Federal Funding
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Let’s Do the Time Warp Again: U.S. DOT Fails to Get Travel Forecasting Right
The U.S. Department of Transportation seems to be stuck in a bizarre time warp. For nine years in a row Americans have decreased their average driving miles. Yet U.S. DOT’s most recent biennial report to Congress on the state of the nation’s transportation system, released last Friday, forecasts that total vehicle miles will increase between 1.36 percent to 1.85 percent each year through 2030.
March 3, 2014
Obama to Propose Four-Year Transpo Bill Funded By “Business Tax Reform”
President Obama will unveil a proposal for a $302 billion, four-year transportation bill during a speech today in Minnesota, according to an announcement from the White House. A fact sheet from the administration indicates the proposal would increase dedicated funding for transit more than funding for highways.
February 26, 2014
Why Is It Still So Hard to Find Out How States Are Spending Transpo Money?
You would be lucky to get half as much information about a $5 million transportation project in your state as you can get from a toothpaste tube about how to brush.
February 19, 2014
New Bill Would Make Bike/Ped Projects Eligible for Federal Loans
The day after President Obama’s State of the Union plea to improve economic opportunity for struggling Americans, New Jersey Democrat Albio Sires introduced a bill that he says will help meet that goal.
January 30, 2014
The Next Transpo Bill: Can Congress Solve the Funding Problem?
It's that time again. Just 18 months after the passage of the latest federal transportation bill, known as MAP-21, Congress has to get serious about the next one. The first hearing on the bill that will replace MAP-21 took place today in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
January 14, 2014
TIGER Funding Gets 20 Percent Boost in Final 2014 Spending Bill
In a rare instance of Congress producing some halfway decent news, funding for the federal TIGER program, which issues grants for multi-modal projects, will increase after the House and Senate unveiled the details of an omnibus budget bill yesterday.
January 14, 2014
Budget Deal Is Good News for Transit
The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on that rarest of Capitol Hill treasures -- a bipartisan budget deal. If both houses approve the deal, negotiated by Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, it will be the first time since 2010 that Congress has passed a budget.
December 12, 2013
Concrete Proposals for Raising Gas Tax Finally on the Table
After a lot of vague talk about transportation revenues since the passage of MAP-21 -- “everything is on the table” and “we need to think outside the box” -- real proposals are finally being presented.
December 3, 2013
Lawmakers Score Conservative Bona Fides By Attacking Efficient Transport
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Congressman Tom Graves (R-Georgia) have introduced a bill to eliminate federal involvement in transportation policy, which would spell disaster for funding that supports transit, biking, and walking. A largely symbolic vote in favor of "devolution" will allow Republican members of Congress to demonstrate their conservative bona fides.
November 18, 2013