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
Transportation 101: Cliff’s Notes for the Reauthorization Debate
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A few weeks ago, I put together a little cheat sheet listing the last three transportation reauthorization bills, their dates of passage, and the dollar amounts. It helped me save some time I would have spent Googling. Now there’s a more comprehensive cheat sheet. I’ll never again be at a loss to remember what the […]
AASHTO: Government Shutdown Could Cost Transportation Sector $100M/Day
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If the House, Senate, and President Obama don’t agree on a course of action by the end of this week, the U.S. will be left with no federal budget, and the government will shut down. Transit agencies and construction interests don’t seem alarmed, but the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimates that […]
Trainwreck: Rick Scott Keeps On Killing Florida HSR
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Somehow, every time a governor makes a really bad decision that denies appropriate transportation options to his constituents, he gets chance after chance to take it back. And somehow, they never do. Take Chris Christie of New Jersey. How many times did he say no to the ARC Tunnel before it was finally over? And […]
NRDC Names 15 Smarter Cities
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How long do you have to wait for a bus in your city? How much does it cost? Does every family on your block have two cars? And tell us about your bikeshare program… The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has been asking questions like these to determine their list of 15 Smarter Cities – […]
The Economist: “Rock-Bottom” U.S. Gas Tax Makes Gas Cheaper Than Water
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Gas prices are up to $3.23 a gallon this week, according to AAA. But before drivers complain about “pain at the pump,” they should compare U.S. gas prices to those in the rest of the developed world. A liter of gas costs about 80 cents. A liter of Fiji bottled water costs about $4.00. According […]
Puppies and Peanut Butter: Brookings on State Transpo Mistakes
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As transportation advocates adapt their messaging to a new, more conservative Congress, the language of fiscal conservatism has become the mother tongue of the movement. Smart Growth America and the Bipartisan Policy Center have recently used the fiscal responsibility argument to urge policymakers to invest more strategically, especially as infrastructure budgets shrink. Now the Brookings […]
How Hard Will the Senate Fight Back Against House Spending Cuts?
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Members of Congress worked all day Friday, until 4:42 Saturday morning, to finish voting on hundreds of amendments and, finally, the final HR 1 bill to set spending levels for the rest of 2011. In the end, the budget bill they passed included 400 amendments and cuts $61 billion out of everything from Planned Parenthood […]
House to Vote on Deep Cuts to Essential Transportation Programs
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The House is still voting on amendment after amendment to the continuing resolution that will fund the federal government for the rest of FY2011. Just a quick recap as we go into the weekend. The “base bill” of HR 1 – not the amendments – would do the following: Eliminate the entire high-speed rail program. […]
In Age of Budget Cuts, Why Are Billions of Federal Rail Dollars Going Unused?
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If I told you there was a fantastic, $35 billion federal program to lend money for railroads to improve their infrastructure, you’d probably assume one of the following: It must be in China or Europe, not here. I’m about to tell you that Republicans just cut it from the budget. It’s over-subscribed, like TIGER, with […]
Bike Trail Funding Survives 583 Amendments
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Bet you weren’t expecting to hear any good news from the floor of the House today, were you? Turns out not everyone in Congress is as axe-happy as some high-profile Republicans. For example, Amtrak survived one attempt to cut all its funding and another to cut $447 million. (Amtrak funding does stand to lose $224 […]
Philly, Scranton and Rochester Hearings Postponed
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As the House returns for an unusual Friday session to finish (one hopes) debating and voting on HR 1, the continuing budget resolution for FY2011, with its 583 amendments, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is breaking dates all over the country. Its series of field hearings fizzled soon after it started, as the impending […]
House GOP to Senate: Pass Our Budget or Shut Down the Government
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House Speaker John Boehner won’t take no for an answer. As the House struggles to consider and vote on nearly 600 amendments to the FY2011 budget – in a process the GOP is heralding as unprecedented democracy and the Democrats are calling chaos – the prospects for consensus on the continuing resolution is becoming increasingly […]