National Transportation Bill
Is the FAST Act really a ‘win’ for bikes? Let’s see what the charts say…
It’s a matter of perspective.
USDOT Sec. Foxx unveils ‘Grow America Act’, says biking is part of solution
USDOT Sec. Anthony Foxx sent his transportation bill to Congress today, and he was in Indianapolis touting bikeways one day earlier.
Silver lining for bicycling in new transpo bill: Less red tape for small projects
The new transportation bill will makeit easier to push Safe Routes projects through.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) One key set of reforms Republicans fought for in the transportation bill was to ease environmental and other regulations in order to hasten project delivery. For active transportation and environmental advocates, this is a scary thought because it conjures … Read more
ODOT takes stock of funding levels in new transportation bill
They’re already crunching numbers in Salem.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Congress officially passed a new, two-year transportation bill today. As I shared yesterday, it’s regarded by active transportation advocates as being downright bad. Even Portland Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who was on the conference committee that hashed out the final bill, calls its passage “strangely anti-climactic” (I … Read more
Why advocates are distraught over new transportation bill
“The bill ultimately looks and feels like what it is: A stopgap that is the last gasp of a spent 20th century program. It doesn’t begin to address the needs of a changing America in the 21st century.” — Transportation For America It’s over 1,000 days late; but instead of relief and smiles, active transportation … Read more
Transportation bill imminent: Here’s where things stand
It doesn’t look good.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Members of the House and Senate have been working since April to hammer out an agreement on the transportation bill. When I checked in on the bill’s progress last month, advocates were fighting to lobby members of the conference committee (put together to hash out differences between the … Read more
Advocates fight to keep key amendment in transportation bill
Rolling toward a new bill (finally!).(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) It’s been a very long and winding road for the federal transportation bill. And while it looks like the end is finally in sight, there is still some nail-biting ahead. The law that dictates how the federal government funds transportation expired over 900 days ago and … Read more
Regional leaders meet with Blumenauer to air angst about House transpo bill
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (bow-tie) at a special meeting on Friday. To his left are ODOT Region 1 Manager Jason Tell and Port of Portland Executive Director Bill Wyatt.
‘This is not a drill’: National advocates mount effort to kill HR7
“Terrible”, “horrible”, “worst ever”, “disaster”, “defective” — these are just some of the terms that high-profile media outlets and top-ranking officials have used to describe the House transportation bill (H.R. 7, full text here as PDF). Realizing that the bill is so far off base that no amount of amendments would help, national transportation advocacy … Read more
Blumenauer: Transpo bill mess could be “springboard” for the movement
Blumenauer does not take attacks on bicycling lightly.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) As arguably the most bike and transit-sensitive member of the U.S. Congress, Earl Blumenauer has had a trying week. Yesterday, the widely-maligned House transportation bill, a bill that eliminates the Safe Routes to School program and basically strips out all of the pro-bike provisions, … Read more