Recent Streetsblog USA posts about U.S. DOT

Why (Much of) Obama’s Transpo Plan Can Survive the GOP Knife

By Tanya Snyder | May 6, 2011 | 3 Comments

Yesterday, anti-rail curmudgeon Ken Orski of Innovation Briefs quoted me in his latest diatribe against the administration’s transportation proposal, in which he explains why the Obama plan is unrealistic. Indeed, I think it’s safe to say the dollar amount of the administration’s bill is a non-starter in today’s political and economic climate, given that it’s […]

Two Years After the Stimulus Bill: Still a Political Grudge Match

By Angie Schmitt | May 6, 2011 | No Comments

President Obama’s stimulus bill is one of a small handful of pieces of legislation that have come to define his presidency. Whether you think it was a smashing success or a dismal failure seems to depend on whether there’s an R or a D next to your name. Was the $787 billion spending package was […]

State Transpo Officials Push to Toll for Maintenance, Not Just Capacity

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 8, 2011 | 10 Comments

Last week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told state DOT officials gathered at an AASHTO conference in Washington that he was all in favor of tolling – but only to add new capacity. “We believe in tolling,” LaHood said. “You can raise a lot of money with tolls. If a state comes to us with good […]

GAO: Transportation Spending an Investment With Uncertain Returns

By Ya-Ting Liu | Jan 25, 2011 | No Comments

Cross-posted from Mobilizing the Region, the official blog of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. A December study from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that, well, there’s not much government accountability when it comes to how states spend federal transportation funds. Despite the existence of a federally mandated transportation planning process, the federal government offers no clear goals […]

U.S. DOT Unveils Full List of TIGER II Winners

By Noah Kazis | Oct 20, 2010 | No Comments

The complete list of TIGER II grants has been released by U.S. DOT today, after members of Congress revealed many winners last week. In keeping with the department’s livability goals, the list is filled with transit projects (especially streetcar lines), efforts to bolster the country’s non-trucking freight network, and fix-it-first projects aimed at deteriorating roads […]

TIGER’s Biggest Bite: Atlanta Streetcar Proposal Gets $47 Million

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 15, 2010 | 4 Comments

More news keeps rolling in about TIGER II grantees… Atlanta scored about eight percent of the TIGER II total for its streetcar project. Rep. John Lewis got confirmation of the award this morning. Atlanta had applied for $56 million for the $70 million project. Some observers had hoped the city would apply for its “beltline” project […]

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