Tag: funding: Page 14

Roadbuilding

Closer to E than F and heading for B

Let’s say you are rolling down the highway and watching the gas gauge on your dashboard as you go. You see it steadily going down. You are aware that it is heading to E. You roll on. It gets inevitably closer to E. You know if you don’t stop and fill up it will hit […]

August 1, 2013

Roadbuilding

Texas Two-Step: D.C. reauthorization first, then Austin

As we begin to close in on the fall 2014 date for the reauthorization of federal surface transportation legislation in Washington, keep in mind that states have to do their own transportation legislation. And like D.C. politicians, Austin politicians face the continuing dilemma of not having enough money coming down the pike. Take Texas for […]

July 30, 2013

Roadbuilding

Transportation Infrastructure Funding: Efficiency is necessary but not sufficient

It’s a case of on the one hand/on the other hand. New Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx is saying that his department is “working to improve the efficiency and performance of our existing transportation system” and is “doing so in an era when we must work harder than ever to stretch our transportation dollar.” He […]

July 26, 2013

Roadbuilding

White House “strongly supports” Senate DOT, HUD spending bill

The White House said on Tuesday that President Obama “strongly supports” the $54 billion budget for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development that the Senate is considering, according to a report from The Hill. The announcement follows a White House statement on Monday that President Obama’s “senior advisors would recommend that he […]

July 24, 2013

Roadbuilding

White House threatens to veto House’s $44.1 billion DOT, HUD bill

The White House threatened on Monday to veto a $44.1 billion budget for the Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that the House is considering, according to a report from The Hill. The THUD bill calls for $7.7 billion less than the current spending levels, cuts which the White House said […]

July 23, 2013

Roadbuilding

Foxx talks transportation needs in Connecticut, Minnesota

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Monday took his first official trips, visiting New Haven, Connecticut, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Foxx, who officially took on his new role as DOT chief earlier this month, discussed transportation needs in each city he traveled to. The Connecticut trip was focused on rail safety, according to a report from The […]

July 23, 2013

Roadbuilding

Transportation spending bill passes Texas House, moves to Senate

The Texas House on Thursday voted to pass a bill that would raise about $800 million in transportation funding, moving the legislation to the state Senate, according to a report from the Texas Tribune. The bill, House Joint Resolution 2 (HJR2), would remove a constitutional requirement that a quarter of the state’s gasoline taxes go […]

July 19, 2013

Roadbuilding

House Rules Committee to approve rule for transportation, housing spending

The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday to approve a rule for the 2014 transportation and housing spending bill, according to a report from The Hill. The rule could mean the bill, H.R. 2610, will be considered by the House sometime this month. The legislation proposes a $44.1 billion budget for the departments […]

July 16, 2013

Roadbuilding

New tolls on old interstates? Almost unthinkable.

The issue of tolling existing interstates isn’t going away. It’s not popular and it’s down in the “slim and none” chances category in most analyses. But with highway funding hopelessly inadequate and no new source on the short-term horizon, this issue will linger. It will raise its head as MAP-21 winds down and heads into […]

July 16, 2013

Roadbuilding

VMT is here!

Oregon replaces state gas tax with “pay per-mile road usage charge”

July 15, 2013

Roadbuilding

Texas Senate, House propose differing transportation funding plans

The Texas Senate and House have radically different ideas about how to raise funds for highway spending, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The Texas Senate on Thursday passed Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJR1), which proposes earmarking a portion of the severance taxes collected from the state’s oil and gas industry to fund transportation. The proposed constitutional […]

July 12, 2013

Roadbuilding

Highway expansion and local traffic: oil and water?

The highway, that venerable American institution–that core value, that industry and community building institution–is under assault again. Better Institutions, a blog about transportation and urban planning policy, joins a chorus of blogs addressing what it calls, “The self-defeating nature of highway construction and expansion,” and specifically, “Lost in the discussions of induced demand (focused on […]

July 12, 2013