March 20, 2019 – The President’s fiscal year 2020 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security includes proposals for a small cut in Transportation Security Administration operational funding, a large cut in Coast Guard procurement, and a two-thirds cut in Federal Emergency Management Agency transportation security grants.
March 15, 2019 – As part of the Trump Administration’s fiscal 2020 budget rollout, the Federal Transit Administration this afternoon released its detailed annual report on its Capital Investment Grant program, including updates on the project status and ratings of every proposed subway, light rail, and bus rapid transit project in the United States.
March 15, 2019 – On March 12, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee quietly approved the re-nomination of Thelma Drake to be Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration.
March 14, 2019 – Earlier this month, 36 top transit executives from across the country traveled to Alexandria, VA to take part in Eno’s 15th annual Transit Senior Executive (TSE) Program.
March 15, 2019 – The White House now says that $200 billion in infrastructure funding in the budget won’t go towards surface transportation reauthorization, but that the surface bill will be counted towards the $1 trillion spending total.
March 14, 2019 – Today, a bipartisan group of Senators, including the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee with jurisdiction over mass transit issues, introduced a bill that would ban U.S. transit agencies from buying rail cars or buses made by any company that is “owned or controlled by, is a subsidiary of, or is otherwise related legally or financially to a corporation” located in the People’s Republic of China.
March 11, 2019 – President Trump has released a fiscal year 2020 budget request today that calls for $84.1 billion in gross budgetary resources for the U.S. Department of Transportation today, a $3.5 billion decrease from 2019.
March 8, 2019 – This week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told an Association for Better New York breakfast meeting that he wants to attach legislation forcing the federal government to start funding a $13.6 billion project to build new passenger rail tunnels under the Hudson River to the next “must-pass” spending bill. But it’s hard to see Schumer getting what he wants without either violating Congress’s ban on earmarks, or else fundamentally restructuring the mass transit Capital Investment Grant program.
March 8, 2019 – The House Ways and Means Committee held a long-awaited hearing on infrastructure (and the funding thereof) this week, but little new ground was broken.
March 8, 2019 – This week, professionals in transit, micromobility, carsharing, and ride-hailing gathered together in Chicago for the Fifth Annual Shared Mobility Summit hosted by the Shared Use Mobility Center (SUMC). Preceding the Summit, SUMC (in conjunction with the Federal Transit Administration) hosted a daylong workshop on the newly funded Mobility on Demand (MOD) On-Ramp Program.
Tuesday, March 12 – House Transportation and Infrastructure – Subcommittee on Aviation – subcommittee hearing entitled “Looking Forward: Aviation 2050” (witness list here) – 10:00 a.m., HVC-210 The Capitol.
March 1, 2019 – On February 26, the House Homeland Security Committee held a joint hearing to look at ways to secure the U.S. surface transportation system from cyber attacks, including potential threats posted by Chinese manufacture of rail cars.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 – House Transportation and Infrastructure – Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation – subcommittee hearing on the U.S. maritime and shipbuilding industries (witness list here) – 10:00 a.m., 2253 Rayburn.
February 22, 2019 – Ride-sharing services offer an opportunity to enhance transit and create a new ecosystem of interconnected multimodal options where ride-hailing and transit work together to provide cost-efficient and environmentally friendlier commutes.
Tuesday, February 26 – House Homeland Security – Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security – subcommittee hearing on securing the U.S. surface transportation system from cyber attacks (witness list here) – 10:00 a.m., 310 Cannon.
February 9, 2019 – The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the 116thCongress formally kicked off its work yesterday with a marathon seven-hour hearing entitled “The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why Investing in Our Nation’s Infrastructure Cannot Wait.”
February 8, 2019 – This week, the director of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) told Congress that he has ordered the strengthening of cybersecurity requirements for its new transit procurement, but said that further attempts to ensure the survival of a domestic railcar manufacturing industry should come in the form of Congress passing a law.
February 8, 2019 – Yesterday, progressive Members of Congress introduced a non-binding resolution calling on Congress to adopt a “Green New Deal.”
February 8, 2019 – Here are two simple charts that show the totality of the Highway Trust Fund spending and revenue situation from 1957 to the present.
February 4, 2019 – Here is a list of every mention of transportation, infrastructure, highways, transit, rail, aviation, and waterways made by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump in the last 20 State of the Union addresses, 1999-2018.