The Daily Dig - ‘The NY Times Moved Our Cheese’ Edition

• The White House now estimates that the country will need $20 billion–$20 billion!!–in 2010 to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, the gas tax kitty that pays for roads and transit. (Politico)
• Could this mean a potential delay to states in getting those highly stimulative transportation dollars from the federal government? The WSJ suggests maybe so.
• The Washington Metro accident may have been a symptom of the aging US transit rail fleet. More than a third of rolling stock is rated in marginal or poor condition. (NYT)
• More than half of the $28 billion set aside for highways in the stimulus bill has already been allocated to specific projects, says the veep. (AP)
• The New York Times takes a page from its storied rival, The Infrastructurist, and looks at newly chic get-your-hands-dirty jobs like electrical lineman and geotechnical engineer. (NYT and Infrastructurist’s 10 Hottest Jobs)
• In Amsterdam, the bike passes the car as the most commonly used form of transportation. Locals make 0.87 trips daily on two wheels and 0.84 trips on four wheels. (Bike EU)
• John Mica, the ranking Republican on transportation in the House of Reps, says “we’re on the verge of a transportation meltdown in this country.” He says the 18-month extension of the old transpo bill proposed by the administration is a “job killer.” (PBS - Blueprint America)
• Some group that claims to represent atheists has decided that now is the perfect time to start advertising on buses. (City Room)

Please excuse our content outage over the last two days — we were traveling and too harried to manage any posts. Back on regular sched as of today.