Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
2009 Transportation Bill

Coming Attraction: Teasers From Oberstar’s Transpo Bill Outline

422093580_050ae3f4c9.jpgRep. Jim Oberstar at the 2007 National Bike Summit. Photo by Bike Portland via Flickr.

The details of Rep. Jim Oberstar's plans for the next federal transportation bill are starting to come into focus. Last Friday, The Infrastructurist ran an item about a document on the subject that has made its way into the public eye:

Oberstar has recently been circulating a “two-page handwritten outline” around the Hill, according to the BNA’s Daily Report for Executives, which obtained a copy of the document. They report the following tidbits:

> The outline calls for “transit equity.” Right now the feds pay 80 percent of highway projects and 50 percent of transit projects. That would change.

> It would create DOT agencies focused on a “national strategic plan” and on “mega-projects.”

> “DOT’s 108 programs [will be consolidated] into four “major formula programs”: critical asset preservation, highway safety improvement, surface transportation program, and congestion mitigationand air quality improvement.”

> The document seems to call for more transparency with transportation data.

Leaves you wanting more, doesn't it?

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

The Children of New York City Deserve Universal Daylighting

Daylighting is a moral imperative that protects the most vulnerable New Yorkers: children.

December 10, 2025

Likely Council Speaker Julie Menin Claims She’ll Work With Mamdani On Livable Streets

Julie Menin has declared victory in the City Council Speaker race, but will she be a friend or foe to the livable streets movement?

December 10, 2025

A Car Driver Ripped Off a Woman’s Leg in Broad Daylight

A Brooklyn driver drove onto a busy sidewalk in central Williamsburg and maimed a 33-year-old pedestrian. Why can't our officials prevent this kind of predictable incident?

December 10, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Dueling Rallies Edition

Astoria was ground zero in the fight for safe streets yesterday, with dueling rallies over the 31st Street bike lane. Plus other news.

December 10, 2025

Speaker Adams to Sink Daylighting Bill: Advocates

The last-minute move shatters years of grass roots advocacy.

December 9, 2025

Ex-FDNY Boss: Queens Judge ‘Wrongly’ Pit FDNY vs. DOT in Bike Lane Ruling

The former head of the FDNY slammed a Queens judge for pitting the Fire Department against the safe streets movement in a ruling that erased a bike lane.

December 9, 2025
See all posts