Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Federal Transportation Bill

Will Transportation Investments Keep Up With the Way Americans Travel?

By Phineas Baxandall | Oct 22, 2012 | No Comments

Phineas Baxandall is a senior analyst at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. It’s now common knowledge that annual changes in the volume of driving no longer follow the old patterns. For 60 years, the amount of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) rose steadily. Predicting more driving miles next year was like predicting that the sun would […]

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How MAP-21 Allocates Transpo Funds Where They’re Needed Least

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 3, 2012 | No Comments

Transportation reauthorizations have typically not been a time for major discussions about national policy goals. They’ve been a time for getting while the getting’s good, a time for deal-making and pork and a lot of back-room transactions to make sure every member of Congress could go home and talk about how much federal money they […]

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As MAP-21 Takes Effect, Road Builders Vie for TIFIA Funds

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 1, 2012 | No Comments

It’s October 1, the start of the federal government’s fiscal year 2013, and the MAP-21 transportation law officially takes effect today. The law was signed July 6 but got a three-month grace period to let U.S. DOT set guidance and give states a little time to get ready for the new requirements — things like setting up […]

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MAP-21 Puts the Squeeze on Bridge Repair and Bikes

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 26, 2012 | No Comments

One of the most popular elements of the new transportation authorization is its consolidation or elimination of 60 federal programs. But this cleanup is not without its casualties. One of those casualties is the off-system bridge program. And another one, indirectly, is funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects. As you can see, the Highway Bridge […]

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How State DOTs Got Congress to Grant Their Wish List

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 24, 2012 | No Comments

Bike and pedestrian funding got slashed. Federal assistance for transit operations was rejected. Even the performance measures – arguably the high point of the recently passed federal transportation bill – are too weak to be very meaningful. For Americans who want federal policy to support safe streets, sustainable transportation, and livable neighborhoods, there were few […]

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Transportation Investments and America’s Quality-of-Life Gap

By Angie Schmitt | Jul 20, 2012 | No Comments

For a while it didn’t seem certain, but after a critical vote earlier this month, it looks like California’s on track to build high-speed rail. And, I’ll be the first to admit, California — with two large, global metros just a few hundred miles apart — is a great place for it. Despite some reservations […]

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