Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about U.S. Senate

A Bill to Make American Streets Safer Surfaces in the Senate

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 7, 2014 | No Comments

Has the moment finally arrived for a national complete streets law? A bill creating incentives for transportation agencies to design safe streets for everyone — pedestrians and cyclists in addition to motorists — is back on the floor of Congress this week. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) are sponsoring the Safe Streets Act […]

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Senators Seek to Shield Motor Vehicle Crash Data From Public View

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 23, 2014 | No Comments

A new bill introduced by Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) would further entrench rules that make it difficult for crash investigators to access black box data from cars. Nearly all light passenger vehicles have event data recorders (EDRs) installed in them, which record everything from speed to seat belt use, though the data is […]

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TIGER Funding Gets 20 Percent Boost in Final 2014 Spending Bill

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 14, 2014 | No Comments

In a rare instance of Congress producing some halfway decent news, funding for the federal TIGER program, which issues grants for multi-modal projects, will increase after the House and Senate unveiled the details of an omnibus budget bill yesterday. For the past few years, Congress has been unable to agree on a budget, so funding […]

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Level the Commuter Playing Field By Reducing the Tax Break for Parking

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 2, 2014 | No Comments

Happy New Year, transit riders! Congress has a special present: Some of you will be getting a tax increase this year. Legislation that puts tax subsidies for transit commuters on equal footing with car commuters has been allowed to expire by Congress. That means people who drive to work can deduct up to $250 in […]

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Budget Deal Is Good News for Transit

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 12, 2013 | No Comments

The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on that rarest of Capitol Hill treasures — a bipartisan budget deal. If both houses approve the deal, negotiated by Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, it will be the first time since 2010 that Congress has passed a budget. The deal would erase […]

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Was TIGER Eliminated in the Shutdown Deal?

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 24, 2013 | No Comments

Soon after the government shutdown ended, we heard murmurs that the TIGER grant program for innovative transportation projects had been a casualty of the negotiations. Under the rules of the Office of Management and Budget, any program that was de-funded in either chamber’s bill would be de-funded in the continuing resolution (the temporary budget) until […]

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