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
ATU President Larry Hanley on How to Build a Strong Coalition for Transit
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Streetsblog sat down last week with Larry Hanley, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union and member of the AFL-CIO executive council. Hanley started his career in New York as a bus driver in Brooklyn and then Staten Island, from 1978 to 1987. He became active in the transit union and worked his way up […]
“This Is Not a Good Bill”: Congress Holds Its Nose, Passes Debt Bill
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Both houses of Congress have now put their stamp of approval on the bill to raise the debt ceiling, just hours before a deadline that would have lowered the U.S. credit rating, forced the country to default on its debts, and potentially triggered a worldwide recession. No one seems very excited about the legislation. Sen. […]
Debt Deal Could Mean More Painful Cuts for Transportation
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The House and Senate are getting close to voting on a deal, reached over the weekend, to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending. There’s nothing in the legislative text that says anything specifically about transportation or the Highway Trust Fund, but it’s clear that the cuts mandated in the agreement will affect all sectors. […]
Chamber of Commerce: Empty Asphalt = Good Transportation Performance
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The Chamber of Commerce released its annual Transportation Performance Index (TPI) last week [PDF], and you can tell it’s due for a total overhaul, because according to the Index, recession-battered 2009 was a banner year for transportation performance. Using 2009 data, the Chamber, a powerful lobbying group that represents millions of American businesses, determined that […]
Raquel Nelson Speaks on the Today Show About Her Son and Her Court Case
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We’ve written quite a bit about Raquel Nelson over the past week or so, but now, we’ll let her speak for herself. The Today Show devoted an eight-minute segment to her case this morning, including an interview with Raquel. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Nelson’s lawyer, David Savoy, […]
The Streets and the Courts Failed Raquel Nelson. Can Advocacy Save Her?
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Last week, we reported on the horrific story of Raquel Nelson, whose four-year-old son was killed as she attempted to cross the street with him to reach their home. Nelson was convicted of reckless conduct, improperly crossing a roadway and second-degree homicide by vehicle, all for the crime of being a pedestrian in the car-centric […]
Boxer Confirms Bike-Ped Funding; “Gang of Six” Loves Infrastructure Spending
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At today’s hearing, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee celebrated the bipartisan consensus it has reached on a new transportation reauthorization – but details of that consensus are still not public. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) did confirm that dedicated federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs remains in the bill. Addressing LA Mayor Antonio […]
Senate Staff Says Transpo Bill Maintains Dedicated Funding For Bike/Ped
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We reported yesterday that the outline of the Senate bill appeared not to preserve dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs. It has come to our attention that the complete draft of the bill will include a hard commitment to bike-ped programs. Senate staff tells us that Sen. Barbara Boxer worked hard and was able to maintain her […]
No Commitment to Bike-Ped Funding in Senate Transpo Bill Outline
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The Senate EPW Committee just posted a transportation bill outline on their website, and despite previous assurances by committee chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA), there appears to be no dedicated funding for bicycling and pedestrian programs in the bill. The outline focuses on the consolidation of programs and streamlining project delivery, much like the House bill. […]
House Votes to Strip High-Speed Rail Funding
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This morning, the House voted 232-182 for an Energy and Water Appropriations bill that redirects $1 billion of high-speed rail money to flood relief for the Midwest. Never mind that that flood relief won’t arrive for many months, since this is a 2012 appropriations bill. The important thing here is to kill high-speed rail. (Why? […]
Georgia Mom Convicted of Vehicular Homicide For Crossing Street With Kids
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A Google Street View image of the intersection where Raquel Nelson’s four-year-old son was killed. There are no crosswalks in sight. We don’t normally report on vehicle crashes on the Capitol Hill blog, but this was so outrageous we couldn’t help ourselves. A 30-year-old woman in Marietta, Georgia was convicted of vehicular homicide this week […]
Ford, Verizon Support National Distracted Driving Law — And Its Loophole
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Yesterday, Ford became the first automaker to endorse a bill, introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), to ban distracted driving. When a similar bill was introduced in the last session, Ford was the first to endorse it then, too. McCarthy’s bill requires USDOT to set minimum standards for state bans on “the use of hand-held […]