Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Safety

Report: After MN Collapse, Bridge Repair Got Just 11% of D.C. Earmarks

By Elana Schor | Nov 12, 2009 | 2 Comments

In the wake of the 2007 collapse of Minnesota’s I-35 bridge, Washington policymakers vowed a renewed focus on repairing the nation’s aging infrastructure. But weeks after the fatal collapse, Congress approved a transportation spending bill with 704 earmarked projects, at a total cost topping $570 million — and just 11 percent of those earmarks went […]

New Report Maps the Gap Between Pedestrian Risks and Federal Safety Aid

By Elana Schor | Nov 9, 2009 | 4 Comments

The top 10 most dangerous cities for pedestrians. (Chart: Dangerous by Design report) If the equivalent of one jumbo jet full of Americans died every month, the resulting public outcry would be deafening. Or would it? Anne Canby, the former Delaware transportation secretary who heads the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership (STPP), raised that question today […]

Inhofe Blasts Transport Bill Inaction That Comes From His Own Party

By Elana Schor | Oct 29, 2009 | No Comments

The Senate environment committee’s senior Republican, Jim Inhofe (OK), delivered a stern warning today to any lawmakers who would force another short-term extension of federal transportation programs, which are set to expire at midnight Saturday. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) (Photo: NewsOK) "We have bridges in Oklahoma that are crumbling and falling down. People could be […]

Senior Dems Release New Distracted Driving Bill as LaHood Testifies

By Elana Schor | Oct 28, 2009 | 1 Comment

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) today unveiled his plan to take an incentive-based approach to distracted driving as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testified on the Obama administration’s campaign to end the use of electronic devices behind the wheel. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) (Photo: Wired) Rockefeller’s bill, co-sponsored by three Republicans […]

Boxer Reminds Metrolink: Train Crew Members Shouldn’t Ride Solo

By Elana Schor | Sep 18, 2009 | 2 Comments

The transportation spending bill passed by the Senate this week includes $50 million in rail safety grants sought in June by environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) — but the bill may not become law for months, and today Boxer told California’s Metrolink commuter rail that interim safety protections would have to stay in place. Flickr photo: ProKelly This […]

The Peculiar Federalism of Transit Safety: No National Standards Exist

By Elana Schor | Aug 10, 2009 | 2 Comments

The recent crash of two D.C. Metro trains has laid bare a glaring lack of authority at the obscure local committee that is supposed to ensure transit riders’ safety, as the Washington Post reported today. But the problem is bigger than the nation’s capital: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has not issued broad safety rules […]

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