President Obama signed an executive order today creating an advisory group for rural issues. The group will be tasked with developing recommendations for boosting economic growth, job opportunities and quality of life in rural communities. The Executive Order notes that sixteen percent of the population lives in rural counties and that these areas are essential [...]

The unofficial release of a draft six-year transportation bill last week offers a promising albeit non-definitive glimpse of Obama administration priorities for the nation’s infrastructure programs. The proposal, titled the Transportation Opportunities Act, boosts resources for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s core highway program while making significant investments in transit. High-speed rail receives $8 billion upfront and $53 billion over six years, and $27.5 billion is directed toward a new Livability Program that folds many existing pedestrian, bicycling and transit elements under one umbrella.

Funding for high-speed rail was eliminated from this year’s budget as other transportation programs absorbed deep cuts, according to the details of the deal between President Obama and Congressional Republicans to cut $38 billion in spending and keep the government funded through September. The New Starts program, a key source of funding for transit projects, is reduced to $1.6 billion, while the TIGER program is reduced to $528 million from $600 million, a loss of $72 million.

Down-to-the-wire negotiations late last night between President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid resulted in a budget deal containing about $38 billion in reductions from current spending levels and the prevention of a government shutdown. The High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program will receive $1 billion, a reduction of $1.5 billion from the previous year, and the New Starts program — a key revenue source for transit projects throughout the country — loses $280 million, though the figure is reportedly sufficient to fund projects that have already received grants from USDOT.

New poll figures show Americans agree on his proposed priorities WASHINGTON, DC, February 14, 2011 — President Obama today unveiled a fiscal 2012 budget proposal that calls for investing $128 billion in transportation infrastructure as a first installment on a long-awaited six-year investment plan totaling $556 billion. James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued this [...]

President Obama released a budget for fiscal year 2012 this morning that includes a significant boost to our nation’s infrastructure and a long-overdue emphasis on options and accountability. The $556 billion, six-year proposal is an ambitious standout in a largely sober blueprint.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hammered on the job-creation and economy-boosting effects of the Obama administration’s plan for infrastructure investment in a blog post on the department’s website. Writing the same day Vice President Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood were in Philadelphia promoting a $53 billion, 6-year passenger rail package, Geithner argued that investing in our nation’s roads, bridges, rail and transit systems creates “both immediate and long-term economic benefits.”

Vice President Joe Biden made an emphatic case for high-speed rail in Philadelphia today as the Obama administration kicks off series of events to highlight the need for infrastructure investment. The Vice President singled out Meridian, Mississippi mayor and T4 America campaign co-chair John Robert Smith, who served his hometown for four terms.

The theme of President Obama’s State of the Union address last night was winning the future, and investing in America’s infrastructure was an integral part of it. Other nations have outpaced our investment in roads and railways, and our own engineers have graded our infrastructure a “D,” he noted.

John Robert Smith, co-chair of Transportation for America and former mayor of Meridian, Mississippi, released the following statement in praise of the Obama administration’s $2.4 billion in grants for high-speed and inter-city passenger rail corridors in the United States: “A national high-speed rail system is not only an opportunity to redefine how we travel and [...]