Tanya Snyder
Tanya became Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor in September 2010 after covering Congress for Pacifica Radios Washington bureau and for public radio stations around the country. She lives car-free in a transit-oriented and bike-friendly neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Recent Posts
States Already Licking Their Chops Over Newly “Flexible” Bike/Ped Funds
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Just days after Congress passed a bill allowing states to spend funds supposedly designated for biking and walking on completely unrelated projects, transportation officials are already circling like vultures over that money. An AP story from Covington, Kentucky on Sunday quotes several transportation officials and executives parroting the GOP line that transportation enhancements funding, as […]
Obama to Sign Transpo Bill Today at 4:55
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The last thing the president will do during this hot, lazy recess week is to sign the transportation bill. He’ll be surrounded by construction workers, as this bill was always as much about jobs as it was about setting policy, and by college students, since the bill was combined with a provision keeping student loan […]
Under New Bill, America’s Transpo Loan Program Ignores National Goals
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In the highly polarized and antagonistic transportation bill negotiations, dragged out over the course of almost a year, there was one thing that Democrats and Republicans could agree on: vastly expanding the TIFIA loan program. The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program has, since 1998, provided federal credit assistance at favorable interest rates […]
A New Bill Passes, But America’s Transpo Policy Stays Stuck in 20th Century
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The House of Representatives approved the transportation bill conference report this afternoon by a vote of 373 to 52. This is a bill that’s been called “a death blow to mass transit” by the Amalgamated Transit Union, “a step backwards for America’s transportation system” by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, “a retreat from the goals of sustainability and […]
Transpo Bill Preserves Transit Funding, Wastes Opportunities For Progress
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In H.R.7 — the transpo bill so backwards even the House couldn’t pass it — the roads-only crowd threw transit riders under the bus, as it were, eliminating dedicated funding for transit, which was left to fend for itself off scraps from the general fund. The best thing one can say about the bill issued by […]
Transpo Bill Cuts Bike/Ped Funding, Lets States Spend It on Left-Turn Lanes
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NOTE: The facts are even worse than they seemed when I wrote this article. States can flex TA money, not just to CMAQ, but to anything they want. See “The Awful Truth About the Transpo Bill’s Bike/Ped Loophole,” for more. In the transportation bill agreed to yesterday by Barbara Boxer, John Mica, and other Congressional […]
Complete Streets Provision Eliminated From Final Transpo Bill
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Transportation for America, the big-tent coalition for transportation reform, tends to be careful about the statements it puts out. Its folks are diplomatic, since they work with both sides on the Hill and a wide variety of coalition members. Yesterday, as details of the conference report were leaking out, they wanted to read the whole […]
Boxer Confirms: Some Bike/Ped Protections Remain in Final Bill [Updated]
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Sen. Barbara Boxer just issued the statement below. It confirms that “half of the funds for bike paths and pedestrian walkways [will be allocated] directly to local entities,” as spelled out in the Cardin-Cochran amendment. Update: It appears that the “opt-out” provision for states only applies to the half that they control, after local governments have […]
Conference Committee Reaches Agreement [Updated X 2]
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Updated 4:15 p.m.: Barbara Boxer has issued a statement showing the early rumors were off-target — some form of the Cardin-Cochran amendment preserving local government access to a portion of bike/ped funding is in the final bill. While this is something of a relief for everyone working to make their local streets safer for walking and […]
Transpo Bill Rumor: DeFazio Says Conference Committee “Gutted” Bike/Ped
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Here’s the latest transpo bill news that has filtered through the tight little seams in the armor around the conference committee. First of all, the House voted last night on the two motions to instruct we mentioned last week: Rep. Diane Black’s criminally bad idea to cancel out important incentives for states to enact distracted […]
Boehner Masks GOP Attack on Safe Streets By Opposing Flowers
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House Speaker John Boehner spoke to reporters yesterday morning. His message: “Republicans Relentlessly Focused on Jobs.” “House Republicans want to get a highway bill done,” he said. “We want a bill, and our colleagues are working toward producing a bill. We just want to make sure it’s a bill that includes real reforms, to ensure […]
Making Lawmakers Answer For Pedestrian Deaths In Their Districts
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Rep. James Lankford, a Tea Party Republican representing Oklahoma City, probably wasn’t responsible for any of the 118 pedestrian deaths in his district between 2001 to 2010. And it’s unlikely Rep. Steve Southerland of Panama City, Florida was behind the wheel when any of the 164 people were killed while walking in his district during […]