U.S. DOT
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Obama Administration’s Transportation Goals: Read Them Here
When the Obama administration proposed an 18-month delay in drafting the next federal transportation bill, U.S. DOT chief Ray LaHood called for Congress to include "critical reforms" alongside the extension of the existing law. But details on those reforms have been kept under wraps -- until now.
July 2, 2009
House Transpo Leaders and Obama DOT Run Off in Opposite Directions
The conflicted state of federal transportation policy-making was on vivid display today, as House lawmakers pressed ahead on a $500 billion bill that still lacks a funding source while the Obama administration scrambled to find $20 billion for a bailout of the highway trust fund.
June 24, 2009
LaHood Asks for 18-Month Extension of Four-Year-Old Transpo Law
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is asking Congress to extend the existing federal transportation law for 18 months, averting the coming insolvency of the nation's highway trust fund while putting off broad-based transport reform for as long as the Bush administration did in the days surrounding the 2004 election.
June 17, 2009
U.S. DOT Clocks High-Speed Rail at 110 MPH, Give or Take
The federal DOT has just released its guidance for states seeking a share of its $8 billion in high-speed rail funding -- and tucked in the rules are standards that could prove crucial to the project's success.
June 17, 2009
In the Works: Senate Bill to Promote Sustainable Development
In Washington politics, the term "kumbaya moment" is used to describe those rare occasions when self-interested stakeholders join hands to support a set of reforms. And today's appearance before the Senate Banking Committee by the chiefs of three Cabinet departments -- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency -- definitely qualified for kumbaya status.
June 16, 2009
GOP-ers and Dems Agree: Feds Need to Get Their Transpo Act Together
Reports on federal transportation policy -- like campaign fundraisers and lobbying groups -- seem to proliferate in Washington, most of them drawing a few days' worth of news coverage before fading from memory. (Remember the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission?)
June 9, 2009
Bush Transpo Secretary’s Biggest Disappointment: Bush
DC Velocity magazine has just released a lengthy interview with Norman Mineta, the Bush-era transportation secretary and former Democratic member of Congress.
June 2, 2009
Polly Trottenberg Tapped For Senior U.S. DOT Spot
It's a happy Friday for transportation wonks: the White House has nominated Polly Trottenberg, executive director of Building America's Future, as assistant secretary for policy at the federal DOT.
May 29, 2009
LaHood to Streetsblog: No, I’m Not Changing the Name of My Blog
I'll add a few more impressions to Bobby Cuza's report on yesterday's ABNY breakfast with federal transportation secretary Ray LaHood.
May 14, 2009
Less Than One Percent of Transpo Stimulus Money Paid Out So Far
The New York Times reports this morning that the Obama administration's $787 billion economic stimulus package has hit a few snags:
May 13, 2009