Tanya Snyder
Tanya became Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor in September 2010 after covering Congress for Pacifica Radios Washington bureau and for public radio stations around the country. She lives car-free in a transit-oriented and bike-friendly neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Recent Posts
GOP Leader’s Infra “Compromise” Is Just Another Ploy to Kill Bike/Ped
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House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has put forth an idea that major news outlets are calling an “olive branch” to President Obama on infrastructure funding. Is he offering to increase spending levels over the starvation program being proposed by Republicans on the House Transportation Committee? No. Is he proposing to include performance measures, making sure […]
Boxer and Johnson Warn Senators of Job Losses If Transpo Bill Isn’t Extended
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Two key Democratic senators today released state-by-state numbers showing how many jobs would be lost if the current surface transportation authorization bill is not extended by September 30. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), chair of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent […]
Tennessee Mom Threatened With Arrest For Letting Daughter Bike to School
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It’s back-to-school time, and along with it, the requisite crackdown over kids getting to school by bike. A few years ago, we highlighted cases from Mississippi to British Columbia where authorities stopped kids from walking alone. And now, we have the case of Teresa Tryon of Tennessee, threatened with criminal charges for letting her child […]
President Obama Pushes Congress For a Clean Extension of Transpo Bill
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“I’m calling on Congress, as soon as they come back, to pass a clean extension of the surface transportation bill,” President Barack Obama said from the Rose Garden this morning. “This bill provides funding for highway construction, bridge repair, mass transit systems, and other essential projects that keep our people and our commerce moving quickly […]
With Deadlines Looming, Mica Supports Transportation Extension
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Congress returns from a monthlong recess — oh sorry, “district work period” — next Wednesday. Before September 30, they’ll have to figure out next steps for keeping the transportation program going, assuming there’s no way that the two chambers will come to an agreement about a long-term bill before the current extension expires. Both houses […]
Well That’s a Relief: Hurricane Irene Shouldn’t Affect Gas Prices Much
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Now that we’ve made it through Hurricane Irene, in many cases with less damage than expected, we can turn our attention to the real question: what does this mean for gas prices? Hurricane Irene certainly had an impact on transportation, but don't expect a lasting change in gas prices from it. Photo: NY Daily News […]
Taking Greyhound? Papers, Please.
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Transportation options for undocumented immigrants are becoming narrower and narrower in the U.S. Whatever you may think of immigration policy, there are about 11 million people living in the shadows in this country who have ever fewer ways to get around. Immigration agents have been boarding Greyhound buses to nab undocumented immigrants, according to a […]
Sure, Leave Gas Tax Collection to Liberal Tax-and-Spend States Like Georgia
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One nay-sayer argument against greater federal spending for transportation goes like this: “Too many faceless bureaucrats in Washington have too much control over how states spend their money. Let states raise their own revenues and spend them as they wish.” Besides, they say, the national government is broke. There’s no more money to spend on […]
Civil Rights Group Demands End to Car-Centric Transportation Policies
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“This is the civil rights dilemma: Our laws purport to level the playing field, but our transportation choices have effectively barred millions of people from accessing it.” So says a report from the Leadership Conference Education Fund, a project of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The coalition wasn’t involved in the transportation […]
The Environmental Impact of Your Two-Wheeled Commute
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Slate’s Brian Palmer wrote in an article this week that he’s thinking of switching his commute “from four wheels to two” but he’s concerned about the environmental impact of bicycling: specifically, “about all the energy it takes to manufacture and ship a new bicycle.” He wants to know how many miles he would “bike the drive” before […]
It’s Official: Congress’s Next Spitting Contest Will Be Over the Gas Tax
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Since the 112th Congress convened in January, the federal government almost shut down, the government almost defaulted on its debts, and the FAA was temporarily shuttered. It’s the Crisis Congress, thriving on the chaos of catastrophe. Next up: a bruising fight over funding the transportation system. A few weeks ago, Ben Smith at Politico mentioned […]
Absent a Transportation Bill, DOT Can Innovate All On Its Own
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As Deron Lovaas said this morning on NRDC’s Switchboard blog, “If recent events are any indicator, it might take Congress a while to agree on a policy that will put our underfunded, inefficient, oil-dependent transportation program on the right track.” Well now, that’s an understatement. Between the uncertainty of the supercommittee and the bicameral bickering […]