Recent Streetsblog LA posts about Transportation Policy

The Footnote to All Those Complaints About Tax Cuts as Stimulus

By Elana Schor | Dec 15, 2009 | No Comments

Transportation reformers and status quo-lovers alike smacked their foreheads in frustration when the White House’s first stimulus plan lowballed infrastructure to make room for tax breaks that had little demonstrable effect on job creation — particularly the $70 billion adjustment of the alternative minimum tax (AMT). HOT lanes on Virginia’s I-495 are one of seven […]

White House Backs $50B For ‘Merit-Based Infrastructure Investment’

By Elana Schor | Dec 8, 2009 | 1 Comment

President Obama today threw his weight behind significant new transportation spending as part of a broad jobs bill taking shape in Congress, with $50 billion slated for transit, roads, bridges, and ports and the administration endorsing "merit-based infrastructure investment that leverages federal dollars." President Obama gave a high-profile jobs speech today. (Photo: NYT) During his […]

Senate Health Bill Holds Onto Grants For Healthier Transportation

By Elana Schor | Nov 23, 2009 | No Comments

Back in June, when the Senate was in the early stages of its marathon health care reform debate, several Republicans blasted the proposed legislation for including a grant program aimed at encouraging construction of local infrastructure to promote healthier movement. The new Senate health bill held onto a billion-dollar grant program to promote walking to […]

Just How Regressive is America’s Federal Housing Policy?

By Chris Bradford | Nov 20, 2009 | 4 Comments

(ed. note. Please welcome contributor Chris Bradford, author of the economics blog Austin Contrarian.) As this recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report reminds us, the answer is "very regressive." Even in lean economic times, the average rent in San Francisco (above) is close to $2,000/mo. (Photo: BinBin.net) The disparity between the federal government’s support for […]

Grassley: ‘Two or Three Other’ Republicans Open to Climate Change Deal

By Elana Schor | Nov 10, 2009 | No Comments

The Senate’s propensity for filibusters, delay, and fruitless attempts at bipartisan deal-making is earning it quite the reputation these days. And climate change legislation, with its big-ticket implications for transit and urban development in general, is becoming increasingly caught up in the Senate’s peripatetic politics. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (Photo: CNN) The Finance Committee held […]

CNU Transportation Project Raises Bar on Planning for Livable Cities

By Matthew Roth | Nov 5, 2009 | No Comments

Photo: npGreenway The Congress for the New Urbanism’s Project for Transportation Reform summit in Portland, Oregon, has brought together transportation engineers, city planners, and transportation reform advocates to share best practice policies for reforming transportation metrics, funding mechanisms, and regional practices that isolate transportation planning from land-use and growth targets. The highlight of the first […]

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