Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Economics

How State DOTs Got Congress to Grant Their Wish List

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

Bike and pedestrian funding got slashed. Federal assistance for transit operations was rejected. Even the performance measures – arguably the high point of the recently passed federal transportation bill – are too weak to be very meaningful. For Americans who want federal policy to support safe streets, sustainable transportation, and livable neighborhoods, there were few […]

A New Bill Passes, But America’s Transpo Policy Stays Stuck in 20th Century

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 29, 2012 | 11 Comments

The House of Representatives approved the transportation bill conference report this afternoon by a vote of 373 to 52. [UPDATE 4:00 PM: The Senate has also approved the bill, 74-19.] This is a bill that’s been called “a death blow to mass transit” by the Amalgamated Transit Union, “a step backwards for America’s transportation system” […]

UPDATE: Where Did the Senate Get the Extra Money to Pay For Its Bill?

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 26, 2012 | 1 Comment

UPDATE: The final bill contained a $2.4 billion transfer from Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund to the Highway Trust Fund in June 2012 and three transfers from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund, totaling $18.8 billion. They were: $6.2 billion to the Highway Account of HTF in October 2012; $10.4 billion transfer to Highway Account […]

The Value of Value Capture

By Charles Marohn | May 21, 2012 | 1 Comment

Cross-posted from Strong Towns blog. Today we spend money on infrastructure in the hopes of creating growth. That’s backwards. Infrastructure should not be a catalyst for growth but something that emerges in support of productive patterns of development. There has to be a relationship between the infrastructure we build and the value that is created. […]

Are Americans Driving Less Because They’re Working Less?

By Tanya Snyder | May 10, 2012 | 5 Comments

Everyone’s trying to figure out why, after decades of consistent growth, the amount Americans drive is leveling off and even declining. The decline started during the recession, to be sure, but was more dramatic than in previous recessions. As the economy began to get back on its feet, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) just barely ticked […]

The Auto Industry Wants Your Thanks

By Anne Lutz Fernandez | Apr 23, 2012 | 11 Comments

Feeling warmer and fuzzier about the auto industry bailout? With the help of the Obama reelection campaign, the industry is convincing more Americans that the $80 billion they forked over to save it were dollars well spent. In the latest Pew poll, the public responded more positively toward the bailout than ever before, with 56 […]

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