The White House agrees to sign a bill intended to improve rail safety — a response to the tragic September 12 crash in California — which also includes more than $12 billion in funding for Amtrak. (Los Angeles Times — Steve Hymon)

The White House plans on approving a bill to provide Amtrak with $13 billion over the next five years, helping the company accommodate the country’s soaring demand for rail travel. (Wall Street Journal — Christopher Conkey)

Facing an infrastructure crisis and sinking revenues, the Bush Administration drops its opposition to a plan to use $8 billion from the general fund to plug a hole in the federal highway fund. (San Francisco Chronicle – Richard Simon)

Citing the growing problem of declining gas tax revenue, the White House throws its hat into the ring on transportation funding and argues that public-private partnerships and more tolls are the best solutions. (Wall Street Journal — Christopher Conkey)

Declining gas tax revenues are drying up the federal pot of money for transportation, and the House of Representatives approved an $8 billion injection on Wednesday to offer some relief. But the White House has other plans — administration officials are threatening a veto of the bill and propose instead to divert money away from [...]

Despite continuing pressures on the global oil market, President Bush says he won’t ask Americans to conserve gasoline, and argues that they are “smart enough” to figure out what to do themselves. (Politico — Mike Allen)

President Bush wipes out a 1990 executive ban on new offshore drilling, prompting heavy criticism from Democrats. The 27-year-old moratorium from Congress on new offshore drilling remains in effect. (New York Times — Steve Lee Myers and Carl Hulse)