Elana Schor
Recent Posts
How Can Transit Backers Sway Conservatives? Oberstar Joins the Debate
| | 3 Comments
In the years before partisan warfare became the norm in Washington, transportation tended to unite both ends of the ideological spectrum. Can rationality return to infrastructure policy debates that have become subsumed by culture clashes between cyclists and drivers, urbanists and suburbanites — and, of course, Democrats and Republicans? Highways and transit, side by side […]
U.S. DOT Names the Transit Projects Set for Federal Funding
| | No Comments
The Obama administration last night revealed the names of local transit projects getting recommendations for federal aid under the U.S. DOT’s New and Small Starts programs, which are set to receive $1.8 billion during fiscal year 2011. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff, in hard hat at the groundbreaking of New Jersey’s rail tunnel. […]
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments
Bad news for Big Oil in the White House budget, which seeks to axe $36.5B in subsidies — but will Congress go along? (TNR’s The Vine) That $100m jobs bill, including infrastructure, that the White House is hoping for? It might look considerably smaller once the Senate acts, perhaps this week (Politico) Georgia political heavyweights […]
LaHood Talks Budget: “Very Bright” Future for Infrastructure Fund
| | No Comments
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today that he sees "very bright" prospects for congressional approval of the Obama administration’s $4 billion National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund, the new iteration of the long-discussed National Infrastructure Bank proposal. Transportation Secretary LaHood, at left, with the president. (Photo: NYT) "There is a great deal of interest in […]
The White House Transportation Budget: What’s In Line for the Axe?
| | 2 Comments
In a fiscal year 2011 budget that proposes to increase spending on several core transportation priorities, the White House also aims to eliminate a few infrastructure programs that may prove popular with lawmakers. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) used the STP program to earmark millions of dollars for road projects in his home state, including the […]
White House Budget Includes $530M for Local Sustainability, $1B for HSR
| | 2 Comments
The White House officially unveiled its $3.8 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2011 this morning, seeking $1 billion to continue its high-speed rail investment and $530 million for the transportation leg of the Obama administration’s inter-agency push to promote sustainable planning on the local level. White House budget chief Peter Orszag challenged employees to […]
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments
A new study reinforces the open secret of distracted driving — legislation requiring hands-free cell phones won’t do the job (WSJ) More proof that the vice president was correct in calling high-speed rail grants apolitical: Pennsylvania’s Democratic-rich leadership is upset to see their state got shut out (Trib-Review) In Tampa, meanwhile, joy over rail money […]
Biden Says High-Speed Rail Money Ignored Politics — Was He Right?
| | 4 Comments
During yesterday’s Tampa event awarding $8 billion in federal rail grants, Vice President Joe Biden pointed to the two states receiving the biggest share of stimulus money for true high-speed train projects: Florida and California, both run by GOP governors. The vice president takes the president’s coat yesterday. (Photo: AP via Politico) "We didn’t pick […]
The Urbanist Case Against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
| | 2 Comments
The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), an advocacy group working to reform local development practices, is seizing on House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) recent call for a new system of housing finance to replace government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Mixed-use developments, such as Atlanta’s Atlantic Station (above), are often incompatible […]
Celebration in California As White House Awards $2.3B for High-Speed Rail
| | No Comments
In California, the state’s bid for a federal high-speed rail network with top speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour is often called the "only true" bullet train proposal on the table — and the Obama administration agreed today, bestowing $2.34 billion on the Golden State to the delight of lawmakers and rail advocates. Graphic: CHSRC […]
Today’s Headlines
| | No Comments
Natural Resources Defense Council recruits a flurry of celebrities to tape a rescue plea for the stalled congressional climate bill (video above, courtesy of NRDC Press) Senate Dems to unveil the first piece of their job-creation effort, an infrastructure-centric affair, next week (Roll Call) Why Florida’s federally funded high-speed rail network might fall way short […]
A Bike-Ped State of the Union: 9.6% of Trips, 1.2% of Federal Funding
| | No Comments
With the nation still digesting the State of the Union address, the Alliance for Biking & Walking picked an auspicious day to release their biennial Benchmarking report on America’s bike-ped behavior. The group’s bottom-line conclusion: federal transportation funding continues to disproportionately shortchange travelers powered by their own two feet. (Chart: Alliance for Biking & Walking) […]