Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Barack Obama

Same.gov: A Transportation Secretary Who’s Hard to Believe In

By Aaron Naparstek | Dec 18, 2008 | 25 Comments

On Monday, Obama announced his "green dream team." Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wasn’t there. We’ve been calling around to Congressional staffers, advocates and insiders to get a better sense of what Obama’s appointment of Ray LaHood as transportation secretary means for those pushing for sustainable transport, smart growth, livable streets. While no one is giving […]

Obama and Biden Plan Whistle-Stop Inauguration Tour

By Ben Fried | Dec 15, 2008 | 1 Comment

Looks like the new administration is sending better signals with its inauguration plans than with its most recent White House appointment. TPM has more on the rail-friendly gesture and its traffic-mitigating impact: The Presidential Inaugural Committee has hit on a novel way of reducing the pressure that the enormous crowd expected to show up on […]

Tell the Highway Lobby About ’09 Transpo Spending

By Brad Aaron | Dec 1, 2008 | 1 Comment

Not to be outdone, the road-building lobbyists at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) have launched their campaign to influence federal transportation spending priorities over the next year, including the 2009 TEA package. Last week, while encouraging team Obama to incorporate highway construction into its economic stimulus plan, AASHTO rolled out […]

Obama Names Transpo Transition Team

By Sarah Goodyear | Nov 14, 2008 | 12 Comments

The Obama-Biden transition team today unveiled its "Agency Review Teams" — the people charged with "a thorough review of key departments, agencies and commissions of the United States government, as well as the White House, to provide the President-elect, Vice President-elect, and key advisors with information needed to make strategic policy, budgetary, and personnel decisions […]

John Liu Wants Federal Bailout for MTA, Calls Bridge Tolls a “Distraction”

By Brad Aaron | Nov 14, 2008 | 10 Comments

While Washington is bailing out banks and carmakers (maybe), City Council Member John Liu thinks an allocation to the MTA is in order. On WNYC’s "The Brian Lehrer Show" Tuesday, Liu said an infusion of cash from city, state or federal coffers is the best hope for putting the transit system on solid ground, and […]

Urbama Admin? Prez-Elect ‘The Real Deal’ Says Metro Policy Guru

By Ben Fried | Nov 13, 2008 | 2 Comments

If Barack Obama’s soft spot for Detroit has you doubting his urban policy bona fides, Bruce Katz offers a few words of reassurance. The Stamford Advocate reports from Katz’s recent appearance before a Connecticut smart-growth group: Katz is vice president and founding director of the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, […]

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