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
Are Environmental Reviews to Blame for Infrastructure Project Delays?
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Highway projects can take 10 to 15 years from planning through construction. The length of the process leads to cost overruns, some due to inflation, some from having to pay engineers and contractors for years on end. No matter how you feel about the worthiness of road capacity expansion, if a project gets built it […]
Obama Admin’s Bold Transpo Plan Leaves Funding Question to Congress
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The president’s six-year transportation plan [PDF], included as part of the administration’s FY2012 budget proposal, weighs in at a hefty $556 billion and lays out several policy reforms that, if enacted, could help the nation transition to a more multi-modal, less oil-dependent transportation system. The plan is a blueprint that Congress can use as a […]
Obama Proposes Infra Bank, Livability Grants, Doubling Transit Funds
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The White House has released a fact sheet on the transportation provisions in the President’s budget [PDF]. Here are the highlights, straight from the document: Provides $13.4 billion in discretionary resources in 2012, a $1.3 billion decrease from 2010 levels. (This figure excludes $109 billion in obligation limitations for the surface transportation plan. Including surface […]
Obama Budget Proposes $556B, Long-term Transportation Bill
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The White House hasn’t released its FY2012 budget request yet. What we know so far is that it’s a $3.7 trillion budget that would reduce the deficit from $1.6 trillion projected for 2011 to $1.2 trillion next year. President Obama “trims or terminates” more than 200 federal programs, according to the Washington Post, but has […]
What to Look For in President Obama’s Budget Request on Monday
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On Valentine’s Day, President Obama’s heart-shaped box of chocolates to Congress will come in the form of his budget request for 2012. It will include the president’s proposal for a six-year transportation reauthorization. The FY2012 budget request comes as Congress is still wrangling over the budget for the rest of FY2011 (which, by the way, […]
Retired Military Leaders, Corporate CEOs: Driving Alone Aids Terrorists
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What do the president of FedEx, the former Director of National Intelligence, and 19 other business and military leaders have in common? They’re urging the U.S. to adopt less oil-intensive transportation habits. They say our national security depends on it. Retired military officers have joined forces with business tycoons to form the Energy Security Leadership […]
GOP Moves Ahead With Deep Cuts to Transportation, Housing
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The House Appropriations Committee voted last night to move ahead with deep spending cuts, totaling $32 billion, to the remainder of the FY2011 budget. It’s still not the $100 billion the GOP wanted to cut, and some committee Republicans voted no, saying the cuts were still too small. Tell that to Americorps volunteers, who will […]
“Amtrak Joe” Biden, in Philly, Announces New Plan for High-Speed Rail
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The Obama administration is taking its infrastructure push on the road. First stop: Philadelphia, to announce a $53 billion plan to invest in high-speed rail. To Vice President Joe Biden, high-speed rail isn’t just another administration initiative. He’s Mr. Amtrak. He gets it. Biden says he’s made 7,900 round trips between Wilmington and Washington on […]
GOP Targets Transportation and Housing For the Deepest Cuts
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The House Appropriations Committee yesterday gave a glimpse into their plans to cut spending as promised. Chair Hal Rogers (R-KY) set spending ceilings each of the 12 Appropriations subcommittees, cutting the budget for the Transportation and HUD Subcommittee by 17 percent, or $11.6 billion. It is, by far, the most dramatic of all the cuts. […]
Transpo Committee Adds Southern Locations to Field Hearing Schedule
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The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has fleshed out the schedule of its nationwide tour to solicit input on transportation issues. The tour is an opportunity for lawmakers to hear what communities around the country would like to see in a new transportation authorization bill. Since we published the first, tentative schedule last week, the […]
APTA Survey: Transpo Bill Delay May Force Job Losses in U.S. Transit Industry
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) both agree that a new surface transportation authorization bill needs to be finished before Congress leaves for the August recess. But that doesn’t mean it’ll happen. ImpulseNC makes overhead wire systems like these for transit networks. It could lay off workers or move […]
House Transpo Committee Shrinks, Senate EPW Announces New Members
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The committees with jurisdiction over transportation are shrinking. In the Senate, committee membership is only going from 21 to 20. But the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is experiencing a much more significant belt-tightening, shrinking from a committee of 75 to just 59. Of those 59, 33 are Republicans and 26 are Democrats. Congressional staff […]