President Obama signed a bill today authorizing transportation spending for the next fiscal year. The big news: no money was allocated for high-speed rail — which Republicans had been targeting as wasteful — while there were slight bumps upward in funds for transit projects. The obvious question is what does [continue reading]
Surprise, surprise — and I mean that sarcastically. Despite much rhetoric, the House of Representatives has decided not to let the federal gas tax and other transportation funding laws expire at month’s end, saving a lot of angst for transit agencies across the country. The update from Metro’s government relations [continue reading]
Nice graphic from Metro staff showing that business leaders across the country are supporting America Fast Forward, the federal legislation that would allow Metro and other transit agencies to use federal loans and financing to speed up construction of big projects. If Metro can persuade Congress to adopt the [continue reading]
A New York Times editorial on Sunday pretty much nailed the dilemma facing cities and states as the federal government cuts back spending. First excerpt: States and cities had already endured a harrowing three-year financial slide when the debt-ceiling crisis darkened their outlooks even further. In the space of [continue reading]
Below is an early analysis from Metro’s government affairs staff of the debt-ceiling compromise before Congress. Not surprisingly, it includes cuts in federal transportation spending: The House and Senate are set to vote today on legislation that reduces our national deficit, raises the debt ceiling and avoids a technical default [continue reading]
Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the library’s blog. Deteriorating Transportation Infrastructure Could Cost America $3.1 Trillion (Huffington Post) A new report from the American Society for Civil Engineers calculates that [continue reading]
For all the hype and talk about this weekend’s upcoming 405 closure — aka Carmageddon — I’ve also been a little surprised there hasn’t been more discussion of a pretty basic question: is the 405 project really worth the hassle of closing the freeway? I think so. The I-405 Sepulveda [continue reading]
Bottom line in this alert from Metro’s government relations staff: the budget proposed by House Republicans would cut transportation spending by 14 percent over this year’s spending — and would be 36 percent less spending than proposed by President Obama. Whether it floats is anybody’s guess. Democrats control the Senate [continue reading]
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has just launched a new campaign to drum up support for public transit. It’s called “I <3 Transit” and participating couldn’t be any easier. Just text TRANSIT to 86677 to vouch for your love of transit. The larger goal is to use the results [continue reading]
Here’s the news from Metro CEO Art Leahy’s email to staff: The U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Representative John Mica (R-FL), will be holding a field hearing later this month in Los Angeles [continue reading]
