April 14:

• The president and vice president stopped by the DOT to celebrate 2000 stimulus projects and that many of them are coming in cheap, cheap, cheap. (WaPo)
• The president may have been a bit misleading in his language — he suggested that 2000 projects were underway. Not so — they’ve simply been approved. (ABC News)
• A new tax benefit for bicycle commuters has a flaw: it doesn’t help cyclists who also use public transit. (City Room)
• The head of New York’s Dept of Transportation resigns unexpectedly after a lengthy trip to Borneo. (Albany Times Union)
• Eight mid-western governors and the mayor of Chicago are touting the many benefits of a regional high speed rail network. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
• Funding disputes are delaying the rollout of NextGen — the GPS-based air traffic control network that will replace the ancient and inefficient radar system we use now. (NPR)
• With transit cuts looming for NYC transit, the unregulated and sometimes rowdy “dollar van” may start playing a larger role in Gotham’s transportation mix. (Streets Blog - featuring a thoroughly amusing video)

(more…)

April 8:

• “Cyberspies” from Russia and China have infiltrated the US electrical grid and could potentially disrupt it in a moment of crisis. Water and sewer systems are also at risk. (WSJ)
• Bids for stimulus projects continue to come in cheaper than expected. An projected $50 million project at Baltimore’s BWI airport will be built for only $42 million. (WaPo)
• The proposed high speed rail link between Orlando and Tampa depends on “connectivity” with SunRail, a planned commuter light rail network — you can’t have one without the other, say local officials and transit advocates. (Orlando Sentinel)
• Construction of the smart grid and the smart broadband network “should go hand in hand,” proposes the Center for American Progress.
• Portland, OR, unveils the design for a new mass-transit only bridge over the Willamette River. (KGW)
• Illinois is spending $500 million in state funds on transit projects, including replacing track on Chicago’s red line and refurbishing stations on the network. (Progressive Railroading)
• Taiwain’s highly touted high speed rail network may be cutting back service because of a heavy debt burden and because the recession has driven down ridership. (China Post)

(more…)

Mar 31:

Concrete! Examining the state of the art in one civilization’s most useful and ubiquitous materials, including using coal ash in the mix and even a plan for carbon negative cement. (NY Times - Science)

The US DOT announces a new vehicle mileage standard for 2011: 27.3 mpg, up about 2 mpg from 2020. (Consumer Affairs)

A great interview with John Norquist of the Congress for a New Ubanism on how to reclaim America’s streets. (Streetsblog)

NYC will get $261 million in stimulus funds to rehab the Brooklyn Bridge, install new car ramps for a Staten Island ferry terminal and repair 15 other local bridges. (Daily News)

Boulder’s smart grid is shaping up, with 14,000 smart meters installed 100 miles of fiber optic cable strung over power lines. (AP)

The Government Accountability Office has established FraudNet — a citizen reporting service for misuse of stimulus funds. Know about some graft? Send an email to fraudnet@gao.gov. (AP)

Indonesia is looking at a $6 billion 410-mile high speed rail line between the cities of Jakarta and Surbaya. (Antara News)

(more…)

Mar 30:

• Bids from construction contractors on stimulus projects are coming in well below estimates. “Boy, it’s a great time to be putting projects out,” says one state transportation spokeman. (NYT)
• The AP surveys America’s high speed rail ambitions and finds reason to be dubious.
  According to Ray LaHood (who should know), upgrading the air traffic control network–from radar to a GPS-based “NextGen” system–is the top priority for the FAA. (WSJ)
• Rep. Boucher of Virginia might try to get money for a “steel interstate” system parallel to I-81, allowing freight to travel by rail instead of truck. (The Hook)
• Freight rail volumes have continued to plunge – now down 15 percent against the comparable period last year. (American Association of Railroads)
• In more and more cities, a house is no longer even worth the cost of repossessing it. (NYT)
• Rebutting the argument that migrating to wind energy will push up electricity prices. (Daily Kos)
• A giant seven-highway reconstruction project in Dallas proceeds despite the fact that the state DOT doesn’t have enough money to pay for it. (Ft Worth Star Telegram)
• Because sections of Broadway in NYC are being turned into pedestrian mall this spring, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will have to be re-routed – possibly down Sixth Ave. (NY1)

(more…)

Mar 20:

• Ray LaHood has become careful with his words since a slapdown last month by Obama’s press secretary. (NYT)
• Regulators support new power lines across the country to carry wind energy, say they should run along rail lines. (WSJ)
• Head of New York’s MTA: Expect fare to rise to $2.50. (WNYC)
• Residents of the Big Apple also face the prospect of doomsday service cuts. (Streetsblog)
• Planners in New York have $50 billion worth of transportation projects on their wish list and $5 billion to spend. (NY1)
• Smart metering firms are gearing up as the smart grid becomes more of a reality. (Business Green)
• California’s high speed rail line would pass through Palo Alto. Palo Alto asks if maybe it should pass “under.” (San Jose Mercury News)
• High speed rail fever comes to Oklahoma. (Oklahoman)

(more…)

Feb 27:
The 2010 budget is out. Highlights include:

• $1 billion-a-year high speed rail grant program to the states;
• $1.3 billion in USDA loans and grants for rural broadband from the USDA;
• A proposed carbon cap and trade program that could raise $80 billion by 2012;
• the administration “will emphasize the use of economic analysis and performance measurement in transporation planning.”

Other news:

• New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg and city planner Janette Sadik Khan unveiled a plan to turn midtown sections of Broadway into pedestrian plazas. (Streetsblog)
• Manufacturing in Indiana has been hard-hit in recent years — but the clean energy sector is thriving. (EDF)
• A $25 billion loan program for electric car technology isn’t rolling yet. (NYT)
• US Capitol to switch from coal power to natural gas? (AFP)
• Palo Alto residents want the high speed LA-to-SF trains to be “invisible” — a rail technology that even Japan and Europe don’t have. (San Jose Mercury News)

(more…)

* The Senate releases their first draft of the stimulus bill – all 728 pages are available for perusal here. One highlight: $2 billion for high speed rail. (Transport Politic) (more…)

• GOP Senators, including Mitch McConnell and John McCain, are sounding a dour note on the future of the $800 billion stimulus package. One possible solution: a bipartisan consensus seems to be growing for more infrastructure spending.
• Utilities are experimenting with the use of smiley faces and frowny faces on electric bills to praise their customers for being good energy misers and shame them for being hogs, respectively :)  (NY Times)
• Public transportation ridership is at record levels across the country, but local transit agencies are broke and are being forced to cut services anyway. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Clean energy spending needs to triple to $515 billion per year if the world is going to rein in carbon emissions and not descend into global warming hell. We’re headed in the right direction though: spending is already up five-fold from 2004. (Guardian)
• An Oregon company has developed a software program that targets carbon emissions in infrastructure projects by helping government agencies make environmentally sound choices about materials and methodology. (NYT - Green Inc.)
• The stimulus bill is giving Vladimir Putin visions of the U.S.(S.R.). In his own words: “There is a temptation to expand direct interference of state in economy. In the Soviet Union that became an absolute. We paid a very dear price for that.” Then again, angry impoverished Russians are in the street demanding his resignation. Our advice: Stimulus package! (Times UK / Daily Mail)

• Obama wants some school construction and other cuts restored to the final stimulus bill. Here are the House and Senate (it passed!) versions compared in very fine detail. (WSJ)
• Obama says that 675,000 construction jobs will be created by the stimulus bill. But for Tim Baxter of Atlanta and the other 7.5 million jobless people in the industry, the approval process for “shovel-ready” projects is looking awfully long. (CNN)

(more…)