Elana Schor
Recent Posts
New Report Tracks Urban Transit Emissions — Where Does Your City Rank?
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Comparing the average emissions per passenger mile of various transport modes. (Chart: FTA) While state DOTs marked Earth Day by depicting roads as unsung heroes of livability, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the transit industry celebrated in their own ways by releasing reports on local rail and bus systems’ roles in reducing U.S. transport […]
Transit Industry Asks Congress to Quadruple Annual Security Funding
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The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the D.C. lobbying arm for much of the transit industry, today asked the House committee in charge of homeland security spending for $1.1 billion next year to beef up rail and bus security, a four-fold increase over the level that Congress approved for 2010. APTA president William Millar told […]
New GOP Bill Would Bar Enviro Reviews from Considering Climate
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Republicans on the Senate environment committee, who months ago began criticizing the Obama administration for evaluating federally funded infrastructure projects for their impact on climate change, today introduced legislation that would bar the White House from making climate a factor in environmental reviews. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), one of the new NEPA bill’s sponsors, holds […]
Could L.A.’s Transit Plan Become a Winning Campaign Issue for Boxer?
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President Obama did triple duty last night for the re-election campaign of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), visiting three fundraisers to send a stark message about polls that show the environment committee chairman holding a single-digit lead against her GOP challengers despite a formidable cash advantage. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), at left, with the president last […]
Former U.S. DOT Chief on the Worst-Case Scenario: 4 Years of Extensions
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To a certain extent, hope springs eternal in federal transportation circles. Even as state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations operate under the latest in a series of extensions of the 2005 law that governs road, transit, and bike-ped spending, few are willing to envision a future in which new legislation doesn’t pass by next year. […]
‘Gas Tax’ Sounding Like a Four-Letter Word to the White House and Senate
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Transportation groups of all shapes and sizes have been concerned that the Senate’s forthcoming climate bill could set back the prospects for a federal transportation measure by imposing extra carbon fees on Big Oil — which would then be passed on to customers at the pump, effectively increasing the gas tax for purposes other than […]
NJ Senator Wants Tax Credits for TOD
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New construction projects that are within a half-mile of transit stations and exceeding national energy-efficiency standards would be eligible for a tax credit under legislation introduced today by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), the senior member of the Banking Committee’s transit panel. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) (Photo: Paterson Online) Menendez’s "green buildings" tax credit is aimed […]
The Gas Tax: A Trip Back in Legislative Time …
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As Tax Day prompts a rush of political rallies and media coverage, it’s worth looking back at the history of the federal levy that helps pay for transportation projects: the gas tax. The late Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) in 1982, when he battled his own party’s attempts to raise the gas tax. (Photo: TIME) Most […]
NY Senator: Let’s Fight Obesity by Developing Around Farmer’s Markets
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Her approval rating on the rise amid a difficult election battle, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) joined the president’s campaign against childhood obesity this week by proposing $1 billion in loans and grants to build healthier neighborhood grocery stores and farmers’ markets. The view from one type of "food desert." (Photo: Springfield Institute) Gillibrand’s legislation, co-sponsored […]
New Report Maps Link Between Overseas Transit Attacks and Domestic Risk
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Transit networks around the world beefed up security measures in the wake of last month’s fatal bombing of a Moscow subway car, but the relevance of circumstances and tactics used in overseas terrorist attacks to U.S. rail and bus security remains unclear, according to a new report partly funded by the U.S. DOT. A police […]
New Report Puts a Price on Suburbia and Rental Housing in One U.S. City
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How much various Boston area neighborhoods are spending on total household transport and housing bills. (Graphic: Center for Neighborhood Technology) Boston mayor Thomas Menino joined Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) today for the release of a new Urban Land Institute (ULI) report that maps the combined housing and transportation burden of living in the metro area’s […]
Planner Calls For ‘Fight’ Against High-Speed Rail Sharing Track With Freight
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As federal and local officials plot out the future of U.S. high-speed rail, a prominent speaker at this week’s American Planning Association conference is urging fellow urban planners to "fight" the prospect of high-speed rail sharing roadbed with freight lines — a significant dilemma for Amtrak, which must split an estimated 70 percent of its […]