Posted on Monday April 27th by The Infrastructurist | 67
- States are looking for a big boost in highway spending in the new transportation bill — lobbyists are urging $375 billion for highways and $93 billion for transit. (WSJ)
- Head of the House Transportation committee Jim Oberstar says he plans to stick to a schedule that would put the new transportation bill before the House by June 1, and through Congress by the end of Sept. (Journal of Commerce)
- Smart meters advocates say the devices will help save energy, but some consumer advocates think they’re a lousy deal for utility customers. (WSJ)
- This week the National Journal asks a range of distinguished experts how a pro-union president and his policies will affect the transportation sector. (Nat’l Journal)
- Japan is being held hostage by a bloated and dysfunctional road building industry — the nation is laced with immensely expensive, money-losing toll roads. (Japan Times via Planetizen)
- Every year a stretch of desolate highway in Texas becomes the site of a legal road race where cars go as fast as 160 mph. (AP)
April 27th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Wouldn’t it be nice, even just in this budget cycle, to have those billions reversed: US$375B for non automobile transport support, and “only” US$93B for highways? Why we could sees a couple of trust funds, one for urban transport and one for inter-city rail, plus buy a thousand new cars for Amtrak, plus support countless urban areas in getting their 50-years-late transit modernization programs underway. Just in this one budget cycle we could do all that, had we the political will and the leadership in the White House and the Congress.