Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Fun Facts About the Sad State of American Parking Policy

By Noah Kazis | Feb 24, 2010 | 2 Comments

Surface parking stretches halfway to the horizon in the heart of downtown Wichita. (Photo: Wichita Walkshop via Flickr.) If you haven’t checked out the ITDP parking report we covered yesterday, it’s a highly readable piece of research, walking you through parking policy’s checkered past and potentially brighter future. In addition to describing six cases of […]

Fact-Checking the Toyota Hearing: Lower Speeds Increase Safety

By Elana Schor | Feb 24, 2010 | 10 Comments

Megan McArdle at the Atlantic, writing on today’s Toyota hearing in the House oversight committee, hears Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood claim that "lowering the speed limit to 30 mph would not save any lives, which is why we have minimum speeds on highways." LaHood, at left, with the president at right. (Photo: whitehouse via Flickr) […]

Conrad Sees ‘Tough Choices’ Ahead on Transport, Naming VMT Tax & Tolls

By Elana Schor | Feb 24, 2010 | 3 Comments

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) today shed rare light on the extent of the nation’s transportation funding crisis, warning his fellow policymakers that "we are going to have to make tough choices" to raise enough money for continued federal investments in the built environment. (Chart: Senate Budget Committee) As he opened a hearing […]

Little-Known Provision in Senate Jobs Bill Could Spark House Resistance

By Elana Schor | Feb 24, 2010 | No Comments

The Senate passed its jobs bill today by a 70-28 vote, bringing Congress one step closer to a $20 billion transfer that would keep the nation’s highway trust fund solvent until 2011 and extend the 2005 federal transportation law. House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) (Photo: Capitol Chatter) The bill’s future in the House […]

Want to Foster Walking, Biking and Transit? You Need Good Parking Policy

By Ben Fried | Feb 23, 2010 | No Comments

The high-water mark for American parking policy came in the early 1970s, when cities including New York, Boston, and Portland set limits on off-street parking in their downtowns. They were compelled to do so by lawsuits brought under the Clean Air Act, which used the lever of parking policy to curb traffic and reduce pollution […]

Obama Adviser: If EPA is Blocked on Emissions, Forget About CAFE Deal

By Elana Schor | Feb 23, 2010 | No Comments

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Lisa Jackson extended an olive branch this week to lawmakers who are pushing to block her from regulating carbon emissions in the absence of a congressional climate bill, but Jackson’s promise to delay action until next year appears to have made no headway with Republicans and coal-state Democrats. Carol Browner, […]

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