All posts from the month of September 2009
Today’s Headlines – 9/30/09
September 30, 2009By Transportation for America
A new analysis sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that highways received $30 billion in government subsidies last year, compared to just $9 billion for transit. (San Francisco Chronicle)
The fate of new legislation aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions now lies with the Senate, with its first stop at Barbara Boxer’s Environment and Public Works Committee. (NYT)
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants to raise public awareness about the danger of text messaging while driving. (NPR)
A comment yesterday from Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, makes the link between transportation reform and health care. (Yglesias)
State Departments of Transportation, like Tennessee’s, remain in limbo as the Senate considers its next move on extending the soon-to-expire transportation bill. (Tennessean)
Planning experts continue to praise Portland’s transportation system and point out that other cities can still chart a similar course. (Oregonian)
You helped save funding for transit, safe walking and biking
September 29, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
Two weeks ago, we were successful in beating back a handful of dangerous amendments to the yearly transportation budget in the Senate that would have broken federal promises to fund crucial, long-planned public transportation, passenger rail and bike/pedestrian projects.
In less than 48 hours, supporters like yourselves sent more than 10,000 messages to your Senators in opposition of these dangerous amendments. Your quick action was instrumental in letting the Senate know that it’s important we continue funding alternatives to driving that can help us use less oil, cut our emissions, bike and walk safely and reduce the amount of time we spend in congestion each day.
Sen. McCain had a slew of amendments that would have removed previously obligated funds for critical transit projects across the country. Sen. Bond reportedly had an amendment in hand to strip out high-speed rail funding. And Sen. Coburn proposed an amendment that would have removed the requirement that states spend a small fraction of their transportation funds on the kinds of investments that make biking and walking safer and more available.
We thank you all for your speedy action on these amendments. Your voices are regularly being heard on Capitol Hill! Keep it up.
Reason Online: climate bill must do more for clean transportation
September 29, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
UPDATED: A Reason representative wrote us to note that Shirley Ybarra “updated her post to better clarify her position that infrastructure projects that improve mobility should be the transportation sector’s top priority.” Of course, T4 America believes that improving mobility and decreasing emissions can go hand in hand, with the right investments.
With the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee expected to release their version of the climate bill tomorrow, we’re all anxiously waiting to see what the bill will do to reduce emissions from transportation. The U.S. transportation sector produces one-third of our carbon emissions, yet the House’s version of the climate bill allocated only an optional one percent of cap-and-trade revenues to cleaner transportation options that can help us cut transportation emissions.
Will the Senate bill be better? We think so, but the Reason Foundation, a free-market think tank, wrote that it should be if we’re going to seriously tackle transportation emissions:
The funding allocations are not expected to be released until closer to the committee markup date. This could well be another contentious issue. For the transportation sector to play a greater role in reducing emissions and fuel consumption, the Senate bill will need to dedicate far more than 1% of its revenues to advance clean transportation projects.
We agree wholeheartedly, and have been urging the Senate to adopt a plan that would raise that number from one percent to 10 percent.
One percent won’t cut it if we’re really going to tackle a sector that generates a full third of our emissions. We’ve been supporting a proposal in the Senate (CLEAN-TEA) that would direct 10% of the funding towards public transportation, passenger rail, affordable neighborhoods around transit stops, and neighborhood improvements that increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
It’s going to be difficult to reach our climate goals if we don’t give states and localities to tools they need to make a dent in the emissions that come from transportation. Having just a tiny share of revenue going to clean transportation is like asking a carpenter to build a house without a hammer. It might be possible, but it’s significantly more difficult.
You can still call your Senator today and tell them that the Senate climate bill needs to invest in a cleaner transportation system. Find their phone numbers and brief talking points right here.
Today’s Headlines – 9/29/09
September 29, 2009By Transportation for America
Bob McDonnell, Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia, says he can meet the state’s transportation needs without new revenues. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Former Virginia Governor and now-Senator Mark Warner, who as chief executive prioritized investments in infrastructure, cut an ad for McDonnell opponent Creigh Deeds. (Washington Post)
Seven League of Women Voters forums on land use and planning issues have attracted considerable interest in Delaware. (Cape Gazette)
AAA is urging drivers to take a week without using text messaging behind the wheel. (San Francisco Business Times)
The American Trucking Association seeks an exemption from legislation banning certain electrical devices while driving, should such a bill come to pass. (NYT)
And, states like Oklahoma are getting nervous about the impending expiration of the federal transportation bill. (Tulsa World)
Today’s Headlines – 9/28/09
September 28, 2009By Transportation for America
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board endorses more transit choices and smarter planning, saying of the metropolitan region, “in transportation, it’s better to be a hub than a spoke.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
An opposing op-ed piece calls for emphasizing “mobility” and rejecting the need for investment in transit and increased accountability for results. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Noting that business groups have endorsed a gas tax increase, National Journal is asking experts whether anti-tax sentiment will stall transportation reform efforts. (National Journal)
Tampa residents are considering the implications of widening a highway and the right mix between commercial and residential development. (Tampa Tribune)
The U.S. Department of Transportation has received nearly 1,400 applications from all 50 states for the TIGER grant program, which will disperse $1.5 billion to projects that meet criteria like increased livability, economic competitiveness and lower vehicle-miles traveled. (Media Newswire)
Today’s Headlines – 9/25/09
September 25, 2009By Transportation for America
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dismissed as “rhetoric” Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s proposal to scrap California’s Global Warming Solutions Act. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Paul Krugman rebuts the charge that the Waxman-Markey climate change bill would be a “job-killer.” (New York Times)
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson teamed up with automakers to save the agency’s carbon regulating authority. (The New Republic)
New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan describes the city’s significant investments in infrastructure and strategic plan. (Forbes)
Bus drivers could be prohibited from talking on their cell phones while behind the wheel. (AP)
And, more people are taking the bus throughout Iowa, in small towns and big cities alike. (Iowa City Press-Citizen)
Streetsblog wants your eyes on the street
September 24, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
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| RTC Bike Parking Originally uploaded by Transportation for America |
| Indoor bike parking at the headquarters of Rails-to-Trails in Washington, DC makes bike commuting for their employees easier and more attractive. |
From our partners at the Streetsblog Network, we wanted to pass along a cool request. The Streetsblog Network, the hub for bloggers across the country writing about sustainable transportation and livable streets issues, is on a quest for pictures from all four corners of the country. The deadline for this series of photos is next Tuesday, so take advantage of the (hopefully great!) weather where you are this weekend and get some great new photos.
Here’s the announcement from Network editor Sarah Goodyear.
We need your help.
We want to see what you’re seeing when you’re out there on the streets of America, and we’re going to be asking you to send us your pictures on specific themes in the weeks to come.
This week: bike traffic.
In pretty much every part of the country, fall is prime biking weather — not too hot, not too cold. Just right for riding to work, doing your errands or getting out and about for some recreation.
Well, we want the proof. Shoot us your pictures of bike traffic in the places you live — the more cyclists the merrier. Of course, while pictures of jam-packed bike lanes are welcome, feel free to send along anything noteworthy, beautiful or just plain fun.
We’ll gather the results and put them together in a slide show for your enjoyment and edification.
You can send JPEGs to me at sarah [at] streetsblog [dot] org. Or tag your photos with streetsblog in Flickr.
Don’t forget to include caption info, and let us know how you want to be credited. Need a deadline? Submit your entries by next Tuesday, September 29th.
And have fun out there!
If this is the first time you’re hearing about the Streetsblog Network and you’re a local or regional blogger, go visit their site for more information on adding your blog to the national blog network of more than 300 blogs focused on sustainable transport, smart growth and livable streets issues.
Today’s Headlines – 9/24/09
September 24, 2009By Transportation for America
The House approved a three-month extension of the current transportation bill, but the Senate is not yet on board. (Streetsblog)
House Republican leaders opposed the three month extension to delay an increase in the gas tax. (Journal of Commerce)
The California Air Resources Board is looking at options for cutting rail-yard pollution. (Los Angeles Times)
Also in California, high-speed rail planners will lobby for $4.6 billion in federal stimulus money to begin work on service from Merced to Bakersfield in the state’s Central Valley. (Fresno Bee)
And, mass transit ridership continues to rise in metropolitan Detroit. (Metro Mode Media)
House Republicans opposing 3-month extension, Senate Republicans possibly supporting it
September 23, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
UPDATE #2: The House passed the 3-month extension of the transport bill under suspension of the rules yesterday, with a 335-85 vote in favor of the extension.
UPDATED: The bill will likely be voted on today under suspension of the rules, and there will be at least some GOP opposition to it. Elana Schor at Streetsblog reports that “Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) said Cantor would join Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. John Mica (FL), senior Republican on Oberstar’s committee, in opposing the three-month extension.”
Rep. Jim Oberstar’s plan to introduce and/or pass a 3-month extension of the expiring surface transportation bill has hit a snag. According to the subscription-only email service Transportation Weekly, House Republican leadership has decided to oppose the bill, creating a roadblock for passing it today as planned under suspension of the rules, which requires a 2/3 vote and therefore some Republican support.
The 3-month extension (H.R. 3617) has been removed from the scheduled votes for today according to Transportation Weekly, noting that the reason for opposition isn’t exactly clear just yet:
Republicans have not yet made a public announcement as to what their objections to the three-month extension are, but one GOP staffer said that there should be a longer extension until the Democrats take the issue of a gasoline tax increase to pay for House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar’s (D-MN) $450 billion, six-year bill off the table. Therefore, this could represent a real breaking point between Oberstar and his ranking Republican, John Mica (R-FL), who has so far been in lockstep with Oberstar (at least in public)…
To add to the confusion, The Journal Of Commerce reported yesterday that momentum might be building for a a shorter extension in the Senate, where all signs thus far have pointed toward passing the 18-month extension that the Obama administration prefers.
In the face of insistence by leaders in the House of Representatives to extend soon-to-expire federal highway programs by only three months, some senators are beginning to move away from plans for an 18-month extension…
…“There’s some movement, I think, toward a short-term extension” in the Senate, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. Thune is not only part of the Senate Republican leadership team as chief deputy whip but also ranking minority member on the surface transportation panel of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
So to summarize, the Democrats in the House want to pass a 3-month extension. The Republicans in the House are now opposing that, potentially leaning towards an 18-month extension. The Democrats in the Senate want an 18-month extension. The Republicans in the Senate are now leaning towards a shorter extension, possibly 3 months.
There are still several other ways for Rep. Oberstar to get his bill passed in the House without that Republican support, and it’s not certain at all that House Republicans would actually vote against it if push came to shove. Same goes for the Senate.
Stay tuned.
USA Today article cites new data showing drop in auto commuting
September 23, 2009By Sean Barry
A yearly census survey released Monday illustrates the continuation of a trend that started well before the recession: Americans are taking steps to reduce their dependence on cars, and are looking for other options for getting around. Rates of solo driving and car ownership are dropping, according to this story in the USA Today about new census data. The paper cites a census report showing drops in both Americans who drove alone to work and in overall car ownership.
Transportation for America communications director David Goldberg was quoted prominently in the article, a sign of the campaign’s growing influence in transportation policy. In the report, Goldberg points out that these trends cannot be explained by the recession alone.
Environmental consciousness and the appeal of living in urban centers also play a role, says David Goldberg, spokesman for Transportation for America, a national coalition that advocates reduced dependence on cars. “There have been trends of leveling rates of driving and increased use of public transportation which predate the economic downturn,” he says.
Younger Americans are also changing their perceptions – and the behavior – surrounding automobile use.
Some of the decline in car ownership may be driven by younger people putting off getting their driver’s licenses or buying their first cars, Goldberg says. “We’ve seen a cultural shift.”
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