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Senate’s Changes to TIFIA Could Mean More Toll Roads, Less Transit
When the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously passed a two-year transportation reauthorization bill last month, it quickly became clear that bipartisan support was coming at a price. First, we learned that the Transportation Enhancements bike/ped programs would lose their dedicated funding. Now, we learn that Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans will no longer hold applicants to as high an environmental standard -- or any standard, really.
December 21, 2011
Biking and Walking Score Big in TIGER III
In the third round of TIGER funding, the Obama administration has continued to demonstrate a strong commitment to bike and pedestrian projects.
December 20, 2011
Lawmakers Push to Fund Transit Service During Economic Emergencies
In October, Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Steve LaTourette (R-OH) introduced a bill to allow transit agencies to use federal money to hire bus drivers and pay other operating expenses.
December 20, 2011
TIGER III News Begins to Leak — Chicago Bike-Share Among the Winners
U.S. DOT is officially announcing the winners of the third round of TIGER grants tomorrow, but they give the news to members of Congress first so those members can brag about all the bacon they bring home. See below for a list of the grants we know about so far.
December 14, 2011
Senators Order Up Tax Cuts With a Side of Infrastructure, Hold the Transit
Congress has already delayed their holiday recess by a week, and members are hoping another delay won't be necessary. Among the yet-unfinished business: an extension of the payroll tax cut. House Speaker John Boehner plans to hold a vote today on his bill, which marries an extension of the payroll tax cut to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. While expected to sail through the House, such a partisan bill is unlikely to pass the Senate. Enter Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
December 13, 2011
OMB: Senate Seeking Too Much Highway Money to Fund Transportation Bill
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and his Finance Committee have been looking high and low for a $12 billion patch to fund the transportation reauthorization bill that passed the Senate EPW Committee a few weeks ago. According to Politico’s transportation reporters, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch, has already rejected several of Baucus’s ideas.
December 7, 2011
Mapped: How Federal Funding Fails to Match Demand for Transit in the U.S.
How much is New York's Second Avenue Subway estimated to cost? What transit lines really make up LA's ambitious 30/10 initiative? Besides the silver line to Dulles Airport, which may or may not ever be completed, what other changes are projected for DC's metro system? And what's all this construction in Fort Worth?
November 29, 2011
Is Congress Trying to Put the Kibosh on TIGER Funding For Bike/Ped?
Did TIGER spend too much money on bicycle and pedestrian programs? That's the question Larry Ehl at Transportation Issues Daily is asking. After all, Congress appears to be encouraging USDOT to spend TIGER grant money on something -- anything -- other than bike/ped.
November 29, 2011
2012 Transpo Budget: Sustainable Communities and HSR Out, TIGER In
Remember those radically different appropriations bills passed by the House and the Senate? And how I said they’d never come together, and they probably would never pass a 2012 budget anyway because all Congress ever does anymore is extend previous budgets because they can’t agree on anything?
November 16, 2011
TIGER III Requests Exceed Available Funding 27 to 1
In its third incarnation, USDOT's TIGER program continues to be overwhelmingly popular.
November 15, 2011