Elana Schor
Recent Posts
New Report Finds American Auto Fleet Shrinking
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Could the nation be turning away from its decades-old yen for auto ownership? Americans got rid of more cars than they purchased in 2009, reversing a trend that saw total U.S. vehicles exceed the number of drivers more than 35 years ago, according to a report released today by the Earth Policy Institute (EPI). (Chart: […]
Dodd and Dorgan Retiring: The Consequences For Transportation Policy
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In a surprising one-two punch, Democratic Sens. Byron Dorgan (ND) and Chris Dodd (CT) have let slip their plans to leave Congress at the end of this year. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) is set to announce his retirement today. (Photo: Daylife.com) Dodd’s retirement is much less troublesome for Democratic leaders than Dorgan’s […]
Environmental Reviews: Helpful (and Hurtful) to Many Ideologies
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Writing at the Heritage Foundation’s blog, Nick Loris says that the White House’s pending decision on whether to consider climate change in federal environmental reviews amounts to "more green tape." San Francisco’s newest bike lanes: made $1 million pricier by environmental reviews. (Photo: Streetsblog SF) Citing Republican senators’ concerns that existing National Environmental Policy Act […]
Transit Fare Inflation Hitting Health Insurance-Like Levels?
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That’s the implication buried in a roundup of dismal news from urban transit agencies that ran in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal. After noting the overall ridership decreases tallied by APTA and the specter of punitive service cuts in many cities, the newspaper noted: Riders of Chicago’s El train, shown above, were spared fare hikes in […]
Economic Downturn Hits Transit Ridership — But Not in These Cities
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The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) got the mainstream media’s attention during the holiday season after reporting that the dismal economy had helped push transit ridership down by 3.8 percent during the first three-quarters of 2009, when compared with the previous year. Ridership on L.A.’s heavy rail system grew by nearly 6 percent during the […]
A Step Towards Pricing of Pollution? 11 States Back Low-Carbon Fuel Rules
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While many in Washington spent their holiday breaks wondering if Senate Democratic opposition would deal a major blow to progress on a climate change bill, 11 northeastern governors were agreeing on a deal that suggests otherwise. (Photo: Scientific American) The 11 governors vowed to develop a shared low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) that would cut the […]
Transit Jobs Nearly Twice as Cheap to Create as Roads — By Congress’ Math
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During the first stimulus debate, House Democrats and the White House famously sparred over how quickly infrastructure money could be spent — with the data later proving that transit was just as "shovel-ready" as roads, if not more so. (Photo: DMI Blog) Now that transportation policymakers have turned to stemming the rising unemployment rate, three […]
Senate Climate Bill Invests Big in Transit, Reaps Big Deficit Reduction
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As the Copenhagen climate talks reach a turning point, congressional negotiations over emissions cuts are taking a back seat to global debate. But some undeniably good news on the domestic front came late yesterday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) described the Copenhagen talks this week as a motivator for […]
LaHood Visits The Daily Show to Talk Transportation
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The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Ray LaHood www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood visited Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night to talk about his department’s role in the stimulus debate, infrastructure modernization, and development of a U.S. high-speed […]
New Report: Minority-Owned Businesses Left Out of Transport Stimulus
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Women and minorities are getting shortchanged in the chase for transportation stimulus contracts, according to a report released today by the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) and Good Jobs First. (Photo: WBEZ) Using federal procurement data — which, the two advocacy groups acknowledged, represents just a slice of the White House’s economic recovery pie — the […]
The Footnote to All Those Complaints About Tax Cuts as Stimulus
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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 […]
On the Pitfalls and Benefits of National Transit Safety Standards
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The second hearing in three days on the Obama administration’s proposal for national transit safety rules made headlines mostly for its affect on the Washington D.C. area, where Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s (D-MD) blistering critique of the local Metro rail system prompted high-level management switches. "There’s a saying in our business," APTA President William Millar (above) […]