Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Federal Transportation Bill

Congress to America: “Get a Car!”

By Ben Goldman | Mar 1, 2012 | No Comments

Photographer and blogger Jay Mallin, whose video of Woodbridge, VA police ticketing injured pedestrians was picked up by Streetsblog NYC a year ago, has turned his attention to the congressional transportation debacle. Mallin’s new video is entitled “Get a Car,” and is named for the apparent message of the House transportation bill, and, to a lesser […]

Americans Can’t Afford a Highway-Centric Transportation Bill

By Ben Fried and Ben Goldman | Feb 27, 2012 | No Comments

Gas prices, you may have heard, are on the rise again. And so is pandering about pain at the pump. Four years after $4 a gallon gas spawned “Drill, Baby, Drill” and insane political gimmickry on the presidential campaign trail (remember the “gas tax holiday” favored by John McCain and Hillary Clinton?), gas price populism […]

Encouraging News on Transit, But Serious Flaws Remain in House Transpo Bill

By Ben Goldman | Feb 24, 2012 | No Comments

Hold that victory lap: While it’s true that House Republicans are revamping their transportation bill, it’s time once again wait and see just how bad the bill still is. Indications out of Speaker John Boehner’s office are that the GOP leadership will no longer try to eliminate dedicated transit funding, but odds are that some serious […]

GOP Will “Revamp” H.R. 7 and Reportedly Restore Dedicated Transit Funding

By Ben Goldman | Feb 23, 2012 | No Comments

While there is no official statement yet, sources on the Hill (and CQ for subscribers) are saying that House Republicans are revamping their 5-year, $260 billion transportation bill and will discard their proposal to eradicate the dedicated transit funding mechanism enacted by Ronald Reagan in 1983. The bill is unlikely to see floor debate next week. Michael […]

Transpo Bills Delayed in House and Senate as Congress Enters Recess

By Ben Goldman | Feb 20, 2012 | No Comments

Both houses of Congress are in recess this week, putting off their mountain of unfinished transportation business until next Monday. The momentum carrying transportation bills forward in each chamber has eroded recently. Last week, the House split its transportation bill — the one that eliminates dedicated funding for transit, bicycling, and walking — into three […]

Flashback: Ronald Reagan Touts Gas Tax Hike, Transit Funding as Job Creators

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 16, 2012 | No Comments

On January 6, 1983, the icon of the modern conservative movement, Ronald Reagan, signed legislation to raise the gas tax for the first time in more than two decades, devoting a portion of the revenue to transit. We’ve been reading about this moment a lot, as the current GOP leadership in the House tries to […]

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