Recent Streetsblog USA posts about U.S. DOT

U.S. DOT Proposes Giving Minority-Owned Firms Greater Shot at Contracts

By Elana Schor | May 7, 2010 | 2 Comments

Women- and minority-owned companies would have an easier time winning federal transportation contracts under a new rule released by the Obama administration today, which comes in the wake of complaints from social-equity advocates that such firms had received just 2 percent of infrastructure contracts awarded under last year’s economic stimulus law. (Photo: CA DOT) The […]

LaHood Answers GOP Critic, Soothes Dem Skeptic of Sustainability Budget

By Elana Schor | May 6, 2010 | 7 Comments

As Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tangled with a senior GOP senator today over the White House’s $500 million-plus request for its inter-agency office of sustainable communities — a new project aimed at channeling federal energy towards local transit-oriented and smart growth plans — an influential Democrat joined her fellow senator in raising questions about diverting […]

Expectations for High-Speed Rail Coming Down to Earth

By Elana Schor | May 5, 2010 | 14 Comments

Three months after the Obama administration announced the first winners of what it hopes will be the first of many federal grants to build U.S. high-speed rail networks, advocates and planners are settling in for a long battle to surmount the obstacles and unknowns that stand in the way of long-term bullet train development. If […]

Senate Dems Unveil Auto Safety Legislation

By Elana Schor | May 4, 2010 | 3 Comments

Democrats are moving quickly on their plan to take a unified approach to auto safety reforms in the aftermath of the Toyota recalls, with Senate Commerce Committee members releasing a new bill today that would quintuple the maximum existing penalties for carmakers who — like Toyota — fail to promptly notify the public of defective […]

Alabama ‘English-Only’ Ad Raises Specter of Lost Federal Transport Money

By Elana Schor | May 3, 2010 | 3 Comments

Some campaign commercials win instant fame, while others go the infamy route — as is the case with an ad cut by Alabama Republican Tim James, who promises voters that if he is elected governor this fall, drivers’ license exams will be given only in English. "This is Alabama," James tells the camera in the […]

RITA Speaks: What Technology Can Do for Transportation Safety

By Elana Schor | Apr 29, 2010 | 1 Comment

Among the myriad of smaller agencies that comprise the U.S. DOT, the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) tends to stay in the background, not unlike the wonky, computer-hacking sidekicks often found in action movies. RITA’s work could be used to help cyclists steer clear of "dooring" opportunities like this. (Photo: Sidi Ergo) But the […]

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