All posts from the month of October 2008
Today’s Headlines — 10/31/08
October 31, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- Washington DC’s Metro breathes a sigh of relief after a Belgian bank agrees to temporarily drop a claim for $40 million resulting from the AIG fallout. (Reuters)
- College students are finding easier, greener ways to travel across campus. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- An architecture critic describes a ballot measure for transportation funding in Los Angeles as a “referendum on the future shape of the city.” (Los Angeles Times)
- Transportation for America Communications Director David Goldberg speaks to Mother Jones magazine about the smart growth movement.
- New York Times columnist David Brooks throws his support behind an infrastructure stimulus, and discusses the need for a “national mobility project.”
- Homes near Denver’s light-rail line shoot up in value as others remain in free fall. (Denver Post)
Today’s Headlines — 10/30/08
October 30, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- The Dallas Morning News publishes remarks from California Senator Barbara Boxer, chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, on the need for a second stimulus.
- A new transit tax in Minnesota reaps $86 million in grants for public transportatin projects around Minneapolis. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
- Federal lawmakers, state leaders, business executives, and union representatives call for investment in infrastructure in a hearing on Capitol Hill. (New York Times) Others push back. (Washington Post)
- House representatives call for federal aid to transit agencies ensnared by deals involving insurance giant AIG. (Reuters) Atlanta’s MARTA hopes to be included. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
- Continued drop in gas prices spur some Americans to return to the road. (New York Times)
- The San Francisco Chronicle looks at urban planners’ responsibility in developing an auto-centric landscape.
Today’s Headlines — 10/29/08
October 29, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- Utah officials encourage companies to help workers using public transportation. (Salt Lake Tribune)
- Washington DC’s Metro police chief discusses the transit agency’s new policy of random bag searches. (Washington Post)
- Barack Obama and John McCain get a side-by-side comparison on travel and transportation issues by USA Today columnist Bill McGee.
- NPR’s Marketplace looks at the push for a green, infrastructure-heavy stimulus package.
- Alex Marshall examines some of the amenities that come with rail travel, and concludes that people “have considerations that go beyond how fast and how far and at what price.” (Governing)
Today’s Headlines — 10/28/08
October 28, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the U.S. House to hear testimony on infrastructure spending in the next stimulus. (Bloomberg)
- Seattle voters mull a ballot measure for $17.9 billion in transit improvements. (Associated Press)
- China invests $445 billion in rail — and looks to add more than 35,000 kilometers to its existing system — in its own economic stimulus. (Reuters)
- Three-quarters of economists in a USA Today survey say they back a second stimulus.
Today’s Headlines — 10/27/08
October 27, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- The collapse of insurance company AIG reaps financial havoc on 31 transit agencies. (USA Today)
- After losing his vehicle in an accident, Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Hawthorne explores the idea of car-sharing.
- The Baltimore Sun criticizes a plan to tighten Maryland’s state budget by cutting transit services.
- A slumping economy outweighs slumping gas prices and keeps drivers off the road in San Diego County. (San Diego Union Tribune)
- New York City experiments with a new system that shows riders exactly where their next train is. (New York Times)
- The Washington Post looks at Barack Obama’s role as a distinctly metropolitan presidential candidate.
Today’s Headlines — 10/24/08
October 24, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- Almost three quarters of respondents to a poll in Indiana say they support using public funds for mass transit. (Indianapolis Star)
- Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority could have to pay out $105 million thanks to the collapse of insurance giant AIG. (Associated Press)
- One more sign of a global economic slowdown — shipping companies cutting back on freight. (Wall Street Journal)
- San Francisco mulls plan for big adjustments and improvements on its Municipal Railway transit system. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- A new study shows that high gas prices have had a huge impact on congestion in Atlanta. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Today’s Headlines — 10/23/08
October 23, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- Despite the looming crisis for transportation funding, aides to both Barack Obama and John McCain say neither presidential candidate would support a gas tax increase. (Reuters)
- A growing number of economists push for a second stimulus with targeted investment in infrastructure. (Associated Press)
- A writer in the Christian Science Monitor presses Congress to empower Metropolitan Planning Organizations in the decision making process for any transportation spending in the second stimulus.
- Six months after the cap-and-trade legislation failed in the Senate, a renewed focus on the economy may have shifted the debate on climate change. (Forbes)
- Gas prices sink under $67 a barrel. (Associated Press)
- As many Americans rediscover mass transit — and others discover it for the first time — the financial pressures in the industry and history of underinvestment is bringing about a host of new challenges. (Salon)
Today’s Headlines — 10/22/08
October 22, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- For many Americans, the gas price plunge isn’t a good enough reason to get back on the road. (CNN)
- New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman pushes for a green “buildup” stimulus package that includes investment in mass transit.
- Top economists Joseph Stiglitz and Alice Rivlin voice their support for a second stimulus heavy on infrastructure. (The Hill)
- An eight-mile stretch from Phoenix to Tempe could be reinvigorated when the region’s new light-rail line opens in December. (The Arizona Republic)
- Hard financial times means New York City’s MTA must face some tough decisions. (New York Times)
Today’s Headlines — 10/21/08
October 21, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- A steep drop in gas prices has muffled some calls to reform our energy policy, but the Des Moines Register calls for “a commitment to change that does not rise and fall with gas prices.”
- The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials pushes for $545 billion in next year’s federal transportation bill. (Congressional Quarterly)
- Rhode Island’s Public Transit Authority considers eliminating one-fifth of its service and one-fifth of its work force in order to cover a budget deficit. (Providence Journal)
- An engineer and a researcher from the Reason Foundation debate the merits of building a high-speed rail line in California. (Los Angeles Times)
- Fed. Chairman Ben Bernanke voices support for a second stimulus package, which is expected to include spending on infrastructure. (Associated Press)
Today’s Headlines — 10/20/08
October 20, 2008By Andrew Bielak
- With old financial deals turning sour, the Los Angeles County MTA may have to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to investors — and in turn make big service cuts. (Los Angeles Time
- A public official in Atlanta imagines what an extensive regional transit system could do for the area. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- The construction of a high-speed rail line in California could catalyze a new approach to development in the region. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Universities across the country are finding ways to encouracing cycling. (CNN)
- As the financial crisis and credit crunch hit industry worldwide, many companies and politicians could start looking for excuses to avoid fighting climate change. (Wall Street Journal)
- Could the eventual recovery of the housing market in northeastern Illinois be accompanied by smarter and more sustainable growth? (Chicago Tribune)
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- Saving a transit system and turning the tide for the future of a mid-sized city
May 15, 2012 - U.S. communities step up, hoping a strong federal commitment to infrastructure will follow
May 10, 2012 - Graphic: A closer look at the Senate MAP-21 vote by state
March 27, 2012 - Fixing the House bill: Cutting regulatory burdens and bureaucracy
March 15, 2012 - Fixing the House bill: reducing air pollution by providing more travel options
March 13, 2012
- Saving a transit system and turning the tide for the future of a mid-sized city
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