Elana Schor
Recent Posts
WHO Report Highlights Global Health Risk of Traffic
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Pro football player Donte’ Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in jail today after killing a pedestrian in an alcohol-related crash. Photo: AP The disparity between the 13 percent of road fatalities suffered by non-drivers and the amount that the federal government spends on their safety — less than one percent — may come as […]
GOP’s New Attack on Health Care Reform Bill: It Promotes Walking!
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Despite a growing awareness among conservatives that walking and biking are causes worth backing, Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to condemn bike-ped programs as wasteful "pork". The GOP’s latest potshots at sustainable transportation come during debate over a health care bill that focuses mainly on insurance and hospitals, but also includes a public health grant […]
In the Works: Senate Bill to Promote Sustainable Development
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In Washington politics, the term "kumbaya moment" is used to describe those rare occasions when self-interested stakeholders join hands to support a set of reforms. And today’s appearance before the Senate Banking Committee by the chiefs of three Cabinet departments — Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency — definitely qualified for […]
Report: Nation’s Cities Not Getting Their Share of Stimulus Transpo Money
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The nation’s largest metropolitan areas — which account for 63 percent of the U.S. population and 73 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) — have received less than half of the surface transportation money allocated so far under the Obama administration’s economic stimulus plan, according to a new report compiled for the U.S. Conference […]
Oberstar to Release Transportation Outline on Wednesday
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Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, will release a "white paper" on his plans for the upcoming federal reauthorization bill in a press conference on Wednesday. It’s important to note that the paper will serve as an outline — legislative language is expected to emerge later. (Streetsblog Capitol Hill’s bet […]
Congress Agrees to Keep Transit Operating Aid in War Bill
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Photo: jough [formerly jough]/Flickr House and Senate negotiators struck a deal last night on a $106 billion war spending bill that also gives cash-strapped transit agencies the ability to use 10 percent of their economic stimulus grants to pay operating costs. The issue of operating costs has heated up in recent weeks, with local transit […]
GOPers Blast the Newest Dem Star: How Dare He Pay for Transportation!
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Can Virginia Democrat Creigh Deeds win on a transportation-centric platform? (Photo: Waldoj via Flickr) Democrat Creigh Deeds is the man of the hour for many in the D.C. political establishment, having managed to upset a well-funded ally of the Clintons in the closely watched Virginia gubernatorial race. And now that Deeds is moving on to […]
Carnahan Steps Up Push for Federal Help With Transit Operating
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While lawmakers maneuver to fill local transit agencies’ operating budget gaps with economic stimulus cash, Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) is taking it a step further with a proposal that would make federal operating aid permanent — and use it as an incentive to spur more state-level funding as well as emissions reductions. Rep. Russ Carnahan […]
National Transportation Funding Is Ailing — Is Michigan ‘Patient Zero’?
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In a sight that could become more commonplace by year’s end, the state of Michigan is being forced to cancel $740 million in road and bridge repairs after its gas tax revenues fell short of the level required to secure matching funds from the federal government. Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) (Photo: Macomb Daily) The matching-funds […]
When Will Oberstar’s Transportation Bill Drop? Place Your Bets Now
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At first it was slated to emerge by June 1. Then its release was said to slip to this week. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) now plans to release his version of the six-year federal transportation bill by the end of the month, with a full House vote unlikely to come […]
Lawmakers Push for Federal Help With Transit Operating: Read the Letter
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The House and Senate are racing to reach agreement on a $90 billion bill to keep the Iraq and Afghanistan wars funded, but the legislation also could mark a pivotal victory for transit. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). Photo: UPI The Senate version of the war bill contains a provision that would allow transit agencies to […]
GOP-ers and Dems Agree: Feds Need to Get Their Transpo Act Together
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Reports on federal transportation policy — like campaign fundraisers and lobbying groups — seem to proliferate in Washington, most of them drawing a few days’ worth of news coverage before fading from memory. (Remember the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission?) Former Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA), […]