Elana Schor
Recent Posts
The High-Speed Rail Numbers Game: Is $13 Billion and 110 MPH Enough?
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High-speed rail is one of the Obama administration’s most prized policy goals, with $13 billion getting earmarked in the coming year alone to help break ground on up to 11 proposed regional corridors. But what will the U.S. get for its money? A lively Senate hearing yesterday attempted to answer that question. Will all 11 […]
House Dems Agree: Climate Bill Can Help Pay for Greener Transportation
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Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday struck a deal ahead of Friday’s make-or-break vote on climate change legislation to give greener transportation a place at the table. The climate bill gives the states 10 percent of its carbon emissions allowances, the total worth of which is projected to hit $70 billion by […]
Senators Seek Rail Safety Funding in Aftermath of Metro Crash
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Mere hours after the Washington Metro system suffered a shocking accident, two senior senators released a letter to their colleagues asking for $50 million in grants to improve rail safety technology. The scene of yesterday’s D.C. Metro crash. Photo: NYT The letter was sent by two chairmen with a central role in transportation policy — […]
Oberstar’s Transportation Bill: The Early Word
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Policy wonks across the capital are still poring over the 775-page bill released earlier today by Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House transportation committee. But searching the legislation for the key topics being debated by transportation reformers reveals new details and raises new questions. The new House transportation bill brings good news for […]
Oberstar’s Transportation Bill: Download It in Full
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House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar’s (D-MN) new federal bill, which he previewed last Wednesday despite pushback from the Obama administration, is officially out. You can download the 775-page legislative text right here, thanks to Transportation for America. Streetsblog Capitol Hill is thumbing through it now to provide highlights later today.
New Report Quantifies Benefits of Adding Smart Growth to Climate Bill
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As a new non-partisan analysis of the House climate change bill — proving that capping CO2 can save money for the poorest fifth of the nation — continues to make waves on Capitol Hill, it’s worth noting that the legislation could yield even greater savings by focusing on reducing transportation-based emissions. House Energy & Commerce […]
House GOPers Propose Filling Trust Fund With Stimulus Money
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As their committee’s leaders butted heads with the Obama administration, a group of Republicans on the House transportation panel proposed to fill the $7 billion hole in the nation’s highway trust fund with unobligated money from the economic stimulus law. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL). Photo: SW Broward GOP The bill, offered yesterday by Rep. Mario […]
House Transpo Leaders United — in Frustration With the White House
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Senior members of the House transportation committee today fired a warning shot at those pushing an 18-month extension of existing federal law, putting the Obama administration and key senators on notice that their $450 billion proposal would move forward this year. How often does Larry Summers hold a shovel? Photo: World Economic Forum/Flickr Rep. Jim […]
The Oberstar Bill: What About the Highways-Transit Split?
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As transit fans and policy wonks digest the details of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar’s (D-MN) new proposal, one question is coming to mind: Does it change the typical 80-20 split in the percentage of funding that goes to highways versus transit? The short answer is, not really. While road programs got […]
Oberstar’s New Transportation Bill: Get the Highlights
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Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN), the House transportation committee chairman, is set to brief reporters this afternoon on his $450 billion, six-year federal transportation bill — which he plans to pursue regardless of the Obama administration’s push for an 18-month extension of existing law. House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) has a brewing battle with […]
LaHood Asks for 18-Month Extension of Four-Year-Old Transpo Law
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is asking Congress to extend the existing federal transportation law for 18 months, averting the coming insolvency of the nation’s highway trust fund while putting off broad-based transport reform for as long as the Bush administration did in the days surrounding the 2004 election. Photo: AP LaHood’s request comes at an […]
U.S. DOT Clocks High-Speed Rail at 110 MPH, Give or Take
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The federal DOT has just released its guidance for states seeking a share of its $8 billion in high-speed rail funding — and tucked in the rules are standards that could prove crucial to the project’s success. Ray LaHood geeks out on French high-speed rail. Photo via The Overhead Wire The definition of high-speed rail […]