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
How Amtrak Can Provide World-Class Service on the Northeast Corridor
| | 6 Comments
Yesterday was a tough day to try to get attention for a Senate hearing on the future of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. After all, at least one senator had gotten a poisonous letter and everyone on Capitol Hill was on high alert. What’s more, the Amtrak hearing coincided with the vote on gun control, one of […]
Sparks Fly as Lawmaker Grills LaHood on Columbia River Crossing Transit
| | 35 Comments
From the beginning of today’s hearing, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee made it clear they weren’t going to let Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s last appearance before them be an easy one. While the hearing’s purpose was to examine the department’s budget request, the tough questions LaHood fielded on the budget were nothing compared to […]
Reps. Duncan and Nadler Will Lead New T&I Panel on Freight
| | 5 Comments
MAP-21 pushed U.S. DOT to get serious about freight: In recent months, the agency has announced the creation of a national freight policy, a National Freight Advisory Committee, and a Freight Policy Council, as mandated by the bill. Now the House Transportation Committee is getting in on the action. The committee announced today that Rep. John Duncan […]
Could Transportation Spending Become a Core Conservative Value?
| | No Comments
Sen. James Inhofe has always said that, although he’s one of the most conservative members of the Senate, he’s a “big spender” on two things: national security and infrastructure. An influential conservative group appears to be humming the same tune. The American Conservative Union is the 50-year-old organization behind the annual Conservative Political Action Conference […]
Counting Bikes and Cars Without a Clipboard
| | 14 Comments
Liberate yourself from government transportation data that doesn’t tell you what you need to know! Break the chains of ignorance about how streets in your town are being used! Declare your independence from five-year-old data sets in PDF spreadsheets! Advocates have for too long been at the mercy of the limited data on travel patterns they […]
Congress, Administration Trade Gimmicky Ideas For Keeping Amtrak Afloat
| | 6 Comments
At today’s hearing on Amtrak’s budget proposal, the nation’s rail leaders met with a different kind of Congressional leadership than in it has in recent years. The vibe of the meeting was significantly less combative — with the primary exception being Rep. John Mica’s reprise of his famous role as Amtrak villain. Here are some […]
Tampa Bike Safety Summit Proves (Finally) to Be No April Fools’ Joke
| | 2 Comments
Bike advocates got yet another reason to love Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last month when he announced that U.S. DOT would hold two bicycle safety summits this year. The summits would examine why bicycle fatality rates are rising when automobile fatalities are falling. Less than a month after he made this announcement at the National […]
How to Write a Complete Streets Policy
| | 4 Comments
Step one: Do it like Indianapolis. Of the 130 complete streets policies passed in 2012, the one passed by Indianapolis gets the highest score in a new ranking by Smart Growth America and its National Complete Streets Coalition. “The Complete Streets movement fundamentally redefines what a street is intended to do, what goals a transportation […]
Study: Too Many Drivers Fail to Look for Pedestrians When Turning Left
| | 28 Comments
Drivers turning left are a leading cause of pedestrian crashes in urban areas. Where drivers can only turn left with a green left-turn arrow, pedestrians are more protected. But when drivers are watching oncoming traffic for a chance to make their turn, they tend not to be as vigilant as they should to watch for […]
What Should the Surgeon General Say to Get More People Walking?
| | 15 Comments
What if cars came with a Surgeon General’s warning like the ones that come on cigarette packs: “Sitting in this seat could lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and divorce.” Surgeon General Regina Benjamin is getting ready to go halfway there. She announced in December that she’d be issuing a call to action on […]
Rep. Scott Garrett Wants to Let Dead-Broke States Go It Alone on Transpo
| | No Comments
In order to “address our insolvent transportation program and end the taxpayer bailouts of the Highway Trust Fund,” Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) has introduced a bill to let states “opt out” of the federal transportation program altogether. In true devolutionist fantasy style, Garrett says he wants to give states the option to forgo their transportation […]
How Much Driving Is Avoided When Someone Rides a Bike?
| | 34 Comments
If Jane Doe rides her bike a mile to the post office and then back home, is it fair to assume she just avoided two miles of driving? And can we then assume that she prevented 2.2 pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted? That’s more or less the way most agencies calculate averted vehicle-miles traveled. One […]