Elana Schor
Recent Posts
Bipartisan Senate Jobs Bill Has Highway Trust Fund Rescue But No TIGER
| | 6 Comments
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and his panel’s senior Republican, Chuck Grassley (IA), today offered a job-creation proposal designed to garner enough GOP votes to overcome an anticipated filibuster. Senate Finance Committee chief Max Baucus (D-MT), at left, with GOP ally Chuck Grassley (IA) at right. (Photo: Baucus Press) The measure’s transportation provisions […]
D.C., VA, MD to Apply for Federal Aid as Snow Eats Into Transport Budgets
| | 2 Comments
The scene in D.C. this week. (Photo: thisisbossi via Flickr) Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia are set to apply for federal disaster aid to offset the costs of cleanup from this month’s record-breaking mid-Atlantic blizzards, according to the Washington Post reports today. But the so-called Snowpocalypse could dent more than just worker productivity — already […]
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments
How Florida’s congressional delegation helped make its high-speed rail award happen (HuffPost) Michael Lindenberger responds to this week’s online back-and-forth over taxing gas v. VMT (Morn News) Senate jobs bill — with a highway trust fund extension but no TIGER money — expected to be delayed for 10 more days (WSJ) Chinese high-speed rail proving […]
AASHTO Stimulus Report Omits Jobs Data Comparing Transit With Roads
| | 1 Comment
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the trade group representing state DOTs in Washington, yesterday unveiled a website and report billed as a one-year "progress report" on the White House’s $34.3 billion in formula-based transportation stimulus spending. (Photo: WBEZ) AASHTO’s report, citing data furnished to Congress, noted that 77 percent of […]
The Gas Tax Versus a VMT Tax: Is ‘All of the Above’ an Option?
| | 22 Comments
(Chart: Oregon DOT) The prospect of an eventual move away from the gas tax and towards a fee on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) has sparked consternation from some well-known bloggers this week, with Matt Yglesias asserting that "a VMT [tax] has no advantages whatsoever over higher gasoline taxes" and Andrew Samwick suggesting that declining fuel […]
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments
Early draft of Senate jobs bill emerges: $20B for the highway trust fund and Build America Bond language, but no new funding for TIGER grants (Politico) AASHTO unveils website touting more than 280,000 "highway and transit jobs" created or sustained by the stimulus law’s focus on transportation — Democrats hail the news (EPW Press) In […]
First Lady Launches Childhood Obesity Push With Nod to Biking & Walking
| | 1 Comment
First Lady Michelle Obama took to the mikes this afternoon to kick off a national campaign to combat childhood obesity, emphasizing new initiatives to promote biking and walking alongside a strong focus on healthier food options in schools. The first lady visited "Sesame Street" last fall as part of her push to fight childhood obesity. […]
New Report Maps a High-Speed Rail Link For Every Major U.S. City
| | 3 Comments
(Image: U.S. PIRG) Now that the Obama administration has awarded $8 billion in high-speed rail grants to more than two dozen states, with $2.5 billion more coming soon, why not keep thinking big when it comes to bullet-train expansion? That’s the ethos of a new report released today by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group […]
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments
Following on the heels of PBS’ well-reviewed Detroit documentary, a new short film (above) envisions a new transportation future for the Motor City (America 2050 Blog) Rep. Blumenauer, head of Congress’ livable communities task force, fights the loss of momentum for climate legislation with a call for more investments in clean transportation (Politico) A vehicle […]
Report: White House Budget Office Helped Weaken EPA Pollution Rule
| | 1 Comment
Pensacola, Florida. Springfield, Missouri. Fort Wayne, Indiana. All three of those metropolitan areas have populations between 350,000 and 500,000, and all three would have been required to install nitrogen dioxide monitoring stations near major roadways under a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule cracking down on the pollutant. Cass Sunstein, chief of the White House […]
EPA and HUD Make Big Investments in Sustainable Development
| | No Comments
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are making significant progress on their joint effort, with the U.S. DOT, to connect cleaner transportation options with affordable housing and denser urban development. A future commuter rail station along Boston’s Fairmount Line, one of five areas selected for EPA sustainable […]
A Vow to ‘Bring Republicans to the Table’ for a New Transport Bill
| | 2 Comments
Despite Senate Democratic efforts to move quickly on a new jobs bill that includes infrastructure investment and takes steps towards solving the nation’s transportation financing dilemma, Congress has just two more weeks of work until time runs out on the latest short-term extension of the five-year-old law governing federal transport policy. "We will bring Republicans […]