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
A Dear Abby for Transportation Secretaries: Advice From Foxx’s Predecessors
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Yesterday, the University of Virginia’s Miller Center invited six former transportation secretaries to talk about the possibilities of presidential influence over transportation and to give advice to Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, whose nomination for the job was announced that same day. James Burnley (1987-1989, under Reagan): “His challenge is to establish his leadership as early […]
Does President Obama Have the Power to Influence Transportation Policy?
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In 1962, President John F. Kennedy called for a federal transit funding plan. Two years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson took baby steps toward starting that program, but Johnson’s true transportation legacy was signing the bill that created the Department of Transportation, bringing all modes under one roof. Nixon oversaw the creation of Amtrak. Ford […]
Meet Your Next Transportation Secretary
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Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx just accepted President Obama’s nomination to be the next transportation secretary. Before we get into the details of Anthony Foxx’s résumé and policy positions, let’s just take a moment to appreciate this: The White House has nominated a mayor to be secretary of transportation. There is often a wide gulf between […]
Congress Indulges in Crazy Talk About De-Funding Transit and Taxing Bikes
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The House is a dangerous place these days. You want to have a fruitful conversation about how to solve the transportation funding crisis and you end up ruminating about whether to tax bikes. That’s what happened to Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). He requested that the Budget Committee hold a hearing on the impending insolvency of […]
TIGER’s Love Affair With Freight — And Bikes
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This article is the second of a two-part series about how U.S. DOT’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program — TIGER, a discretionary grant program that got its start under the Recovery Act in 2009 — has made transportation planning more strategic, based on a benefit-cost analysis and national goals. Read the first part here, about […]
Pretty Please: U.S. DOT Asks Carmakers to Limit Onboard Distractions
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s signature issue has been distracted driving. He’s spent the last four years amplifying the heartbreaking voices of those who have suffered the consequences of this highly dangerous habit. The stories of the needless loss of so many people, especially children and teens, are tragic. Clearly, it’s time to take decisive action to stop […]
How TIGER Transformed Transportation Planning — And Lived to Tell About It
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When the buzz about a new, stimulus-funded, discretionary transportation grant program started to circulate in 2009, some environmentalists opposed it. They worried it would be a slush fund for the Federal Highway Administration, used to build unnecessary roads that would aggravate sprawl and pollution. But insiders knew that wasn’t how the new Obama administration would […]
FRA Responds: Amtrak Will Be Able to Use “Proven” Trainsets
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On Monday, we featured a Systemic Failure post about FRA regulations in our morning round-up from the Streetsblog Network. Systemic Failure indicated — and Streetsblog repeated — that the FRA was unwilling to change its rules to allow Amtrak to use “off-the-shelf” trainsets and other equipment. The Systemic Failure post consists almost entirely of the FRA’s own […]
No Surprise Here: Drivers Don’t Want to Pay Higher Gas Taxes
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Just last month, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. infrastructure another dismal grade and every media outlet and lawmaker in the country, it seemed, bellyached about how we need to invest more. And then Gallup asked Americans if they’d be willing to raise the gas tax by 20 cents a gallon. The answer […]
Transit Advocates Target High-Profile Congressional Race in South Carolina
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Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has an answer for everything. He can explain why he lied about hiking the Appalachian Trail when in fact he was in Buenos Aires with his mistress. He can explain why he trespassed into his ex-wife’s house, violating the terms of their divorce. But here’s one thing he doesn’t […]
Come and Get It: LaHood Announces Fifth Round of TIGER Grants
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told members of Congress last week that U.S. DOT would be announcing TIGER V on Friday. He kept us in suspense through the weekend, but here it is: $474 million for innovative transportation projects that don’t necessarily fit neatly under other funding programs. The projects that will be prioritized under TIGER […]
After Years of Unchecked Sprawl, Employment Inches Closer to the City
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To hear some urbanists talk, you’d think the outer suburbs have been abandoned wholesale, lawn-mowers still running with no one to drive them, picket fences left open in the owners’ haste to beat it to the city. A new Brookings report puts the re-urbanization of America in perspective. During the economic crisis, from 2007 to […]