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
Seatbelts and Tickets Alone Won’t Cure America’s Traffic Death Epidemic
| | 4 Comments
Motor vehicle crashes caused 28 percent of all deaths among people 24 and under in the United States in 2006. In 2009, nearly 34,000 people died on America’s roads, and that was considered a big improvement over previous years. More and more, it seems, Americans are wondering why our country is so far behind on […]
Oberstar’s Final Words of Wisdom
| | 5 Comments
Outgoing Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Jim Oberstar (D-MN) just wrapped up a roundtable conversation with reporters. He looked back on his 36 years in Congress – starting in January 1963 as clerk of the the Rivers and Harbors Committee, which eventually morphed into the T & I Committee. He said the history of the […]
How Pedestrian! The Walking Movement Flexes Its Muscle
| | 1 Comment
People tend to identify most strongly with things that set them apart. If everyone’s doing something, it hardly seems worth calling attention to the fact that you do it too. Which may be part of the reason it’s been hard for pedestrian advocacy organizations to build a strong identity around walking. Urban cyclists are constantly […]
Auto Industry Celebrates a Republican House It Helped Put In Power
| | 2 Comments
You might still be recuperating from your post-election hangover, but automotive executives are celebrating victory after victory. Auto industry lobbyists are predicting a good couple of years, according to a report by Automotive News. They’re betting the Republican majority in the House will “investigate, slow and try to block Obama administration initiatives that it considers […]
Our Stagnant Gas Tax Rate Is Making the Deficit Worse
| | 9 Comments
Despite the anti-tax rhetoric of this round of elections, there’s been a little flurry of support for raising the gas tax lately. Two senators just proposed bumping it by 25 cents to replenish the highway trust fund. And the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform included a gas tax hike in its […]
The Power of the Pursestrings Shifts to a Livability Denier in the House
| | 7 Comments
The transfer of power in the House of Representatives gives transportation reformers plenty to wring their hands about. Oberstar’s ouster was a shock, and folks are still synthesizing what it means to have John Mica in charge of the next transportation bill. But flying under the radar is another big shift with potentially enormous consequences. […]
What Does It Take to Win a Planning Grant From the Feds?
| | 3 Comments
Reconnecting America has crunched the numbers on which projects won planning grants from the feds last month. Planning awards were announced through three programs: Sustainable Communities Regional Planning (SCRPG), Community Challenge, and TIGER II. It’s worth noting that these are the types of competitive grant programs that John Mica is planning to put under the microscope […]
Could a Coal-n-Highways Dem Take Oberstar’s Place on Transpo Committee?
| | No Comments
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) is reportedly angling for the top Democratic seat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House. Had Jim Oberstar survived the election, he would have given up the chair and become the ranking member. Rahall is next in line for the seat, and, as The Hill is reporting, he’s ready […]
Just How Lame Will This Lame Duck Be?
| | 1 Comment
The GOP has named the 22 members of its transition team and it’s ready to get to work. Don’t expect the work for these lawmakers to include any actual law-making, though. Not till January, anyway. The lame duck session, which begins Monday, has a long agenda. On the list of have-to’s: Coming to some agreement […]
Obama Still Believes in a Bipartisan Push for Infrastructure. Do You?
| | 3 Comments
Last night, President Obama appeared on 60 Minutes to talk about the election results – a “shellacking,” as he’s called it – and chart the path forward. He talked a lot about infrastructure – and between the lines of some of his other comments are messages we should be paying attention to. The first thing […]
Wisconsin, Ohio Governors-Elect Press Ahead to Pull the Plug on Rail
| | 12 Comments
Wisconsin Governor-Elect Scott Walker has pledged to kill the planned high speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison. If current Governor Jim Doyle doesn’t beat him to it. Doyle was instrumental in bringing $810 million of federal stimulus dollars to the state to build the rail line. Walker campaigned on a “No Train” platform, and […]
Eliminate Waste or Kill Good Projects? Earmark Ban Could Cut Both Ways
| | 10 Comments
As the election news sunk in yesterday, President Obama sought common ground with the incoming Republican leadership. His olive branch: earmarks. In a nod to the likely new House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor (R-VA), Obama singled out an earmark ban as an area of agreement for the two parties. Cantor has called earmarks “the poster […]