Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Transportation Policy

Brookings: Feds Should Stop Giving Transit Projects the Run-Around

By Ben Fried | Sep 18, 2008 | 4 Comments

Americans are moving to areas with better transit access, but their options are limited. Via Dave Roberts at Grist, this congressional testimony from Robert Puentes of the Brookings Institution [PDF] is a must-read for anyone interested in how the country can reduce dependence on cars and fossil fuels. High gas prices and soaring transit ridership […]

Ravitch Commission Faces Difficult Task of Shoring Up MTA’s Future

By Ben Fried | Sep 16, 2008 | 11 Comments

The panel headed by former MTA chief Richard Ravitch held its first public hearing yesterday at NYU’s Kimmel Center. Representatives of advocacy groups, local government, think tanks, trade associations, and unions gave the commission a variety of proposals, including but certainly not limited to road pricing, to help the MTA navigate its funding crisis. Streetsblog […]

At Grand Central, Sen. Clinton Calls for Funding Mass Transit

By Sarah Goodyear | Sep 15, 2008 | 9 Comments

Clinton was joined by (l-r) Larry Hanley, of the Amalgamated Transit Union, NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and MTA chief Elliot Sander Surrounded by a throng of curious commuters under the clock at Grand Central Terminal last Friday, Sen. Hillary Clinton held a press conference calling for increased federal funding for mass […]

What If a Rep From NYC Chaired the Assembly Transpo Committee?

By Ben Fried | Sep 15, 2008 | 5 Comments

As the Ravitch Commission’s first public hearing on how to fix the MTA’s budget woes gets underway, this paragraph from today’s Times story on the Rochester Regional Transit Service (annual budget: $62 million) bears mentioning: Just four years ago, the Rochester authority was in financial straits and facing large deficits. Since then, it has lobbied […]

Urbanism: Not Just for Lefties

By Ben Fried | Sep 11, 2008 | 13 Comments

The American Prospect reports on a bi-partisan panel at the University of Minnesota last week where some dyed-in-the-wool Republicans declared their affinity for urbanism and opposition to sprawl: Policies in favor of dense development shouldn’t be viewed on a left-right spectrum and certainly needn’t be filtered through culture-war rhetoric, the panelists said. In fact, one […]

U.S. Senate Getting Serious About Transit Stimulus

By Ben Fried | Sep 9, 2008 | 8 Comments

The Wall Street Journal reports that momentum is building in the Senate for additional federal transit funding: The Senate banking committee will hold a hearing Tuesday to examine how the government can strengthen mass-transit options as a way to reduce dependence on imported oil. Meanwhile, House and Senate leaders debating a new energy bill are […]

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