(Photo © J. Maus)
A new bill introduced today by U.S. Congressman David Wu aims to bolster research that makes the case for more earth-friendly transportation policies.
The “Promoting Green Transportation Infrastructure through Research and Development Act” (H.R. 2317), which would expand the scope of existing federally-funded transportation research centers and create new ones, was announced with support from noted Portland State University researcher Jennifer Dill. Dill has led numerous bicycle-related research projects over the years including a study that tracked bicycling behavior with GPS units.
PSU is in Congressman Wu’s congressional district and is also home to the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium. OTREC is one of 60 federally-funded University Transportation Centers (UTCs) across the country.
The bill would establish new regional research centers and expand resources for existing ones to do more of the following types of “activities”:
- Assessments of the impact, cost-effectiveness, and collateral benefits of emissions and energy reduction strategies.
- The development of technologies, tools, and techniques to reduce emissions and energy consumption throughout the life-cycle of transportation infrastructure.
- Congestion reduction and speed management strategies.
- Assessments of the impact of land use change on surface emissions and other factors, such as congestion, mobility, and accessibility, and barriers to land use change.
- Infrastructure requirements for alternative fuels and vehicles.
- Traveler behaviors with respect to mode-choice, response to transportation pricing scheme, nonmotorized travel, and other emissions reducing strategies.
Wu frames H.R. 2317 as a jobs creator by saying it would turn, “cutting-edge research into jobs by providing workforce training at University Transportation Centers [like OTREC].”
As the top Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, Wu hopes his bill will find its way into the reauthorization of the transportation bill that is currently being worked on in Congress.
— Download the draft bill here (PDF). Read the full announcement of the bill here.
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Eh this would be nice if David Wu had any juice in congress and wasn’t crazy. Washington County and other parts of NW Oregon could have had such a different feel if they had better political leadership over the past decade.
From what I’ve read on this site recently, the man is crazy. Doesn’t he know that you introduce a bill to restrict cyclists in order to prompt research into whether or not the bill is needed, rather than carrying out research first?
He’s obviously not looking for favourable coverage from the Oregonian
Doesn’t matter.
As soon as our national legislative “leadership” catches wind of this bill it will be slammed as a pork barrel project to fund European vactions for DOT employees, same as LaHood just had to cancel.
We’ll be riding tigers soon is my guess. The furry, David Wu.
David Wu has a sweet b-boy hip hop stance