All posts from the month of August 2009
Daily Headlines — 08/06/09
August 6, 2009By Masood Habib
- LaHood says the administration would support a more comprehensive law on texting while driving. (Washington Post)
- DOT nominees held up by two senators. (AP)
- Changing technologies require new infrastructure. (Wall Street Journal)
Commuter rail in Georgia and a bad case of burying the lead
August 5, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
The Georgia Department of Transportation has been (finally) moving towards plans for a commuter rail line south from downtown through the southern suburbs to the city of Lovejoy. This week, they got some bad news from the Federal Transit Administration, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
At a moment when mass transit is taking center stage as a solution to transportation problems nationwide, a federal report has concluded that the Georgia Department of Transportation’s transit program is riddled with financial management problems, according to a report obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The problems were so severe that the federal government has frozen DOT’s transit grants, which average about $28 million a year, including some from the federal stimulus program. The report cast doubt on whether DOT could manage grants for the commuter rail line proposed to go south through Lovejoy.
But the most alarming nugget in the story was completely buried in the closing paragraphs of the story.
Meyer said he didn’t know whether the problems were only due to sparse resources — DOT’s Intermodal Division has 23 employees handling rail, transit, aviation and waterways, in an agency of 5,400 — or if there was a culture of sloppiness. [emphasis ours]
Only 23 people out of 5,400 employees at Georgia’s DOT? It’s hard to imagine that the state could plan and implement a large-scale model railroad with only 23 people — much less their first true commuter rail line in decades.
Transportation advocates in Georgia have been working for decades to bring commuter rail to the capital city of Atlanta. It would seem like a no-brainer in a congested metro region with multiple existing railroad lines into the city — a city with deep roots as a railroad town — but it has taken decades to get a planned commuter rail line into Atlanta anywhere close to reality. It’s been a long slog, even as other cities have gone back to their past as railroad towns and opened new, successful commuter rail lines
If Georgia is ever going to follow the lead of numerous other states that are investing in commuter rail or other options for getting around their congested region, they’re probably going to need a few more than 23 people to get it done.
Support the campaign! Don’t forget about our badges and widgets
August 5, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
It’s been awhile since we pointed them out, and since our coalition of individuals and organizations has grown leaps and bounds since then, here’s another reminder about our Transportation for America web badges.
If you are a coalition partner, a member of the Streetsblog Network, one of our 25,000+ individual supporters, or pretty much anyone with a website, a blog, or anything else published online, don’t forget to get one of our badges to show your support for Transportation for America. They come in a range of sizes and styles, and you can stick them in your blog’s sidebar or on your organization’s home page to show your support for the T4 America campaign and a 21st Century transportation system.
Visit http://t4america.org/badges to download one today.
You can also get the Streetsblog Network Action Widget there, which automatically pulls the latest featured stories from the Streetsblog Network and urgent action alerts from Transportation for America. Post it on your site, and it automatically updates in real-time with no maintenance required.
Daily Headlines — 08/05/09
August 5, 2009By Masood Habib
- Senate may vote today on ‘Clunkers‘ program; Harry Reid promises it to pass. (Los Angeles Times)
- Obama administration looks to fill a gap on federal oversight in urban transit systems. (AP)
- Improving our public transportation system doesn’t mean just building infrastructure. (Los Angeles Times)
- Senators McCain and Coburn release a report criticizing spending on non-highway projects. (Bike Portland Blog)
Daily Headlines — 08/04/09
August 4, 2009By Masood Habib
- House members continue their push for a new transportation bill by September. (U.S. News)
- The U.S. DOT will be taking a closer look at distracted drivers during a planned summit in September. (New York Times)
- Senators Feinstein and Collins put their support behind continuing the ‘Cash for Clunkers‘ program. (Bloomberg)
- New York City to experiment with a bike share program. (New York Times)
Daily Headlines — 08/03/09
August 3, 2009By Masood Habib
- ‘Clunkers’ program extension awaits Senate vote. (Reuters)
- Stimulus money hasn’t made it to many deficient bridges across the nation. (AP)
- Federal funding for high-speed rail has continued to fall very short of needs. (New York Times)
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- Oppose House bill that slashes public transit funding, falls short on repair and axes bike & pedestrian safety
February 7, 2012 - T4 coalition announces opposition to House energy and transportation bill
February 6, 2012 - House committee ignores broad opposition, decimates transit funding anyway
February 3, 2012 - Massive letter opposing House leadership attack on transit sent to Capitol Hill
February 3, 2012 - House leadership making unprecedented assault on public transit
February 2, 2012
- Oppose House bill that slashes public transit funding, falls short on repair and axes bike & pedestrian safety
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