Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Streetsblog Capitol Hill

New Analysis: 59% of Road Stimulus Went to Repair, 33% to New Capacity

By Elana Schor | May 4, 2010 | 4 Comments

(Photo: DMI Blog) In the first year of the Obama administration’s economic stimulus law, 59 percent of its $27 billion in transportation formula funds went to projects that preserve existing roads, while 33 percent was used to build new pavement, according to an analysis by the advocacy group Smart Growth America (SGA). The new data, […]

Obama Administration to Award $775M for Bus Transit Upgrades

By Elana Schor | May 3, 2010 | No Comments

The Obama administration plans to award $775 million in bus transit grants this summer, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff announced yesterday during a transit industry conference in Ohio. Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff (in hard hat) (Photo: WaPo) The bus grants are aimed at shoring up aging equipment and helping cash-strapped localities modernize […]

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 […]

Massachusetts Republican Cuts a Bike Version of Scott Brown ‘Truck’ Ad

By Elana Schor | May 3, 2010 | 16 Comments

After Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-MA) January upset in the race for the congressional seat long held by the late Ted Kennedy, his win was chalked up to several factors: voter reluctance to embrace health care reform, campaign-trail gaffes by the Democratic candidate — and a hyper-folksy ad campaign that featured Brown cruising around the state […]

Long-Shot NY Congressional Candidate Runs Against High-Speed Rail

By Elana Schor | Apr 30, 2010 | No Comments

Over the years, veteran Rep. Louise Slaughter (D) has pushed so doggedly for construction of a new train line in her upstate New York district that one state legislator christened her "Mrs. High-Speed Rail." GOP congressional candidate Michael Giuliano is staking his long-shot bid in part on a critique of high-speed rail. (Photo: Giuliano for […]

GAO: Economic Recovery Benefits of ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Are ‘Uncertain’

By Elana Schor | Apr 30, 2010 | 4 Comments

"Cash for clunkers," the White House’s much-touted program encouraging trade-ins for more fuel-efficient autos, had an "uncertain" impact on economic recovery, according to a new audit from the independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) — largely because it remains unclear how many of the car sales it spurred would have occurred without taxpayer subsidies. Were "clunker" […]

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