Thursday, March 31, 2011

Streetsblog Capitol Hill reported that Congress is considering establishing a new competitive grant program and Boston Globe wrote that DOT approved $20 million for a bridge between Portsmouth, N.H., and Kittery, Maine. More on these articles in this Infrastructure in the News.

 

National News

Politico: Kerry & Donohue: Building a U.S. infrastructure bank
Yet when it comes to our nation’s infrastructure, we’re not building for the future. Our roads and bridges are crumbling beneath us. Meanwhile, our competitors are building superior infrastructures that can attract jobs, businesses and capital. 

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: Congress Looking at High-Tech Solutions to Nation's Infrastructure Woes
Cutting edge transportation technologies like real-time bus trackers and intelligent parking systems could be coming to a city near you thanks to a new bill before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Lawmakers are considering establishing a pilot, competitive grant program that would bring time-, money- and pollution-saving technologies to six cities. 

Associated Press: NTSB chief: Technology could prevent bus accidents
The technology exists to prevent many bus crashes and to make it more likely passengers will survive those that do occur, but government regulators have failed to implement safety recommendations that in some case stretch back decades, safety advocates told a Senate panel on Wednesday. 

The Hill: DOT to require learner's permit for bus drivers
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that new bus drivers would soon be required to get learner's permits before they can obtain commercial driver's licenses. 

Reuters: Putting the Masses Behind Mass Transit
It's no secret that Americans are in love with the automobile. Yet, this heavy reliance on autos is taking a toll on the country's flawed transportation system. Fluctuating gas prices, rising everyday living costs, environmental concerns and an aging infrastructure further tax our transportation system and suggest that it's time to reconsider this long-standing love affair with cars. 

The Hill: Obama issues veto threat over union measure in FAA bill
In a statement of administration policy Wednesday, the White House said the president's "senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill" if the legislation "would not safeguard the ability of railroad and airline workers to decide whether or not they would be represented by a union based upon a majority of the ballots cast in an election." 

The Hill: GOP Rep. Mica: Repeal of union rules will survive in FAA bill
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) predicted Tuesday that a change to union organization rules for railroad and airline employee would not be removed from the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. 

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: Day Two of Massive Transportation Committee Hearing Underway
As I write, we’re on Witness #7 for Day Two. We’ve hearing a lot of frustration about the government’s hamstrung ability to invest in infrastructure because of unwillingness to raise the gas tax or shift to a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. (In fact, Adrian Moore of the Reason Foundation just made a passionate plea for a VMT fee, despite what Duncan thought was the irony of a libertarian, usually so concerned with privacy issues, advocating for a system some have worried would be overly intrusive.) 

Streetsblog Capitol Hill: Forty Transportation Experts, One Message
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee just spent two days listening to 40 experts from different aspects of the transportation sector and advocacy community, from engineers to environmentalists to the Tea Party. Each person had just four minutes to speak and they crammed as much as they could into their time: observations, demands, recommendations for a better transportation bill. Their ideas were widely divergent on many points, but on one, they found unity:  

Infrastructurist: Problems With Obama’s New Energy Plan and With Drill, Baby, Drill
Yesterday President Obama outlined a plan designed to ensure America’s “energy security” in the coming years. He pledged to cut one-third of oil imports by 2025. He promised to develop alternatives to oil like biofuels and natural gas, and wants to double funding for the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy program. He hinted at a new generation of fuel economy standards to be announced this fall.  

Los Angeles Times: Villaraigosa and Boxer are joined by GOP and business leaders in call for more federal transportation money
Nonetheless, Rep. John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House Transportation Committee, joined Boxer, his counterpart in the Senate; AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka; Villaraigosa, a Democrat; and Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa, Ariz., a Republican. They called for increasing funding for a federal transportation loan program and exploring other innovative ways to pay for transportation projects. 

Transportation For America: T4 America co-chair John Robert Smith tells key House subcommittee to repair infrastructure and invest in transit options
T4 America co-chair John Robert Smith encouraged members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to enact “bold new policy” to repair our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, increase transit options and demand accountability for results, in testimony delivered on Capitol Hill today. 

 

State News 

Los Angeles Times: California goes after all of Florida's high-speed rail money
Even getting a majority of the cash, coupled with state match funds, would allow the California High-Speed Rail Authority to extend the starter track from Merced to Bakersfield, officials said. Work already is slated to begin next year on a $5.5- billion section of rail, viaducts and stations from Fresno to the outskirts of Bakersfield. 

The Hill: Calif. would use Fla. rail money to extend train there
California would use the $2.4 billion in high-speed rail money that was rejected by Florida to extends its proposed railway, officials announced this week.   

Imperial Valley News: Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez holds Hearing on State Infrastructure Bank
This morning, the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy, chaired by Asm. V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella), examined the role of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank) in the state’s economic recovery at a hearing held at the State Capitol.

Boston Globe: DOT approves $20 million for NH-Maine bridge
The federal government has committed $20 million needed to proceed with the replacement of the 88-year-old Memorial Bridge between Portsmouth, N.H., and Kittery, Maine, officials said Wednesday. 

New Tribune: Jefferson City train station would benefit from funds
As part of the state’s efforts to get high-speed rail service, the application to the federal government from Missouri would also seek funds for what MoDOT officials call “immediate projects.” 

Watch Dog: Missouri wants nearly $1 billion for rail project
After several other states turned down federal money for high-speed rail, Missouri Gov plans to pursue nearly $1 billion in funds for rail projects to improve the lines between St. Louis and Kansas City. 

Mobilizing the Region: National Bridge Report Underscores NY's infrastructure Crisis
Albany elected officials say they’ve wrapped up bridge deal ahead of schedule, a major accomplishment that will hopefully move the state closer to fiscal health. But they’ll have no time to rest as the state’s infrastructure crisis comes ever closer. New York has less than a year until it essentially runs out of money for transit projects, and its transportation needs are great, as underscored by a new report from Transportation for America that focuses on the woeful condition of the state’s bridges. 

The Columbus Dispatch: Kasich signs transportation budget
Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed into law a $6.8 billion transportation budget today that includes the authority for the state to partner with the private sector on projects. 

The Morning Call: Corbett says Rendell missed the bus on transportation funding
"We got over $1 billion on road and bridge projects. We spent it more quickly and effectively than any state in the union," said Rendell, who teamed up with former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to call attention to infrastructure funding issues nationwide. "I don't know how [Corbett] characterizes priority," said Rendell, who successfully pushed through a $400 million bond issue for bridge repairs. Rendell also said he tripled state spending on bridge repairs, from $250 million to $750 million.” 

Washington Examiner: District bridges need repair
The report by Transportation for America, a transportation advocacy group, found 30 of the District's 244 bridges are structurally deficient. That's 12.3 percent compared with the 11 percent national average. Bridges in Maryland and Virginia are in better shape than their counterparts nationwide, with just 9.4 percent of Virginia bridges and 6.9 percent of Maryland's bridges in poor condition. The two worst bridges in Virginia are in Richmond, while Maryland's worst are in Baltimore. 

Huffington Post: Scott Walker Rejected $12 Million Of The Specific $150 Million In High-Speed Rail Funds He Now Wants
Millions of dollars of federal funding for specific high-speed rail services that Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) is now requesting were included in the initial batch of grants he rejected for the state of Wisconsin, a federal official tells The Huffington Post. 

Green Tech Media: Wisconsin Asks for Rail Money It Already Rejected
Before even moving into the governor’s seat in Wisconsin and turning his state into a battlefield over unions’ rights, Scott Walker campaigned on rejecting $810 million in federal funds for a high-speed rail line that would have connected Milwaukee to Madison.