Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Transportation Policy

Back to the Grid: John Norquist on How to Fix National Transpo Policy

By Ben Fried | Mar 26, 2009 | 17 Comments

How can federal policy encourage walkable street networks instead of highways and sprawl? Image: CNU The news coming out of Washington last week jacked up expectations for national transportation policy to new heights. Cabinet members Ray LaHood and Shaun Donovan announced a partnership to connect transportation and housing policy, branded as the "Sustainable Communities Initiative." […]

Wiki Wednesday: Funding Green Transportation With CLEAN TEA

By Ben Fried | Mar 18, 2009 | 2 Comments

The decline in driving makes the gas tax less reliable as a transportation funding stream. VMT graph: FHWA. One of the big challenges that federal policymakers will soon have to address is how to pay for a new generation of transportation investment. The federal gas tax, pegged at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993, just […]

Obama: America “Cannot Walk Away” From the Automobile

By Brad Aaron | Feb 25, 2009 | 27 Comments

In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama last night emphasized his administration’s commitment to keeping the domestic auto industry afloat, while offering only a passing mention to the nation’s mass transit systems. Said Obama: As for our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad decision-making and a global […]

First Order of Business for Carrión: Bike to the White House Day?

By Ben Fried | Feb 20, 2009 | 4 Comments

Here’s newly appointed White House director of Urban Affairs Adolfo Carrión back in his Bronx Borough President days, striking a pose with Transportation Alternatives’ Noah Budnick in 2006. The picture was snapped on Bike to Work Day, which Carrión observed every year by sponsoring a ride. Overall, his record as an urbanist left much to […]

Hope Springs Eternal for American Transpo Policy

By Ben Fried | Feb 18, 2009 | 8 Comments

In case you missed the broadcast on Friday, watch this episode of NOW. Told mostly from the perspective of Charlotte’s Pat McCrory, the Republican mayor who brought light rail to North Carolina’s biggest city, the show hits just about every major transportation issue to surface during the stimulus bill debate. Federal policies that discriminate against […]

Stimulus Bill Is a Step Forward for Pedestrians, Cyclists & Cities

By Ben Fried | Feb 18, 2009 | 4 Comments

Within the $27.5 billion allocated for "highways" in the stimulus bill signed by President Obama yesterday, there is some good news for pedestrians, cyclists and cities. I spoke with Michelle Ernst, staff analyst at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, to get a sense of how the new legislation compares to the 2005 federal transportation bill, known […]

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