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Senate Moves to Shake up Transportation Conference Amid Hill Sniping
Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) (photo by Todd Zwillich)Senate negotiators tried to break an impasse with House Republicans over a surface transportation bill Tuesday,...
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Airport Authority Vote Clears Way for Dulles Rail Project to Move Forward
Protest Over Dulles Rail Dispute (photo by Martin Di Caro/WAMU)(Washington, DC -- WAMU) The next phase of the Dulles Rail project will not give preference to construction contractors who promise to...
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Political Pressure Kills Labor Provision in Rail-to-Dulles Silver Line
Listen to the audio version of this story at WAMU(Washington, D.C. -- WAMU) The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority voted 11-1 to drop a pro-labor provision from the rail-to-Dulles project.The...
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Council on Foreign Relations Also Doesn't Like US Infrastructure
It's not news that U.S. infrastructure is falling behind -- we've reported on this many times before. But it kind of caught our eye that the Council on Foreign Relations -- a New York-based think tank...
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Silver Line Vote Tuesday Could Stunt Rail-to-Dulles Plan
(Washington, D.C. -- WAMU) The Silver Line project is a 23-mile, $5.5 billion rail link to connect Washington, D.C to Dulles International Airport and beyond into the Loudoun County, Virginia suburbs....
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UPDATE: Calif. High-Speed Rail Barely Survives Do or Die Vote -- A Primer
A rendering of a California bullet train (image courtesy of the California High-Speed Rail Authority)UPDATE: 7/6/2012 4:05 p.m. PTBy a narrow margin the California State Senate authorizes funding for...
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Truckers Start Campaign Against I-95 Tolls
(Matt McCleskey, Washington, D.C. -- WAMU) The trucking industry is urging Virginia to abandon its plan to charge tolls on Interstate 95, launching a campaign called "Say NO to I-95 Tolls."The goal of...
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Explainer: What Happens Now With California's Bullet Train
The bullet train may be back on track. Earlier this month the California legislature narrowly approved $8 billion dollars in bond money to start construction of the high-speed rail system connecting...
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U.S.Senators: Port Authority Exec Was "Argumentative," Lacked "Civility and...
The George Washington Bridge (photo by Kate Hinds)The conflict between New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is escalating -- and now another U.S....
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Atlanta Tax for Transit Plan Loses by Big Margin
Atlanta (photo by J.C. Burns via Flickr) A measure that would have hiked Atlanta's sales tax by a penny per dollar to fund $7 billion in roads and transit failed badly Tuesday, by a margin of 63 to 37,...
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Sandy Adams Takes on "Rock of Gibraltar" Mica in Battle for US House Seat
John Mica and supporters (photo by Matthew Peddie)The chair of the House Transportation Committee finds himself in a scrappy fight for re-election, but he's standing his ground and turning to mobility...
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Analysis: Picking Ryan Means Picking Fight on Transportation
Congressman Paul Ryan speaks at a Romney Rally in Manassas, Virginia, Sunday. (Photo by Flickr user monkeyz_uncle)“Sharp” is a word you may have heard a lot these past few days. It’s a favorite...
View ArticleFreight Carrier's Ad Campaign Aims To Make Infrastructure A Hot Topic During...
One of the largest freight carriers in the country is riding into the presidential election with a nationwide television advertising campaign designed to spark debate about...
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Florida Congressman Mica Triumphs over Adams in "Most Negative Campaign Ever"
John Mica on primary night (photo by Matthew Peddie)Veteran Florida congressman John Mica, the chairman of the House transportation committee, successfully fought off challenger Sandy Adams in...
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Pending Budget Cuts Could Hit FAA Hard
An air traffic control tower at LaGuardia AirportWhile the concern over the possibility of steep federal budget cuts in January mostly focuses on the Washington metropolitan region’s defense...
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Obama Tells States "Use It or Lose It" for $470 Million in Transpo Money...
States will lose out on millions of dollars in federal highway money if they sit on the cash without putting it to immediate use, the White House said in a statement today.The U.S. Department of...
View ArticleDukakis To Transportation Nation: You Were "Dead Wrong" on Romney and...
If given a forum, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis (and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee) can dish out some sharp criticism of Mitt Romney's infrastructure record. He calls it...
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BREAKING: NY State Court Overturns Tax That Supports NY MTA
In response to a lawsuit filed by seven suburban county governments, a New York State judge ruled Wednesday that a payroll tax suburbanites pay for the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority is...
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7 Years After Katrina Washed it Away, Mayors, Amtrak Considering Gulf Coast...
A 2009 Amtrak plan suggests three option s for restoring gulf coast service from New Orleans to Florida.In 2005, there weren't many passenger trains rolling from Florida to New Orleans -- just three a...
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White House Finalizes "Historic" 54.5 MPG Fuel Standard in Strategically...
Cars and light trucks will have to deliver an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 according to new fuel economy standards finalized by the Obama administration today.The White House issued the...
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Moody's: NY Payroll Tax Ruling Could Hurt MTA Debt Rating
(photo by: Flickr user: JuntosWorldwide's photostreamThe rating agency Moody's issued a "credit negative" for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday. That's because of a court...
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RNC Interview w/ House Transpo Chair John Mica: "My Race was Heart and Soul...
Transportation Nation partners, The Takeaway and WNYC are broadcasting night and day live from the Republican National Convention.Here's a short conversation between our Washington Correspondent Todd...
View ArticleDid This RNC Speaker Just Demand More Stimulus So He Could 'Build That'?
At least until Rick Santorum’s soliloquy on hands, it was the strangest moment of the Republican National Convention Tuesday night: a small businessman from New Mexico stood at the podium and said—in...
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Detroit Insiders Dish on Feasibility of New Fuel Efficiency Standards (AUDIO)
(WNYC's Money Talking) As Republicans gathered for their national convention in Tampa this week, President Barack Obama stole some of their thunder by announcing that automakers will have to nearly...
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PHOTO TOUR: Presidential Campaign Vehicles Over The Years
Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan addresses a crowd in Wellsville, Ohio during the 1896 campaign. Bryan was the first candidate to successfully embrace "whistle-stop"...
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Amtrak: 'We're 85% Self-Sufficient'; Pols: 'Not Good Enough'
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meets this morning to hold Amtrak to the fire over taxpayer subsidies to the national rail network. Amtrak, founded in 1971, has never made a...
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How Infrastructure Politics Turned Partisan: Looking Back on Four Years
The Champlain Bridge in Vermont, Demolished in 2009, Over Safety Concerns (Photo: Collin Campbell)Not too long ago, an ad for Audi cars sought to relate to the average driver with grimly shot footage...
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This Election Season, Americans Pony Up for Public Transpo
Operators of Los Angles' new Expo light rail line enjoy the new gig, April 2012. (Photo courtesy of LA Metro Transportation Library and Archive)(This article by Greg Hanscom originally appeared in...
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Florida’s Flirtation with High-Speed Rail Recounted in New Book
Not coming to Florida anytime soonIt seems like Florida and high-speed rail were a couple that always flirted across a crowded room -- but neither had the nerve to ask for a date.Finally in 2010 and...
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Pro-Tolerance Ads Begin Appearing In NYC Subway
(New York, NY - WNYC) Three religious groups -- two Christian and one Jewish -- have decided to fight speech with speech in the clamor over a controversial subway ad. Pro-Muslim ads from those groups...
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More NYC Subway Service Restored, Voter Shuttle Routes and Updates on A, B,...
MTA employees using a pump train are working around the clock to pump seawater out of the L train's tunnel under the East River. This photo shows activity on the afternoon of Monday, November 5. After...
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Analysis: Did Cars Save President Obama?
There's been a ton of talk since last night about how much the relatively low unemployment rate in Ohio and the descending rates in Michigan and Wisconsin helped President Obama with his so-called...
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Top Transpo Congressman, John Mica, Mulls Next Move
Shovel Ready: Congressman John Mica talks to reporters at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new intermodal rail terminal in Winter Haven, Florida (Photo by Matthew Peddie)(Orlando, Fla. -- WMFE) John...
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How Sandy Might Tweak Today's High-Speed Rail Privatization Hearing
Rendering of an Amtrak NextGen high-speed rail trainOn Capitol Hill today, high-speed rail in the Northeast will get dissected and debated. This time though, Amtrak head Joe Boardman will sit at the...
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D.C. Airports Board Spent $1.5 Million Defending Former Board Member
The agency managing the construction of the $5.5 billion Silver Line rail project in Northern Virginia spent more than a million dollars in legal fees in two lawsuits defending one of its board members...
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VIDEO: Transportation Nation's Mug. It Can Be Yours.
Action shot from "Multi-Modal Mug" shot film by Amy Pearl / WNYCAt Transportation Nation, we serve up serious news, with flair, style, and a flash of java.Rejoice. (And get a tax deduction, too.) You...
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NY MTA Chief To Step Down And Run For Mayor
Joe Lhota (Photo: Stephen Nessen, WNYC)UPDATED Joe Lhota, the head of the largest transit agency in the U.S., is stepping down to run for New York City Mayor, less than a year after he was officially...
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Virginia Governor Proposes Eliminating State Gasoline Tax
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (photo via flickr)Virginia would become the first state in the country to eliminate its gasoline tax if a major transportation funding plan proposed by Governor Bob...
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Chris Quinn: Don't Talk About Bike Lanes at Dinner Parties
Bike lanes are now not good dinner party conversation. So says New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "Bike lanes, I put that now in the category of things you shouldn't discuss at dinner...
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NYS2100 Full Report: Start an Infrastructure Bank, Build BRT, and More Transit
Establish an infrastructure bank, expanded rail access, build a bus rapid transit system, and redesign the electric grid. Those are some of the suggestions in the NYS2100 commission's full report on...
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Your Guide to Biking to the Inauguration
(photo by Martin DiCaro)No matter your mode of transportation to the second inauguration of President Barack Obama you will have to do a lot of walking, as D.C.'s police force will establish a large...
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D.C.'s Pennsylvania Avenue Bike Lane Gets Presidential
Inauguration Day 2013 (image courtesy of the First Lady's twitter account)Monday's inauguration went off without any serious hitches. Sure, there's some Tuesday morning quarterbacking. It turned out...
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Mica Gets Transportation Subcommittee Posts
John Mica (photo by Matthew Peddie)Representative John Mica (R-FL) will retain some influence in helping set transportation policy, even though Pennsylvania Congressman Bill Shuster has taken over as...
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Among NYC Candidates, Bike Lanes Stir Anxiety
Photo: Kate HindsFor New York mayoral candidates, bike lanes are complex. That's why City Council Speaker Christine Quinn proclaimed them off-limits for dinner party conversation. It's why Public...
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Investigation: Washington Airport Agency Leadership Targeted Pro-Labor Board...
Dulles Airport (photo courtesy of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority)(Washington, D.C, - WAMU) A former board member of the authority in charge of airports in the Washington, D.C. region is...
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Former MTA Chief Offers Fresh Details on Sandy Prep
Former MTA chief Joe Lhota, currently a GOP candidate for mayor in New York City, offered fresh details on how the nation's largest transit authority prepared for the state's most destructive...
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Virginia House and Senate Negotiators Strike Transportation Funding Deal
Virginia capitol building (photo by Thruhike98 via flickr)In a final attempt to reach a compromise on measures to raise substantial new revenues for transportation before the scheduled adjournment of...
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DOT Head Questioned Over Support of MWAA Leadership
After U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised the beleaguered Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority at a Congressional hearing last autumn, two Democratic members of Congress did a slow...
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Object Lesson: How Sequestration Could Affect Small Airports
Chocks Away- business jet traffic at Kissimmee Gateway Airport could suffer if the control tower closes (photo by Matthew Peddie)Budget cuts brought about by sequestration could force the closure of...
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Lawyer Who Sued to Remove Bike Lane Is De Blasio Backer
The lawyer appealing a lawsuit to remove the Prospect Park West bike lane has held a fundraiser and donated the maximum allowable amount to Bill de Blasio's campaign for New York City mayor -- but a...
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