Recent Streetsblog USA posts about California

Country’s First High-Speed Rail Line in California to Move Forward

By Aaron Bialick | Jul 9, 2012 | No Comments

In a pivotal vote Friday, the California Senate approved $4.5 billion in bonds to begin construction of CA High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles. The funds will help fund construction of the line’s initial segment in the Central Valley and upgrades for the Caltrain and Metrolink commuter rail lines in the Bay Area […]

FHWA: Small Investments in Bike/Ped Infrastructure Can Pay Off in a Big Way

By Tanya Snyder | May 1, 2012 | 3 Comments

If you ever doubted whether a small investment in biking and walking could have a large impact, here is your proof. The last transportation law, SAFETEA-LU, provided four communities with four years of funding to build an infrastructure network for nonmotorized transportation (a fancy way of saying “sidewalks and bike paths”). It wasn’t a lot […]

High-Speed Rail in California is Worrying Itself to Death

By Ben Goldman | Dec 16, 2011 | 19 Comments

Yesterday, for the second time in as many weeks, the House T&I committee held a hearing on the benefit-versus-boondoggle high-speed rail debate. Last time, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was asked to defend the peppering of high-speed rail grants to projects outside the Northeast Corridor. Yesterday, the topic narrowed to focus just on California’s high-speed rail project, […]

Nearly Half of TIGER Award Money Goes to Roads, 29 Percent For Transit

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 15, 2011 | 4 Comments

If you live in Stamford, Connecticut and your walk to the train station gets safer next year, you can thank USDOT’s TIGER grant program. Or when your hometown of American Falls, Idaho suddenly gets complete streets downtown, accommodating people on foot, on bikes, on buses, in cars, and in wheelchairs, encouraging local shopping. Or when […]

The New California HSR Plan: Forecast of Doom or Blueprint for the Future?

By Tanya Snyder | Nov 3, 2011 | 3 Comments

Earlier this week, the California High-Speed Rail Authority released its new business plan [PDF]. The transportation establishment, the government, and the media issued a collective gasp: $98.5 billion? Thirteen years’ delay? It’s true – the price tag has more than doubled. “The good news is the numbers are more realistic; the bad news is they […]

Transportation Projects Chosen For Federal Fast-Tracking Lean Multi-Modal

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 11, 2011 | 4 Comments

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, […]

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