Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Government Organizations

Senate Committee Passes DRIVE Act Unanimously After Some Tinkering

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 25, 2015 | 2 Comments

Given the bipartisan gushing that accompanied the release of the DRIVE Act on Tuesday, it came as no surprise that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the bill unanimously yesterday, with more gushing for good measure. None of the 30-odd amendments offered for the DRIVE Act passed, but the committee leadership did accept […]

New Federal Guide Will Show More Cities the Way on Protected Bike Lanes

By Michael Andersen | May 19, 2015 | 26 Comments

Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. Protected bike lanes are now officially star-spangled. Eight years after New York City created a trailblazing protected bikeway on 9th Avenue, designs once perceived as unfit for American streets have now been detailed in a new […]

House Votes to Slash Amtrak Funding Just Hours After Horrible Crash

By Angie Schmitt | May 13, 2015 | 51 Comments

Just hours after seven people were killed and hundreds injured in an Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia, the U.S. House voted to cut funding for the passenger rail service. Early reports suggest the derailment was caused by excessive speed — exactly the type of crash that could be avoided with a new safety system that Amtrak is in […]

Biking and Walking Get About as Much Research Funding as Chicken Trucks

By Angie Schmitt | May 12, 2015 | 8 Comments

When traffic engineers don’t want to install protected bike lanes, they’ll often say that more research is needed to prove their safety (because any results from outside America don’t count, of course). But then when opportunities arise to study the safety of protected bike lanes, the engineering establishment doesn’t take advantage. And so the cycle […]

House Bill Proposes to Slash TIGER Funding

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 29, 2015 | 4 Comments

Federal lawmakers are running out of time to come up with a long-term transportation funding solution by May 31, when the current bill expires. Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee has released a budget for FY 2016, which begins in October, that proposes to drastically reduce funds for projects that promote walking and biking. The budget proposal calls for keeping transit and highway funding […]

You Can Help Make State DOTs Accountable for How They Spend

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 27, 2015 | 2 Comments

Pressure is mounting on the president and Congress to keep roads and bridges from falling apart by increasing transportation funding. But a big part of the problem is states, which receive the lion’s share of federal transportation funds but opt to spend most on new roads, instead of maintaining existing infrastructure. Between 2009 and 2011, states spent just […]

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