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
New T&I Rep. Richard Hanna: a Little Bit Upstate NY, a Little Bit Portland
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Rep. Richard Hanna is one of 19 freshmen Republicans on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. (Duncan Hunter is the 20th new Republican on the committee, but he’s not a freshman.) He represents New York’s 24th District, which includes Cooperstown, Utica, Norwich and the Finger Lakes. He’s a licensed pilot, an NRA member, and the founder […]
CA Rep. Hunter: Roads Constitutionally Mandated, Transit Must Pay for Itself
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Streetsblog Capitol Hill caught up with Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) yesterday after the T&I Committee meeting wrapped up. He’s the only new Republican on the committee who’s not also a new member of Congress. He followed his father, also named Duncan Hunter, into the seat. Hunter is on the Republican Study Committee that recently pushed […]
Senate Committee Backs Infrastructure Spending (But Not For Bike Lanes)
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“We need to take care of this sooner than later,” Sen. Barbara Boxer said this morning in reference to a surface transportation reauthorization. “We can’t keep doing extension after extension.” Photo from Zagasi Before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee even has all its members named (that should happen in the next day or […]
Top DOT Officials Preview the Push for a Transportation Bill
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Before President Obama made his call for infrastructure investment in the State of the Union address last night, an impressive panel of about a dozen DOT officials addressed the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting to divulge what they could about the reauthorization of the long-term national transportation law. Secretary Ray LaHood has said he’s confident […]
Obama: Europe and Russia Invest More in Roads and Railways Than We Do
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President Obama made his long-awaited infrastructure push during his State of the Union address – with more information included in an accompanying memo released today (see below). This is what he told Congress: The third step in winning the future is rebuilding America. To attract new businesses to our shores, we need the fastest, most […]
Will President Obama Speak for the Transit-Starved Tonight?
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President Obama is expected to make a strong push for infrastructure spending during the State of the Union address tonight. Ahead of the address, the Transportation Equity Network organized its members and supporters to write to President Obama, telling their personal stories of why transit funding is crucial to their communities. In all, TEN will […]
Get Rich While Reducing Emissions: Smart Growth Keeps Looking Smarter
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Just when you may have been looking for ways to counter that Pew report which poo-pooed the environmental impacts of transit and smart growth, here’s more evidence that reducing driving has an essential role to play in meeting economic and environmental goals: A new report from the Center for Clean Air Policy concludes that compact […]
Republicans Propose Spending Cuts Targeting Amtrak, Transit Funding
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A new Republican proposal would eliminate federal subsidies to Amtrak; kill New Starts, the primary federal transit funding program; and make painful cuts to dozens of other federal programs. It’s a plan by the Republican Study Committee, which is trying to keep alive House Speaker John Boehner’s campaign pledge to reduce the budget by $100 […]
LaHood Goes to Detroit to Talk to Automakers About Distracted Driving
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A year ago, the Department of Transportation helped launch FocusDriven, an advocacy group for victims of motor vehicle crashes involving drivers using cell phones. “In one year, we’ve made progress – but at least 5,500 people still die every year in crashes,” said FocusDriven president Jennifer Smith, who lost her mother in a collision involving […]
Highway-Affiliated Pew Climate Report Favors “Clean” Cars Over Transit
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Many transportation reformers were disappointed last week when the Pew Center on Global Climate Change released a report indicating that only clean car technology had a shot at significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The report dismissed smart growth development strategies and transit as trivial contributors to a lower-carbon economy. Pew has a well-earned reputation for […]
Mica’s Goal: “More Cars Off of the Highway”
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In a recent interview with the Journal of Commerce, Transportation Chair John Mica (R-FL) indicated that he shares many transportation goals with the Obama administration. We mentioned the Journal’s report the other day that Mica has tried to reassure transportation supporters that new House rules won’t starve the highway trust fund. Now the Journal is […]
Is the Livability Movement Doomed to Homogeneity? The CDC Says No.
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The first time Adolfo Hernandez went to the National Bike Summit, he got a sense of just how monochromatic the livability movement can be. “I think there were about 300 or 400 people,” he said. “And really, I could count on one hand people I thought were people of color.” Hernandez is the director of […]