Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Economics

Transit Fare Inflation Hitting Health Insurance-Like Levels?

By Elana Schor | Jan 5, 2010 | 2 Comments

That’s the implication buried in a roundup of dismal news from urban transit agencies that ran in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal. After noting the overall ridership decreases tallied by APTA and the specter of punitive service cuts in many cities, the newspaper noted: Riders of Chicago’s El train, shown above, were spared fare hikes in […]

How Car Dealers Wiggled Out of the Democrats’ Consumer Protection Bill

By Elana Schor | Dec 30, 2009 | No Comments

Auto loans and leases account for a major chunk of the U.S. financial market — one nonpartisan research group recently pegged American car debt at $850 billion, larger than the entire credit-card industry. So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that car dealers’ lobbied themselves an exemption from the new consumer watchdog included in the House […]

Battle Heats Up Over Pennsylvania Tolling, With National Implications

By Elana Schor | Dec 18, 2009 | 9 Comments

For more than two years, Pennsylvania transportation planners have sought federal permission to make I-80 one of only three interstates in America approved for tolling. Pennsylvania’s I-80 would be only the third existing interstate in the U.S. to have tolls. (Photo: PennLive.com) If the Federal Highway Administration okays tolls on I-80 — and local reports […]

Two Dems Propose to End Bush-Era Rule on Transit ‘Cost-Effectiveness’

By Elana Schor | Dec 17, 2009 | No Comments

New Starts, the main federal method for funding big-ticket transit projects, is considered sorely in need of a makeover by many in the capital. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) (Photo: MPR) The program’s high bureaucratic hurdles, shoddy record-keeping, and often glaringly low ridership predictions got dissed earlier this year by House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar, […]

Geithner Adviser Backs ‘More Merit-Based’ Infrastructure Spending

By Elana Schor | Dec 16, 2009 | No Comments

Treasury Department counselor Gene Sperling told senators today that "we definitely support looking at … more merit-based" approaches to transportation spending, particularly an expansion of the stimulus law’s competitive TIGER grants and a national infrastructure bank. Treasury Department counselor Gene Sperling (Photo: Crooks and Liars) Sperling’s comments align with a White House document that last […]

The Footnote to All Those Complaints About Tax Cuts as Stimulus

By Elana Schor | Dec 15, 2009 | 2 Comments

Transportation reformers and status quo-lovers alike smacked their foreheads in frustration when the White House’s first stimulus plan lowballed infrastructure to make room for tax breaks that had little demonstrable effect on job creation — particularly the $70 billion adjustment of the alternative minimum tax (AMT). HOT lanes on Virginia’s I-495 are one of seven […]

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