House Passes Extension of Transportation Reauthorization

Mass transit riders can save up to $1,000 a year under a federal tax break that will be reduced after Dec. 31, unless Congress acts, their savings will be cut nearly in half. Read more on transportation news.

National News

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: House Passes Extension of Transportation Reauthorization
Remember those heady days in mid-2009, when Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) introduced an ambitious, half-trillion dollar reauthorization that would transform the country’s infrastructure?

Economist: High-speed trains: Running out of steam
“IMAGINE,” Barack Obama instructed Americans last year, “boarding a train in the centre of a city. No racing to an airport and across a terminal, no delays, no sitting on the tarmac, no lost luggage, no taking off your shoes. Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination. Imagine what a great project that would be, to rebuild America.”

Associated Press: Mass-transit tax break to shrink while fares rise
Mass transit riders can save up to $1,000 a year under a federal tax break that will be reduced after Dec. 31. Unless Congress acts, their savings will be cut nearly in half. The squeeze will be especially painful because it comes on top of increased transit fares in New York, Washington and other cities.

State News

Washington Post: Wis., Ohio high-speed rail money goes elsewhere
The Obama administration is taking $1.2 billion in high-speed rail money away from Ohio and Wisconsin and awarding it to 12 other states, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday.

Transport Politic: As Ohio and Wisconsin Sink into Self-Imposed Austerity, California and Florida Profit on Rail
Ohio and Wisconsin will not be getting the new intercity rail lines whose construction Washington agreed to fully fund just ten months ago. The November election of Republican governors meant the revocation of state support for projects that would have connected some Midwestern cities to the national rail network for the first time in decades, including along a line between Milwaukee and Madison and another between Cleveland and Cincinnati. These politicians ran successful campaigns partly based on a refusal to subsidize future train operations.

The Cap Times: Loss of high-speed rail represents 'ugly triumph of politics over progress'
Wisconsin Gov.-elect Scott Walker has succeeded in his first major initiative: getting rid of $800 million in federal money for the construction of a high-speed rail system that would create jobs now and keep Wisconsin on the cutting edge of 21st century transportation development.