Tanya Snyder
Tanya became Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor in September 2010 after covering Congress for Pacifica Radios Washington bureau and for public radio stations around the country. She lives car-free in a transit-oriented and bike-friendly neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Recent Posts
From Bust to Boom: Rental Housing Takes Off in Madison
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Madison, Wisconsin, is on a building binge. Developers are constructing so much rental housing that market observers fear that the housing shortage could quickly turn into a glut. One thousand units were approved last year for large apartment complexes. There’s a reason behind all this building, according to an article in yesterday’s Isthmus: Young professionals, […]
Commuting Tips for the Incrementalist: Small Changes, Big Savings
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Rob Perks couldn’t understand why his friend, Megan, drove to work every day instead of taking public transportation. She said driving was cheaper and more convenient, but Perks had almost an identical commute and he was pretty confident he was saving a lot by taking transit. A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation of all Megan’s driving costs […]
Minneapolis-St. Paul: Ripe for a Highway Teardown?
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When I was a college student in the Twin Cities, I moved between Minneapolis and St. Paul on the 21 bus or the 16 bus or by bike, traversing vibrant corridors like Lake Street and Washington Avenue. I rode past art cinemas and pancake houses and Mexican supermarkets and puppet theaters. Or I didn’t ride […]
Study: Federal Funding Means More Bike Commuting
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Bicycling is at a tipping point in many American cities. Bike-share systems are multiplying rapidly, infrastructure that used to be seen as novel is now commonplace, and commuting rates are growing. There are many explanations for this cultural shift, but here’s one not to be ignored: federal funding. Georgetown Public Policy Institute student Marissa Newhall […]
Amtrak Foe Mica Meets His Match in John Robert Smith
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I just sat through a pretty boring hearing on rail financing. But I’m glad I stuck it out, because the fireworks came at the end, when Rep. John Mica picked a fight with the wrong man. John Robert Smith is familiar face in transportation reform circles. The former Republican mayor of the town of Meridian, […]
Another Swing (and a Miss) From Anderson Cooper’s Show on High-Speed Rail
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My apologies, readers: Anderson Cooper did another segment slandering high-speed rail last month and it’s taken me this long to bring it to your attention. And the truth is, I don’t mean to hammer on Anderson Cooper. His “Keeping Them Honest” series has done some good work recently, looking into the IRS scandal and the […]
Car Ownership May Be Down in the U.S., But It’s Soaring Globally
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Two weeks ago, transportation researcher Michael Sivak brought us the news that there are fewer cars per person in the U.S. now than there were a few years ago – and that the number isn’t expected to rise again. But globally, the trend is in the opposite direction, and it’s alarming. The world is producing more […]
Anthony Foxx Takes Office As U.S. Transportation Secretary
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Anthony Foxx, who resigned yesterday as mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, was sworn in today at 11 a.m. as the new U.S. secretary of transportation. The Department of Transportation sent the following information in a press release after the ceremony: Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx was sworn in as the nation’s 17th Secretary of Transportation by […]
Will the Next Rail Bill Make Trains Competitive With Highways and Aviation?
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It may have taken three years for Congress to get it together to pass a surface transportation reauthorization, but House Republicans say that won’t happen this time. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA), chair of the Rail Subcommittee in the House, opened last Thursday’s hearing by making sure everyone in the room knew that. “Chairman Shuster and […]
Foxx’s Responses on Bike Questions: Vaguely Promising, But Mostly Vague
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Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx was unanimously confirmed yesterday by the full Senate to become the new chief of U.S. DOT. He’ll be sworn in soon, probably next week. At Foxx’s confirmation hearing, many senators submitted questions for the record – abbreviated to QFRs in Congressional parlance – and received answers before they had to vote on […]
LaHood Heads Home for a Break and to “Hope the Phone Rings”
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Outgoing U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said a few parting words yesterday at the National Press Club, just an hour before his successor, Anthony Foxx, was confirmed by the full Senate. The theme of LaHood’s prepared remarks was bipartisanship, but he admits he’s not seeing enough of it these days in Washington. That could doom […]
Senate Offers a More Multi-Modal 2014 Transportation Budget Than the House
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Last week, a House panel envisioned some big cuts to next year’s transportation budget. TIGER and high-speed rail would get nothing, Amtrak would get slashed, and ixnay on all that green “livability” crap. (And that’s practically a quote.) The Senate Appropriations Committee voted this morning on the budget its own transportation subcommittee put together, and the end […]