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
Even the Godfather of Rail~Volution Wouldn’t Raise the Gas Tax Right Now
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At Rail~Volution yesterday, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) — also known as the godfather of the “rail~volution” — said even he wouldn’t raise the gas tax right now. “We should make some adjustments to a gas tax that hasn’t increased since 1993,” Blumenauer said. “Half the people think the gas tax goes up every year.” He […]
Rail~volution: Will New Americans Fuel Smart Growth or Suburbanism?
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This year’s Rail~volution conference — the annual gathering of livability advocates, urban sustainability coordinators, and transit agency officials – kicked off today with remarks by Chris Leinberger of the Brookings Institution and Manuel Pastor, who teaches demographics and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Leinberger noted that Hollywood does more consumer research than anyone […]
Lessons From the Former Chairman: Oberstar on Ending the Interstate Era
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Streetsblog had a chance today to ask the former Democratic chief of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, about life since the 2010 election, when he lost by a hair to Republican Chip Cravaack. He said he’s spending his post-Congress time traveling to France, getting paid to say things he used to […]
Mica Won’t Say Where Transpo Funding Will Come From; LaHood Defends TE
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House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) said this morning that getting permission from Republican leadership to find more revenues to fund the transportation bill was a “major breakthrough” but still won’t say where the money will come from. Mica told an audience at a Washington Post-sponsored forum on transportation that passing yet another extension […]
Ray LaHood Won’t Stay at USDOT Past 2012
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the LA Times today that he’s a one-term secretary. Don’t expect him to serve during President Obama’s second term, if there is one, or to run for any other public office in the future. Todd Zwillich of Transportation Nation suggests that partisan gridlock may be to blame. “A lot has changed in […]
Transpo Committee Dems Submit Deficit-Reduction Ideas to Super Committee
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Tomorrow is the deadline for Congressional committees to advise the super committee on how they’d like to see the deficit reduction plan formulated. The Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee submitted theirs today [PDF], divided into three sections: “Creating Jobs,” “Eliminating Waste, Fraud and Abuse,” and “Promoting Efficiency and Reform of Government.” For […]
Will New Infrastructure Funding Survive the Demise of Obama’s Jobs Bill?
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Tuesday night, the Senate blocked a vote on the president’s jobs plan. As had been forecast, Republicans voted unanimously against the plan, and they weren’t alone: Two Democrats joined them – Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Now it’s on to Plan B, which involves breaking up the bill into pieces […]
Nice Try, GM
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GM pulled its offensive ad that tried to depict biking as uncool in response to complaints from bicycling advocates, but they’re still running this ad, showing what a drag it can be as a pedestrian because cars will ruin your day. (Best just to get your own car and ruin someone else’s day.) A GM […]
LaHood: Rail-Trails Are the Best Health Care Program
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood became a darling of the bicycling advocacy community last year when he jumped up on a table at the National Bike Summit and affirmed his support for biking, later declaring “the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.” Now LaHood says that biking and walking is not only good transportation […]
GM to College Students: Stop Pedaling, Start Driving
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Car ads that try to appeal to the desire for social status are nothing new, but here’s one that just gets it wrong: GM is trying to convince college students that driving a Buick is hipper than riding a fixie. Nice try, GM. Unfortunately for you, college kids aren’t falling for it. People between the […]
Transportation Projects Chosen For Federal Fast-Tracking Lean Multi-Modal
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Last month Streetsblog asked whether President Obama would select transportation projects that reduce congestion, improve air quality, and create jobs when he picked several infrastructure investments, among those recommended by agency officials, to fast-track. The selection of these projects, intended to help spur short-term job creation, could avoid the mistakes of the 2009 stimulus program, […]
Take My Job! (For a Little While)
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Starting in January (precise date to-be-determined), I’m going to take some time off to have my first baby. I’ll be taking a break from my duties at Streetsblog Capitol Hill for a couple of months, and then I’ll be back part-time for a few more months, getting to know the little one. (So far, all […]