Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Philadelphia

“Amtrak Joe” Biden, in Philly, Announces a New Plan for High-Speed Rail

By Tanya Snyder | Feb 8, 2011 | 41 Comments

The Obama administration is taking its infrastructure push on the road. First stop: Philadelphia, to announce a $53 billion plan to invest in high-speed rail. To Vice President Joe Biden, high-speed rail isn’t just another administration initiative. He’s Mr. Amtrak. He gets it. Biden says he’s made 7,900 round trips between Wilmington and Washington on Amtrak. […]

Transpo Committee Adds Southern Locations to Field Hearing Schedule

By Tanya Snyder | Feb 3, 2011 | No Comments

The T&I Committee has fleshed out the schedule of its nationwide tour to solicit input on transportation issues. The tour is an opportunity for lawmakers to hear what communities around the country would like to see in a new transportation authorization bill. Since we published the first, tentative schedule last week, the committee has added several […]

Schedule for Transpo Bill Listening Tour Announced

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 28, 2011 | 3 Comments

More committee news… Yesterday’s field hearing of the House Transportation Committee on high-speed rail in New York City wasn’t officially part of the series of field hearings on the reauthorization. The tentative schedule hits small towns, big cities, and suburbs: February 14th – West Virginia (Ranking Democrat Nick Rahall’s home state) February 17th – Philadelphia area (Republican […]

FTA: Transit Maintenance — Not Just Expansion — Will Grow Ridership

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 4, 2010 | 3 Comments

Aging infrastructure across the country has become an enormous safety risk. It’s also becoming an economic hazard. Last year, the Federal Transit Administration announced that the seven largest rail transit systems had a backlog of $50 billion in maintenance needs to bring them into a state of good repair. In June, the agency determined that […]

Philly Mayor Tells Senate: Climate Bill Can Help Make Cities Greener

By Elana Schor | Oct 28, 2009 | 1 Comment

As the Senate opened its second round of climate change hearings today, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter delivered the urban case for climate legislation, outlining an array of infrastructure improvements and green reforms that would be made possible by federal action to reduce carbon emissions. A sample image of Philadelphia’s proposed "green corridors." (Image: Lomo Civic […]

Glaeser Goes Out With a Whimper

By Ryan Avent | Aug 19, 2009 | 20 Comments

For those just tuning in, economist Ed Glaeser has been writing a four-part series on the potential costs and benefits of high-speed rail at the New York Times‘ Economix blog. He began three weeks ago with an introduction. The following week he addressed direct costs and benefits from a hypothetical line, and last week he […]