Ben Goldman
Recent Posts
This Is Not a Drill: Highway Lobby Trying to Push Transpo Bill Thru Congress
| | No Comments
For the 112th Congress, the path to passing a new transportation bill has been full of starts and stops, partisan politics and low expectations. While Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently said he doesn’t expect a multi-year bill to pass this Congress, livable streets advocates should still be on alert in the weeks ahead. Momentum is […]
House Transportation Bill “a March of Horribles”
| | No Comments
There was no grand unveiling of the House’s five-year transportation bill today, but a summary of the bill has been kicking around for a few days. While there aren’t any hard numbers available yet, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act looks like a return to 1950s-style transportation policy. It is particularly unkind to transit and bike/ped programs, […]
Should the Feds Fund City Transpo Projects? Blumenauer and Shuster Discuss
| | No Comments
If the Transportation Research Board annual meeting were a music festival, the headline act would have been yesterday’s panel of six secretaries of transportation, including Ray LaHood (the incumbent) and Alan Boyd (the first to ever hold the post). As headliners go, they were a bit of a downer: They told a standing-room-only crowd that they’re […]
Transportation Bill Heats Up Again in Congress
| | No Comments
There’s been plenty of buzz over the last few days surrounding Congress’s efforts to pass a multi-year transportation bill. When Congress adjourned last month, the Senate had made significant progress on a two-year bill. In the House, Rep. John Mica had repeatedly promised a five- or six-year bill, but nothing had been introduced. Now, finally, […]
New Urbanists Release Principles for Sustainable Street Networks
| | No Comments
At the Transportation Research Board’s 91st annual meeting here in DC, it’s hard to miss the booth handing out copies of a bright blue pamphlet filled with illustrations of busy tree-lined streets, where bicyclists and buses work their way through a bustling urban bazaar. The booth is the Congress for New Urbanism’s “occupation” of TRB, […]
Virginia Bike Advocate Cries Foul Over Streetsblog’s Criticism of Eric Cantor
| | No Comments
A few weeks ago, Streetsblog wondered aloud if House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was coerced into riding a bicycle during a recent interview on 60 Minutes. It was a tongue-in-cheek question prompted by Cantor’s outspoken opposition to federal bike-ped programs. But it did not amuse Thomas L. Bowden, Sr., chairman of Bike Virginia and a board […]
Bike-Ped Traffic, Funding, and Fatalities All Inch Upward
| | No Comments
One day before President Obama’s State of the Union Address, the Alliance for Biking and Walking has released its 2012 Benchmarking Report. Once again, the report indicates, nonmotorized transportation is getting shortchanged by federal funders, while pedestrians and cyclists make up a disproportionately large share of all traffic fatalities. The Alliance looks at all 50 states, […]
Cold Climate Can’t Stop Minneapolis’s Surging Bike Rates
| | No Comments
Good news out of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign, whose national conservation organizer Rachel Butler brings our attention to Minneapolis’s first ever Bicycle Account [PDF]. The compilation of cycling-related data shows a marked increase in the number of cyclists and a steadily decreasing injury rate to go along with substantial investments in bicycle infrastructure on city […]
Congress Reconvenes With Transportation Deadlines Fast Approaching
| | No Comments
Speaker John Boehner called the House of Representatives back into session yesterday, while the Senate will reconvene next Tuesday. And not a moment too soon: A number of major transportation laws will expire shortly, with calls to action coming from both sides. After all, many of these laws are extensions of extensions, and each side […]
Trains, Buses, Bikes, and Sandwiches… There Should Be an App For That
| | No Comments
Earlier today we brought you a story about a new and potentially dangerous technological innovation –Facebook in cars. To help end the week on a higher note, here’s some far more encouraging news on the transportation tech front. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in issuing a challenge […]
Dislike? Mercedes-Benz Wants to Put Facebook in Your Dashboard
| | No Comments
Earlier this week, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mercedes-Benz USA unveiled “mbrace2,” an in-dashboard service that enables the use of Facebook, Yelp, and Google behind the wheel. The service will likely be available in all 2013 models. Mbrace2 will be the latest entry in a growing list of built-in communications interfaces currently […]
APTA: How to Talk to a Detractor of High-Speed Rail
| | No Comments
Stop me if you’ve heard these before: “Most Americans don’t use railroads, they use cars.” “There’s no better example of excessive government spending than the $53 billion President Obama allocated for high-speed rail in his 2012 budget.” “Would you pay $1,000 so that someone—probably not you—can ride high-speed trains 58 miles a year?” “High-speed rail […]