With the Senate having already approved their transportation bill and the House’s proposal languishing, we thought it might be useful to share this detailed analysis and side-by-side comparison of the two bills. We’ve included links to past blog posts and statements about the various provisions of the two bills so that you can have all [...]

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.

Secretary Ray LaHood is in a good mood this morning. The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced the recipients of $2 billion in high-speed rail funds, a total of 22 “carefully selected projects that will create jobs, boost manufacturing and spur development while laying the foundation for future economic competitiveness,” LaHood wrote on his blog. [...]

Originally uploaded by pgengler to Flickr. The New York Times resolutely defended high-speed rail in an editorial this morning, characterizing the elimination of remaining funds for the program this fiscal year as “harebrained.” The budget deal reached by the White House and Congress zeroed-out the $1 billion allocated for high-speed rail in fiscal year 2011 [...]

Although a Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Obama administration set and followed a merit based decision-making process for awarding high-speed rail and TIGER grants, several Republican lawmakers claimed the report revealed a lack of transparency and accountability for where the money went. “Although we can develop cost-effective high-speed rail transportation in this country, [...]

Two lead actors from Mad Men, the 1960s era advertising agency show, appear in a Funnyordie.com video endorsing high-speed rail posted earlier today. Attacks on high-speed rail in both Congress and state capitals prompted U.S. PIRG to tap actors Vincent Kartheiser and Rich Sommer for the segment, which was can be viewed below the fold.

A pair of op-ed pieces published in the past week illustrate a clamoring for action on a transportation bill that invests in the future and expands travel options for all Americans – and a resistance to the deep cuts some are championing in Washington. The head of a development firm specializing in green building and [...]

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.

Today, the Orlando Sentinel profiled Congressman John Mica, the powerful Republican chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and perhaps the person most crucial to President Obama’s success at infrastructure investment. Mica is an 18-year veteran of the House and longtime advocate for rail, particularly in his home state of Florida.

High-speed rail investment has the potential to yield great economic and environmental rewards for California, but only if communities make smart decisions about land-use and growth at and around new stations. A new report prepared by the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association offers prescriptions for how communities can prepare for rail investments.