Friday, March 2, 2012

Update on Federal transport issues

Transportation remains a hot topic of debate on the national level.



The White House released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget proposal, which includes significant implications for transportation policy and investment. The US Department of Transportation issued a press release regarding the budget proposal and the Secretary of Transportation blogged about it.

The new urbanism/smart growth advocacy group Better! Cities & Towns shared its perspective on the budget proposal: Though hardly anyone has noticed, the proposed 2013 budget of the US Department of Transportation (DOT) promises a remarkable advance: It takes livability mainstream.”

Congress continues to debate disparate visions for transportation policy and investment in the Senate and House versions of surface transportation re-authorization.

The Transportation for America campaign provides its take on the latest developments, including the House abandoning the idea of a 5-year bill in favor of the shorter timeframe propsed in the Senate through the MAP-21 legislation.

The Transportation Issues Daily blog advocates supporting passage of the House bill, "even if you hate it."

Through a transport policy blog sponsored by the National Journal, transportation experts discuss whether we'll ever see a long-term surface transportation re-authorization.

Interesting times indeed in the word of transportation...

2 comments:

VisTrans said...

Update: The Senate passed MAP-21 on March 14, 2012 by a 74-22 vote.

Here is Transportation for America's congratulatory take:

http://t4america.org/pressers/2012/03/14/transportation-for-america-congratulates-senate-adoption-of-transportation-bill-urges-house-to-follow-bipartisan-roadmap/

VisTrans said...

Update 2: Looks like Congress is focusing on a short-term extension of SAFETEA-LU (the existing program) and will continue discussing a new package later this year.

Source: http://www.transportationissuesdaily.com/extending-safetea-lu-not-passing-multi-year-bill-is-now-focus-of-congress/