Recent Streetsblog LA posts about President Obama

Obama’s Energy Secretary Reclaims His Bike, For A Day

By Elana Schor | May 18, 2009 | No Comments

Energy Secretary Steven Chu was dismayed about having to give up his bike-commuting habit in order to join the Obama Cabinet, but security concerns didn’t stop him from participating in Friday’s Bike to Work Day in the nation’s capital. As the Wall Street Journal reports: Energy Secretary Steven Chu (center) with colleagues, before he joined […]

We Need an Ambitious Transpo Bill. So How Are We Going to Pay for It?

By Yonah Freemark | Apr 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood testifying in the Senate yesterday. Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing about the future of national surface transportation. This much isn’t in doubt: Current policies need a major overhaul. What to change and, especially, how to pay for it are very much in question. Several […]

Obama’s Touted Office of Urban Policy Slow to Take Shape

By Sarah Goodyear | Apr 28, 2009 | No Comments

When Barack Obama was elected, urbanists were, in some cases literally, dancing in the streets. For once, America had elected a president who understood the importance of cities — and who promised to create an "Office for Urban Policy" that would help those cities to take their rightful place in the federal policy debate. But, […]

Is the Obama Administration Poised to Push Transit?

By Brad Aaron | Apr 24, 2009 | 1 Comment

While President Barack Obama promoted wind power and cap-and-trade legislation, VP Joe Biden spent Earth Day talking up transit. Public radio’s "The Takeaway" reports that Biden held a presser at a bus maintenance facility in Landover, Maryland, to tout a $300 million investment in hybrid buses and other municipal vehicles as part of the federal […]

Obama Falls Prey to Ribbon-Cutting Syndrome

By Ben Fried | Apr 14, 2009 | No Comments

Obama greets construction workers at a DC photo op. Photo: AFP via Infrastructurist. At a press event in DC yesterday, President Obama touted the two thousandth transportation project to receive federal stimulus funds. I’m speculating a bit here, but the White House probably had some discretion when choosing which item to highlight for this milestone. […]

Obama: America “Cannot Walk Away” From the Automobile

By Brad Aaron | Feb 25, 2009 | 7 Comments

In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama last night emphasized his administration’s commitment to keeping the domestic auto industry afloat, while offering only a passing mention to the nation’s mass transit systems. Said Obama: As for our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad decision-making and a global […]

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