Recent Streetsblog USA posts about State DOTs

Under Economic Impact Analysis, Highway Expansion Loses Appeal

By Ben Goldman | Jun 12, 2012 | 1 Comment

Despite the common refrains about transportation spending creating jobs, most states don’t actually give serious thought to the economic impact of transportation projects. More often than not, they’re content to sink money into freeways despite a wealth of research that shows that transit, bikeways, and sidewalks deliver a much bigger economic bang for the taxpayer’s […]

Federal Transpo Policy Entering New Era, Say NYC Officials. Now What?

By Noah Kazis | Apr 5, 2012 | No Comments

It’s a new era for federal transportation policy, say the top New York City Department of Transportation officials tracking action on Capitol Hill. We just don’t know what kind of era it’s going to be. “If this was 1996 or 1985 it would be pretty clear where we would go with federal transportation policy, with […]

To Change Your Community’s Streets, the Action Is in the Statehouse

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 22, 2012 | 3 Comments

Anxious about Congress messing up the federal transportation bill? There’s a lot at stake in Washington, but consider this: 78 percent of transportation funds come from the state and local levels. At a National Bike Summit panel yesterday on state-level bike advocacy campaigns, Dan Grunig of Bicycle Colorado spoke about the importance of reforming the agencies […]

Streetsies 2011: The Local Edition

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 29, 2011 | 1 Comment

Yesterday, we started our year-end 2011 round-up. We lamented transit cuts in places where transit is more important than ever, cheered the successful ballot initiatives that will fund transportation lifelines, took a moment to explore the nuances of some difficult issues, and called out Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin for some hare-brained ideas about the […]

Senate Commerce Committee Sets the Standard For Transpo Performance

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 14, 2011 | No Comments

The EPW Committee passed the highway portion of the transportation bill last month. The Banking Committee will tackle transit on Friday. And today, transportation reformers applauded as the Commerce Committee passed its bill dealing with the rail and safety component, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Deron Lovaas of NRDC said in his blog post about the […]

No Accountability for State DOTs on Highway Projects

By Angie Schmitt | Dec 13, 2011 | 3 Comments

Complete a project on-time and on-budget. Or blow deadlines, run into setback after costly setback, only to return to the funding source with outstretched hands. In the view of the Federal Highway Administration, it makes little difference. Each year this agency hands out roughly $40 billion in highway money based on federal formulas to State […]

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