Today, the U.S. House passed an amendment to the stimulus bill that will increase transit funding by $3 billion (+33%).
This is a huge win. It offers Americans a chance to save and create jobs, get people to work and to reduce air and global warming pollution.
For more on this vote, here's a Wall Street Journal story.
What do you think? Share your comments below.
85 Comments
Money allocated for public transportation must lead to using renewable energy sources.
Hydrogen fuel cell technology could be used to power city buses. When enough cities have fueling stations coast to coast travel is possible. Maybe then cars and trucks could also use the technology.
Hooray! It's a start. Thanks for the heads up EDF.
I agree with some of the comments posted above. The victory can only be counted when: We know which projects got the money, the project is proceeding at a reasonable pace and the cities have not just banked the money or used it elsewhere, cities actively promote rapid transit rather than give it lip service while building government owned parking facilities like here in Chicago and successful projects are given good publicity to build public acceptance of mass transit over driving everywhere.
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DO NOT pour more money into failing banks that only take the tax payer dollars and turn around and pay their CEO's.
Get the STATES the budget monies they need, don't focus on failed mortgages. . Those home buyers made their bets and lost. Responsible homebuyers aren't getting a "break". Dump the bank saving plan, it's not working
Re-tool the car companies to make TRANSIT BUSES, STREET CARS, LIGHT RAIL AND HIGH SPEED TRAINS. A small portion for high mileage PRACTICAL CARS.
Get these vehicles into production, simultaneously, take from the 700 billion dollars and direct it to STATES to cancel their DEFICITS. This money would go toward TRANSIT PROJECTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
Funnel some of the money to STEEL works. Get them to making RAILS, BRIDGE COMPONENTS, TRAIN STATION COMPONENTS AND OTHER TRANSIT and infrastructure projects. WPA time!
The states would use some of their Federal monies to build the transit projects: buy buses, streetcars, light rail and, in cases, high speed train lines as well as cancel their deficits.
The moneys could be used to employ concrete workers, steel workers, building workers and all aspects of construction from rail lines, and structures to buildings, bus stops and landscaping.
These multi-facet projects would get a broad spectrum of trades and skills from Architects, to Bridge Designers, Geologists and Engineers, office support staff, other construction trades and, as I mentioned, even landscaping companies to work.
The taxpaying public are the ones that need bailing out, not Wall Stret, not Detroit, not the bankers, or the brokers or the politicians. Put Americans to work, penalize the companies who outsource there work overseas. Penalize any company that makes windfall profits. Stop the government waste at all levels, federal, states & cities. Put the politicians in jail who accept bribes, payoffs and gifts from any source. Get our country back on track before we try to solve the ills of the rest of the world.
This is a wonderful win for the country. I have a vision of a network of passenger rail service for both the east and west coasts, similar to that of Europe. A reliable, timely and frequent schedule of transport to large, medium sized cities and small towns is something that only Greyhound/Trailways services now.
A rail system would get many cars off the road. As CSX says in their advertisement, a ton of load can be moved 453 miles on only one gallon of fuel, using rail!
Thank you, ED, for informing us about this amendment so that we continue participate in this democracy. The $3 billion increased the amount going to transit funding, as the WSJ article explained. For this, we are grateful. Every victory extends the scope of possibilities, staying focused on working toward the ideal. Thank you for everything you do!
Yeah, I am looking forward to the time when the majority of my travel, in city and out of city, is done by train. A train from Dallas to Austin, San Antonio Or Houston, Texas would be sweet. We have only just begun, hold on.
Thank you for the heads-up, and your report of the results!
I have e-mailed my thanks to my congressman, and asked him to lend his voice to persuade our senators to vote Yes, next week. They probably do not need nudging, but every little bit helps.
It's about time – the US is so far behind other countries with regards to transit. Even in major cities, the transit is way too limited.
Thank you.
Want an insight into the road $$ shenanigans in Texas? Our governor "toll road" Perry a/k/a Bush-lite represents all we voted against – that is lobby influence and using the legislature to conduct private business deals. He refered to those who oppose toll roads as too stupid to understand his plan. Really? Texas has been redrawn (remember Tom DeLay?)to remain in the grip of greedy developers and politicans to the point to destroying the environment and natural resources. We citizens are very nrevous about misuse of stimulus money for infrastructure in Texas because protective ordinances have been systematically stripped, and lasw manipulated to advance Perry's TTC and toll roads agendas. I attended the CAMPO meeting last night, mostly to testify that it is not in keeping with the spirit or even the letter of the bylaws for the CAMPO board to refuse to allow testimony on an agenda item posted for action (as they did at the CAMPO meeting last month). An interesting aside is that they could not adopt the December minutes allegedly because they stripped all mention of this episode from the draft minutes and someone caught it. The minutes will be rewritten and submitted at the next CAMPO board meeting.
In regards to the stimulus funds, Senator Watson gave an update as he see it, or at least as he is wanting the CAMPO board to see it. I did not exactly understand what he was saying because he gave different sums for the Texas House and Texas Senate for the amounts the CAMPO region will receive. I guess these will have to be negotiated and not added! But he said the Texas House may apportion to the CAMPO region about 72 million dollars and the Texas Senate, about 86.4 million. There are differing criteria regarding the spending of this money between the two houses, but in general, half would have to be spent in 150 or 180 days ( or at least the project would have to be rolling to spend it) and the other half in a year or two. Separately, mass transit will receive either 30 million maybe. Senator Watson does not believe the Red or Green lines (rail) would qualify for funds.
There is a mad rush to decide which projects CAMPO will request. (Their list is for about 2 billion in projects!) There will be some mechanism for "citizen input".
On a very interesting and separate note, TXDOT will receive money directly form the state directed by the State Transportation Commission as to which specific projects will be built. I assume we will see only big tolled projects come through the state. I would be very surprised if the Trans Texas Corridor pieces that are not called the Trans Texas Corridor (salt by any other name is still salt!) don't get funded by the State Transportation Commission. Also, we may see other toll roads in the Austin area, but I believe 290 W is not far enough along in the SEIS process to start putting it on the ground. (A good thing as well because traffic is flat at the Y and has been for 3 years according to TxDot's own data.) Also, so you are not confused, there are some TxDOT projects on the CAMPO wish list, but these are TxDOT projects that would be funded through CAMPO and not through the State.
Hooray for our County Commissioner, Karen Huber, who replaces Gerald Daugherty on the CAMPO board! A funny thing though, Senator Watson is keeping Gerald Daugherty on a CAMPO advisory board for his "viewpoint". I don't think he invited any environmental conservative or anti-toller for their viewpoint, but I am willing to serve!
That's great. Now I hope they did a better job of control and tracking the money with this bill than they did with the banking system bailout billions.
What is lunacy to me is that Republicans jumped on the Bush plan to pour billions into the banking system without demanding the power to see who's pockets our money is winding up in. How laughably foolish and irresponsible.
I am very disappointed that there was not more partisan support for this bill. This party line vote just shows how self-centered our congress is even in an emergency.
In one word: Disgraceful
This is great news!!!! So happy that we have President Obama and we are changing The United States for the better.
Where I live, the public trasnportation is almost nonexistent. While I am able to afford to buy a car and maintain it, there has been times when I needed to go to work and the car was broken, leaving me scrambling for alternative transportation. Also, I think if more people can take a train or bus, it can give them time to do homework, work on work projects or decompress , rather than getting stressed out from driving long distances.
It has been my perpetual observation, when ever due to oil price rise or some other reason, the commuters start using more of public transport, there is immediately a move to raise the ticket price, in the pretext of getting a higher percentage of reimbursement of transport of expenses. I don't know if my lingering suspicion is true but it seemed always counterproductive. It results in people going back to their cars – to the traffic Jams.
It always reminds me the scandal, how auto industry supporters got elected into board of Governor of transit agencies of Los Angeles area and sabotaged from within the public transport in the area, to force people in to cars. And create a permanent mess in that megalopolis.
As a transit advocate, I am deeply disappointed in this stimulus bill and have little idea why people here are complacently cheering rather than demanding that the senate add more transit funding.
A single light rail project can cost billions. The feds get requests for federal transit funding from hundreds of local/state governments a year and currently funds about half a dozen. This extra three billion now means they will fund about a couple more a year out of hundreds of identifued but unmet needs.
comment from jfk
January 29th, 2009 at 3:53
Comment to "Freethinker": Regarding your views about all the helpless blood sucking liberals out there, let me add to what Sherry said above: not only are we all inter-dependent vulnerable beings in many many ways that we all need to recognize,but regardless of which side of the fence we are on,why continue to perpetuate the 'hate machinery' which our new President is trying so hard to change? Instead, why don't you just 'chill' and try prying open some of those rusty cans of imagination in your head– you might become more interesting!
An essential step that will do many things… improve our ability to get around our cities, states and country, put people to work, reduce the need for fuel and thereby aid the economy..; We have a bad transportation system compared to many in the industrialized world… we should not allow ourselves to be in such a position.
This says it all:
http://media.kusi.com/documents/Comments+on+Global+Warming02.pdf
I agree 100%! If Al Gore wants to argue, I will give him an argument!
The people have spoken and their reps have listened ; let's continue to also sustain engagement.
I hope that the money will be spent on truly clean, renewable transportation and fuels, like compressed air, solar, wind, electric and NOT just to put more stinking, deafening, filthy, traffic clogging diesel buses on the road and building lots of steel and concrete parking spot stealing bus shelters.
Hail rail and bike travel.
I'm an architect with an interest in regional planning. There's little doubt that this nation needs a widespread investment in mass transit. We can pull tholusands of cars off of the road and improve the quality of life in this nation considerably. It's sad to me when I see that France has developed a train which 350 miles per hour on non fossil fuels while I was riding NJ Transit trains to work in Jersey City that I know I road 30 years ago when I was in college.
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Bye, Bye GW! And Al Gore your going to have to find some more excuses for this!!
Look before you leap.
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[...] Environmental Defense: Huge Victory for Transit Funding "Today, the U.S. House passed an amendment to the stimulus bill that will increase transit funding by $3 billion (+33%). This is a huge win. It offers Americans a chance to save and create jobs, get people to work and to reduce air and global warming pollution." [...]