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
Rockefeller, Lautenberg Re-Introduce Infrastructure Bank Bill in Senate
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These two men are serious about creating an infrastructure bank before they leave office. Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) — both titans of the Commerce Committee, both retiring in 2015 — yesterday re-introduced legislation to create such a bank. Their previous bill died at the end of the last Congressional session. That […]
Could LaHood Stick Around to Oversee the Sequester Crisis?
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It’s been almost a month since Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced his resignation — and longer than that since he tipped off the president that he was planning his exit — but no replacement has been named yet. They haven’t named an acting secretary and let him go, as happened in the Labor Department when […]
Virginia’s Transpo Future: Charge Drivers Less to Build More Roads
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Congratulations are owed to Bob McDonnell. He’s scored a victory on his transportation funding plan, cementing his legacy (though infuriating conservatives, including his hand-picked successor). His achievement is being called the first bipartisan initiative to pass in Virginia in decades. And what does this great deed accomplish? Secure revenue to fuel a new era of […]
Wooing Suburban Drivers With Cheap Parking: A Losing Strategy for Cities
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There may be nothing sadder than distressed cities trying to compete with the suburbs by adding more parking spaces. (We’re looking at you, Cleveland, Detroit, and Buffalo!) Chris McCahill and Norman Garrick recently wrote in Atlantic Cities about the failure of this approach: Cities that attempt to use parking as an economic development strategy actually undermine their […]
Sequestration Week: Will Congress Find a Solution By Friday? Does It Matter?
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Welcome to Sequestration Week. Congress has until Friday to strike a deal that would avoid a set of dreaded automatic budget cuts. The president is blaming the crisis on House Republicans, who are in turn laying blame on Senate Democrats. Unlike any number of previous budget crises, no one really thinks that Washington can pull […]
Ray LaHood: “It’s Not Just About Emissions”
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This is the third and final installment of our exit interview with departing U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. In the first, he talked about his proudest accomplishments, why he decided to leave, and why it’s important to fund bike/ped improvements with federal dollars – and he made it clear he’s still not giving us […]
Boehner Calls Obama’s Bluff on Infrastructure (But Who Will Call Boehner’s?)
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Did you notice the big white beard and jolly red cheeks on President Obama at the State of the Union the other night? He’s the new Santa Claus, giving out gifts the government can’t afford to greedy little kids everywhere. That’s how House Speaker John Boehner sees the president’s latest proposal for infrastructure investment — […]
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Rail Promoter, Announces Retirement
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Yesterday afternoon, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, announced that Frank Lautenberg would return as chair of the committee’s Surface Transportation, & Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, & Security Subcommittee. This afternoon at 2:00 p.m., Lautenberg issued a statement that “improving passenger and high-speed rail service in America and on the Northeast Corridor is […]
Ray LaHood: “Sitting on the Sidelines Doesn’t Accomplish Anything”
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What follows is the second installment of an exit interview I conducted with departing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Tuesday. In the first installment, he talked about what he’s proudest of, why he decided to leave, and why it’s important to fund bike/ped improvements with federal dollars. I also gave him one last chance to […]
The Ray LaHood Exit Interview
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I had the chance to sit down with Ray LaHood yesterday morning before he spoke to the U.S. High-Speed Rail Association. Our conversation covered a wide range of topics, looking back on his four years at the helm of the U.S. Department of Transportation. We’ll publish the interview in three installments over the next few […]
Mica Won’t Let His Grudge Against Amtrak Die, Revives Privatization Scheme
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Rep. John Mica (R-FL) no longer chairs the House Transportation Committee, but that doesn’t mean he’s eased up on his crusade against Amtrak. Calling the company a “Soviet style monopoly,” Mica used his afternoon address to the U.S. High Speed Rail Association to announce his plan to revive his despised and defeated measure to privatize […]
President Obama Proposes a “Fix-It-First” Program For Roads
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In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama launched a “Fix-It-First” program to repair aging infrastructure and put people to work. The president even took an indirect jab at officials who would rather build new than fix existing infrastructure, saying, “I know you want these job-creating projects in your district; I’ve seen all […]