • Gov. Brown: Cap and Trade Fees Will Fund HSR in California (SacBee)
  • Why Conservatives Should Be All Over Smart Growth (Switchboard)
  • Millennials: Affordable Urban Living Is Hard to Find (GGW)
  • The Reason Foundation Makes the Case for More People Using Transit
  • USDOT Releases Guide to a Year’s Worth of Transportation Statistics (TransportGooru)
  • FL Governor Offered a Deal for HSR? That’s News to LaHood (Hill)
  • Lawyers: Anti-Transit Actions of Toronto Mayor Are Illegal (The Star)
  • It’s ‘Safer Than a Sofa’ and Other Lessons From World’s Great Cities for Bicycling (Grist)
  • Salon Curates a Stunning Collection of 19th Century Rail Advertisements in the USA
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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.

Rep. John Mica's five-year transportation bill will be unveiled tomorrow. (Update: no it won't.) Photo: 13 News

When Congress adjourned last month, the Senate had made significant progress on a two-year bill. In the House, Rep. John Mica had repeatedly promised a five- or six-year bill, but nothing had been introduced. Now, finally, Congress is showing signs of picking up where they left off. Here’s a rundown of the latest:

Details of House Transportation Bill Emerge…

According to multiple sources, the House transportation bill – called the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act – reauthorizes highway and transit programs for five years at around $52 billion per year, for a total of $260 billion. It seems likely that the bill would use revenue from oil and gas drilling fees. Mica is reportedly still pushing for a sixth year.

Rep. Bill Shuster said yesterday that T&I Committee Democrats would get their copies of the bill today, and the full text would be released to the general public tomorrow. (Jan. 27 update: A press event unveiling the full text of the House bill is now planned for next Tuesday, Jan. 31, instead.) Shuster had much more to say about the future of federal support for transportation, and Streetsblog will have more on that later today.

…And Next Week Will Be Busy…

Once the full text is released, three House committees need to bring portions of the bill into markup: Ways and Means, Natural Resources, and of course Transportation and Infrastructure are all planning markups for next week. T&I’s markup for the House bill is tentatively scheduled for next Thursday at 9 a.m., but it does not yet appear on the committee’s legislative calendar.

Read more…

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Say Hello to Luna Blue Evans-Snyder

Introducing the newest member of the Streetsblog family… Luna Blue Evans-Snyder was born the afternoon of January 13. She weighed in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

As you might imagine, Tanya’s byline is going to be a little scarce over the next several weeks. If you’d like to send her well-wishes and recommendations for a good balance bike, you can reach her at tanya.c.snyder@gmail.com.

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Today’s Headlines

  • House to Vote Today on FAA Bill Today (Hill)
  • Republican Leadership Gives Transit Boost in Indiana and Michigan (Stateline)
  • California Sues San Diego Over Transpo Plan That May Promote Sprawl (Forbes)
  • DOT Grants $3.5 Million to Sustainable Transportation Research (OIT)
  • Fewer Teens Are Rushing to the DMV at 16 (Trib)
  • Tampa Looks to Transit to Boost Attendance at Rays Games (TBO)
  • New Bill Could Require Four Feet to Pass People on Bikes in Philadelphia (TribLive)
  • Virginia Poised to Sell Naming Rights to Roads and Bridges (WINA)
  • NYC Commuter Rail Pledging a Seat for Every Rider (AP)
  • Illegal for Bicyclists, Pedestrians to Use ‘Safer’ Bridge Route in Charleston, SC (CharlestonCity)
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A Comic Take on The Sustainability of The Word “Sustainable”

From brainy web comic XKCD:

Image: XKCD

Personal note: Between the time I matriculated at graduate school and the time I finished, the word “sustainable” had been added to my official concentration.

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Today’s Headlines

  • Active Transportation Advocate Gabrielle Giffords to Resign from Congress (Star Tribune)
  • Where GOP Candidates Fall on Urban Issues (Grist)
  • Urban Planners: Government Is Stifling Cities, But Mayors’ Message Off the Mark  (Forbes)
  • LaHood Still Fighting for the Transportation Bill, Says a Grateful National League of Cities
  • Oberstar: US Should Not Give Up on HSR (WaPo)
  • How to Talk About Making Driving More Expensive (Housing Complex)
  • New PBS Miniseries: Yesterday’s Sprawl Causing Today’s Health Problems (AtlanticCities)
  • Sponsor of Regional Transit Plan for Indiana Considers Waving the White Flag (IBJ)
  • Will MD Governor’s Smart Growth Legacy Move Him Up or Be His Downfall? (Baltimore Sun)
  • Michigan Interfaith Coalition Adds Public Transit to Its List of Priorities (MLive)
  • On-Street Bike Parking: Good for Safety of People Who Drive, Too (TreeHugger)
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Today’s Headlines

  • House Reconvenes Today, and Transportation Bills Abound (Politico)
  • Rep. Aaron Schock Says House Vote on 5-Year Highway Bill Could Come Next Month (JournalStar)
  • Bike Companies Expect Boost From Obama’s “Insourcing” Initiative (BikePortland)
  • Iowa Gas Tax Increase Has Bipartisan Support (Muscatine Journal)
  • Pro-Transit Trend in Bipartisanship May Be Spreading to Indiana, Too (IndyStar)
  • LaHood Defends Tax Credit for Plug-In Electric Vehicles (Autoblog)
  • New Transportation Funding Strategy in WA “Too Timid” to Be Effective (HeraldNet)
  • Federal Highway Administrator Supports Tolling Interstate in Arizona (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
  • Transit Agencies Struggle to Accommodate Increasing Girth of American Passengers (NYT)
  • No Ticket for Driver Who Hit Gene Hackman Riding a Bike in South Florida (Cyclelicious)
  • Should Public Transit Have to Serve Sprawl? (Calgary OpenFile)
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Today’s Headlines

  • House to Vote on Bill that Expands Drilling to Pay for Infrastructure (Hill)
  • Highway Removals Are Hipper Than Ever (Atlantic Cities)
  • Last Year’s Storms Continue to Cost USDOT (TransNat)
  • Rails-to-Trails or Bikes-to-Rails? A New Concept Bike From Italy Rides Old Tracks (TreeHugger)
  • New Study Seeks to Quantify Health Benefits of Transportation (National Journal)
  • How Seattle Is Urging Drivers to Take the Toll Road (Transportation Gooru)
  • WA Governor Expected to Focus on Transportation Investment this Year (SeattleTimes)
  • NRDC Makes the Case for a Rail- and Transit-Oriented California
  • USDOT Supports SF BART Extension to San Jose to Tune of $2.3 Billion (Mercury)
  • Ron Paul: Look How Healthy I Am, Riding a Bike! (Cyclelicious)
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Today’s Headlines

  • CA Governor Still Budgeting for HSR, Proposes New Agency (SacBee)
  • Carnegie Endowment: Time to Reassess Our National Transportation Program (Hill)
  • What Happened to the Rick Santorum Who Supported Amtrak as a Senator? (Politico)
  • Houston Making Baby Steps Toward Bike-share (TransNat)
  • Private Group, USDOT May Fund Scaled-Back Light Rail in Detroit (TransportPolitic)
  • Georgia State Representative Urges Support for Penny Transportation Tax (WMAZ)
  • Serious Potential of Paved Parking Lots as Public Spaces (NYT)
  • Indiana DOT Planning to Build 28 New Roundabouts – State Only Has Three Now (Trib)
  • Schumer Continues Push for Commuter Tax Extension (Hill)
  • Delicious Collects a Stack of Transportation Infographics
  • And a Tip of the Hat to the Infrastructurist After a Fine Three-Year Run