At a hearing in front of the Senate Banking Committee, Andrew Darrell of the Environmental Defense Fund urges political leaders to support overburdened transit agencies in order to create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and combat climate change. (Environmental Defense Fund)

Federal money dedicated to transportation is quickly drying up, and states are facing tough choices on which projects they should focus their resources on — and which ones they should drop. (New York Times — David Stout and Matthew Wald, and Washington Post — Eric Weiss)

With Amtrak accommodating huge numbers of inter-city travelers looking to avoid the skyrocketing cost of flying or driving, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is pushing Congress to reinvest in our aging stock of rail cars and drive domestic train manufacturing. (Chicago Tribune — Jon Hilkevitch)

For one Vermont resident, the elimination of a public bus route serving her area represents an alarming fact: both the state’s transit agency and the federal government are not seriously concerned with providing dependable public transportation. (Rutland Herald)

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters believes we can soften the transportation funding crisis by borrowing billions from the federal mass transit fund, but the Washington Post‘s editorial board says that taking money away from public transportation when ridership is at an all time high is a big mistake.

Americans may be able to cut costs by keeping themselves off the road, but unfortunately, they’ve got plenty of other drivers to pay for — taxpayers spent $3.4 billion last year to operate and maintain the U.S. government’s 642,233 vehicles. (Associated Press — Jennifer Kerr)

The looming crisis for federal transportation funding makes state officials in Pennsylvania leery about the future of their own transportation projects. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review — Jim Ritchie)

The U.S. government is facing a critical shortfall in its transportation budget, and the Denver Post editorial board is standing behind a 10-cent increase in the federal gas tax as a way to plug the holes in the dam.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters talks about our “broken” federal transportation program, arguing that we need fewer earmarks, streamlined funding for projects, and a new source of revenue other than the gas tax. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Ariel Hart)

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters explains that the country is in need of a more sustainable source of funding for our federal transportation program, but admits, “The next president, the next administration, the next Congress will decide what to do.” (Associated Press)