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
House GOP Takes the Plunge, Unveils Transportation and Energy Plan Today
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UPDATE 12:00: Leaders did not introduce a bill, but outlined their plan in rather vague terms. More to come. At 11:15 this morning, House Speaker John Boehner, House Transportation Chair John Mica, Natural Resources Chair Doc Hastings (R-WA) and Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) will take the podium to unveil their transportation and energy bill. It’s […]
The Anatomy of a Successful Transit Ballot Measure
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Last week, people went to the polls in four states to vote on transit-related ballot initiatives. Of 10 measures transit advocates were watching closely, seven of them were victories. Last night, I had the opportunity to hear from Jason Jordan of the Center for Transportation Excellence about what makes a successful transit ballot campaign. Here […]
2012 Transpo Budget: Sustainable Communities and HSR Out, TIGER In
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Remember those radically different appropriations bills passed by the House and the Senate? And how I said they’d never come together, and they probably would never pass a 2012 budget anyway because all Congress ever does anymore is extend previous budgets because they can’t agree on anything? Well, color me wrong. House and Senate members […]
Mica Warns Boxer on Highway Trust Fund; House Plans Hearing on “Drill Bill”
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“I want to congratulate you on your Committee’s approval of the ‘Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” begins House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica’s letter yesterday to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee. From there, the letter changes tone: However, I am concerned that the Senate two-year […]
Deputy Secretary Roy Kienitz Calls It Quits At USDOT
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First Ray LaHood tells us he’s not sticking around as Transportation Secretary much longer. Now his number two, Roy Kienitz, has announced he’s gonna bounce too — and he’s not even going to wait around as long as LaHood. Kienitz will be out by next month. Politico’s Morning Transportation reporters got the dish in Kienitz’s […]
Senate Bill May Weaken Smaller Metros, Empower State DOTs
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In Indiana, the state DOT wants to build a 142-mile extension of Interstate 69, but the Bloomington metropolitan planning organization won’t allow it – the group had written the road out of its three-year transportation plan and members are standing firm, refusing to write it back in. The MPO in Charlottesville, Virginia, similarly, long fought the […]
What’s Wrong With Telling Cyclists to Ride on the Bike Path?
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With all due respect to my vehicular-cyclist friends, I’m a big fan of separate facilities for bikes. They keep bicyclists safer and encourage more people to ride, and I know I make a lot fewer risky moves when I’m riding in a lane built for my two wheels and not a two-ton, 200-horsepower steel box. […]
Nine Reasons For Bike/Ped Advocates to Take Heart: The Senate Edition
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Now that the dust has settled, we have a few more notes on the Senate transportation bill that passed the EPW committee yesterday. Bike and pedestrian advocates are understandably shaken at seeing some major changes to the primary programs that fund their work. But here are some reasons to take heart: Getting Transportation Enhancements out […]
More Election Results: Transit Wins Big
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Out of 12 transportation-related measures that were voted on Tuesday, seven represented a victory for transit, three were losses to learn from, and two more aren’t really a win one way or another but are worth noting. According to the Center for Transportation Excellence, these numbers bring the year’s total to an impressive 79 percent win […]
Two-Year Transpo Bill Moves on to Full Senate Without Bike/Ped Protections
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The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously this morning to pass a two-year transportation reauthorization bill, moving the bill one step closer to passage by the full Senate. Unlike in the House, where the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has full responsibility for the transportation bill, the Senate splits jurisdiction among several committees, so […]
Today Is Decision Time For Local Transit Contests
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If you live in Durham County, North Carolina, Montcalm County, Michigan, Cincinnati, Ohio, or anywhere in Washington state, today is Election Day – and you’ve got decisions to make about transit. There are six ballot initiatives up for a popular vote today that will determine the future of transit service in these areas. They follow […]
Coming Soon: Super-Partisan “Oil-For-Infrastructure” Transpo Bill
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“In the coming weeks, House Republicans will formally introduce an energy & infrastructure jobs bill, and hope to move the legislation through the House before the end of the year,” House Speaker John Boehner announced yesterday. Back in September, the Speaker let slip that the GOP would like to “link the next highway bill to an […]