Ben Goldman
Recent Posts
With a Big Crowd and Bipartisan Support, Bike Summit Gets Rolling
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The League of American Bicyclists welcomed a record crowd to the 2012 National Bike Summit this morning. Over 800 attendees filled the basement of the Grand Hyatt Metro Center in Washington to hear remarks from federal lawmakers and officials about the state of bike advocacy in America — so large a crowd that president Andy […]
Infographic: When Reagan, the GOP, and Democrats Doubled the Gas Tax
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Something to keep in mind while the House GOP leadership toys with the idea of sending national transportation policy back to the 1950s…
This Week: Road Builders and Cyclists Convene in the Capital
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The House of Representatives is back in town, and its members still don’t have a transportation bill. In fact, they probably won’t have one for weeks. But two groups holding conferences in Washington this week would be more than happy to help them out in the meantime. First, the League of American Bicyclists kicks off […]
Compare the Senate and House Transpo Bills, Side-By-Side
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Now that the Senate has passed a transportation bill and everyone’s waiting to see what the House will do next, Transportation for America has done us all a great service and compared the Senate’s bill to the House’s — well, to the last thing the House showed us before things fell apart for John Boehner’s […]
Senate Passes Two-Year Transportation Bill, 74-22; All Eyes on House
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The Senate transportation bill has finally passed by a vote of 74 to 22. In a show of bipartisan support, which this bill has largely enjoyed from start to finish, 22 Republicans voted for its passage. The bill, which would support $109 billion worth of federal transportation programs over two years if enacted — a […]
After 30 Years of Federal Support for Transit, Battle Lines are Redrawn
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Add Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff to the list of people saying that it’s premature to declare victory over the House’s attempts to cast transit into the abyss. Rogoff knows a thing or two about transportation bills: He was an aide on the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee for 20 years, during which time the federal […]
LaHood to House: “Get on the Bus” With a Bipartisan Transportation Bill
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This morning, at the American Public Transportation Association’s annual legislative conference, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said he was recently asked by the House Appropriations Committee if he prefers a two-year transportation bill or a five-year transportation bill. Neither, he said: “I prefer a bipartisan bill.” “Bipartisanship is the reason the Senate bill is a […]
Senate Leaders Reach Deal on Transpo Bill, Setting Up Slew of Votes Today
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The leaders of each political party in the Senate have reached a deal on their two-year, $109 billion transportation bill, clearing the way for as many as 10 votes on amendments to the bill later today. With a deal struck, prospects for passage of the Senate bill have now improved dramatically. Majority leader Harry Reid had […]
Experts See No New Transportation Bill Before Election
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Last May, Streetsblog ran an article with the headline “Experts Agree: Six-Year Transportation Bill Won’t Pass This Year.” A lot has happened since then, but we’re still right where we started, butting up against a deadline with more than enough gridlock to give even optimistic experts pause. Here’s where we stand: The current extension of […]
Cloture Vote on Transpo Bill Fails, Setting Up Longer Fight in Senate
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Majority Leader Harry Reid failed to win a key vote in the Senate today that would have forged significant progress toward passage of a two-year transportation bill. It is the second time a cloture vote on the bill has failed since it was first brought to the Senate floor. Needing 60 votes to invoke cloture, […]
Key Vote on Senate Transpo Bill Could Go Either Way
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In interviewing a number of experts for an upcoming article about the prospects of passing a transportation bill, I’ve found a surprising amount of disagreement about whether the Senate bill will clear a key milestone today. Last week, Majority Leader Harry Reid finalized his “manager’s amendment,” combining all the major components of the Senate transpo […]
How the House and Senate Transportation Bills Changed Overnight
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The sun rose this morning on a landscape considerably different from the one described by not one but two articles Streetsblog published yesterday. Senate Bill Gets Bigger, Better, But Harder to Move Senator Harry Reid took a lot of business into his own hands yesterday, unveiling his updated version of the Senate’s “two year” bill (it’s […]