Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Federal Funding

Pressure Mounts to Hold Sen. Boxer to Her Word on Safe Streets

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 25, 2012 | 1 Comment

With conference negotiations occurring in a black box, transportation advocates on all sides are anxiously awaiting word of the final deal. Rumors abound that Democrats have been willing to negotiate away local control over bike/ped funding as a bargaining chip to get other concessions from Republicans. We don’t know if this is true or not, […]

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 […]

Conservative Motion to Cut Transportation Spending Fails (and Fails Hard)

By Ben Goldman | Jun 8, 2012 | 5 Comments

The House has just defeated, in a 323 to 82 whopper, a motion to instruct members of the transportation bill conference committee to slash spending by nearly 30 percent in order to stay within the projected limits of the Highway Trust Fund. The motion, sponsored by Georgia Republican Paul Broun, had acheived “key vote” status […]

House Appropriators Leave TIGER, HSR Out of Next Year’s Budget

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 6, 2012 | 5 Comments

It’s always confusing when, in the middle of endless bicameral hand-wringing about transportation spending, the House Appropriations Committee puts out a budget for transportation without much ado. That’s what they did today. The Transportation and HUD Subcommittee will vote tomorrow on its draft budget, released today, in preparation to send it to the full Appropriations Committee. The […]

FRA Chief: America Is Driving Less and Congress Needs to Catch Up

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 4, 2012 | 10 Comments

Speaking to reporters earlier today, Federal Railroad Administration chief Joe Szabo said that people are driving less and using transit more — and that those changes are permanent. “America’s travel habits are undergoing rapid change,” he said. It’s a fact, he said (“not opinion — statistically proven”), calling on Congress to show that it understands […]

Broad Coalition Urges Congress to Support Local Control of Bike-Ped Funds

By Ben Goldman | May 31, 2012 | No Comments

A coalition of 70 organizations, including the US Conference of Mayors, American Heart Association, and the National PTA, have signed on to a letter from America Bikes urging Congress to preserve the Cardin-Cochran amendment — a provision in the Senate transportation bill that allows local agencies to directly access funds street safety projects. The letter is addressed […]

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