Elana Schor
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Today’s Headlines
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(Photo: AP/HuffPost) A photo gallery of 9 world-class subways, including Tokyo’s, pictured above (HuffPost) An inside look at transit tunnel security in the Big Apple (AP) Toyota could face a second fine from U.S. DOT for its response to defective gas pedals (The Hill Blog) The hidden crisis of America’s decaying "soft infrastructure," and what […]
New Report Puts a Price on Suburbia and Rental Housing in One U.S. City
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How much various Boston area neighborhoods are spending on total household transport and housing bills. (Graphic: Center for Neighborhood Technology) Boston mayor Thomas Menino joined Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) today for the release of a new Urban Land Institute (ULI) report that maps the combined housing and transportation burden of living in the metro area’s […]
Planner Calls For ‘Fight’ Against High-Speed Rail Sharing Track With Freight
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As federal and local officials plot out the future of U.S. high-speed rail, a prominent speaker at this week’s American Planning Association conference is urging fellow urban planners to "fight" the prospect of high-speed rail sharing roadbed with freight lines — a significant dilemma for Amtrak, which must split an estimated 70 percent of its […]
Transport Contractors Urge White House to Revamp Enviro Review Rules
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The trade group representing private-sector transportation contractors is urging the Obama administration to change the way environmental reviews are conducted for infrastructure projects, proposing to favor "categorical exclusions" (CEs) from federal review rules over the lengthier process of measuring the environmental impact of construction work. Environmental reviews added an estimated $1 million to the cost […]
Today’s Headlines
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LaHood hits upstate New York to talk up the potential future of local high-speed rail (Roch Biz Jrnl, RocNow, EmpireStateNews) Passage of new sales tax to fund transit sparking recriminations among St. Louis tea partyers (Post-Dispatch) U.S. DOT pledges $200 million for the cross-Hudson River transit tunnel (Star-Ledger) Local crackdowns on distracted drivers touted as […]
Nevada Becomes Newest Battleground in Mileage Tax Debate
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Nevada’s state DOT is in the early stages of a years-long study aimed at mapping a possible transition from the gas tax to a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee, a shift urged last year by a congressionally chartered panel on infrastructure financing and encouraged by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). In-vehicle GPS units, such as the […]
New Analysis Tracks 40 Years of Changes in How Kids Get to School
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(Chart: NCSRS/SRSNP) The percentage of U.S. students between ages five and 14 who walk or bike to school has remained stable over the past 15 years but remains three-quarters below where it stood 40 years ago, according to a new analysis of government data by two groups working on the Safe Routes to School (SRtS) […]
Today’s Headlines
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Transportation planner and engineer Dan Burden talks walkable design (Streetsblog NYC) Democratic Sens. Dorgan & Merkley poised to introduce legislation codifying broad investment plan for electric cars (The Hill Blog) California high-speed rail could be built, and partly funded by, Beijing (NYT) Source says "no final decisions" have been made on whether the new Senate […]
New Poll: 27% of Public Would Cut Transit Aid, Versus 12% for Highways
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(Graphic: Annie Lowrey) The latest weekly edition of the Economist/YouGov poll asks where, if a balanced federal budget were the goal, the American public would rather see cuts to federal spending. As the chart above shows, transit was given the theoretical axe by 27 percent of respondents, tied with agriculture and housing but far behind […]
Amtrak on Pace to Break Annual Ridership Record
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Amtrak carried 13.6 million passengers over the past six months, putting it on pace for a record-breaking ridership year, according to a statement released today by officials at the national inter-city rail system. Amtrak’s Acela line carried 13.5 percent more riders last month than in March 2009. (Photo: Flickr/pgengler) Every one of Amtrak’s lines recorded […]
Feds Stepping Up Enforcement of Distracted Driving Laws in Two Cities
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The Obama administration today launched what it describes as the first federal push for increased enforcement of distracted driving laws, funding local police crackdowns in two northeastern cities aimed at drivers using hand-held cell phones. (Photo: Girl’s First Car) The law enforcement boost, which begins today in Hartford, Connecticut, and on Saturday in Syracuse, New […]
Federal Energy Forecast: Gas Nearing $3/Gallon, Fuel Consumption Up
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Average gas prices are expected to hit $2.92 during this summer’s peak driving season, with fossil-fuel consumption rising overall as the economy begins to recover from a recession that limited U.S. emissions growth, according to a forecast released this week by the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). (Photo: Pop and Politics) The EIA’s latest short-term […]