(Source:  Wall Street Journal)

President Obama and Vice President Biden spoke with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Tuesday at Transportation Department headquarters, where they announced the first batch of stimulus funds getting distributed. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. LaHood talked about spending stimulus money wisely, his opposition to an increase in the gasoline tax, new fuel emission standards and more. Below are edited excerpts from the interview.

* * *

The Wall Street Journal: What’s being done to ensure that the $48 billion going to transportation projects in the stimulus bill is spent wisely?

Mr. LaHood: Our people are in touch daily with these DOT secretaries. We generally, having worked with them for years and years and years, know what is fundable. It really falls under two categories. Projects that were started and then stopped because they ran out of money, and something that’s been sitting on a shelf in a DOT office because they didn’t have the money to fund it. Some of these, like the one we announced today (a road repaving project in suburban Maryland), have been in process…These are projects that these folks have known about and have been talking about for some time. This isn’t something brand new that’s been sprung up on them…I don’t think you’re going to see something weird pop up…It’s pretty traditional stuff. It really is.

WSJ: Are you concerned when you hear squabbles between mayors and governors over how to spend the stimulus money?

Mr. LaHood: [Cities] are concerned that 70% of the money is going to the states and they’re only going to get 30%…These disputes, look it, they’re going to take place….In the end, I’m not going to be able to change the idea that 70% of this is going to the states and 30% are going to them. I tried to make a case for them. But the way it’s designed here…it is what it is.

(Source: New York Times)

Amid a wave of government-led bailouts for car companies, a group of international agencies and motoring organizations called on Wednesday for car makers worldwide to reduce emissions.

“In confronting the economic recession this is a real opportunity for governments to combine support for the auto industry with measures to achieve environmental and energy policy goals,” said Nobua Tanaka, the executive director of the International Energy Agency.

“Battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and possibly hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are expected to become increasingly available in the near-to-medium term given recent improvements especially in batteries,” the 50-by-50 campaign noted in a leaflet. “However, these advanced technologies are not necessary to achieve the 50 percent potential described here, but could result in further CO2 reductions and oil savings if they succeed in achieving mass-market commercialization.”

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source:  Transportation Research Board)

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(Source:  Washington Post)

Here’s a look at what drivers will encounter during the construction phase of Virginia DOT’s HOT lanes project at the Braddock Road interchange.  The project will create special lanes on the Beltway open to high-occupancy vehicles, or those willing to pay a toll.

(Source: Washington Post)

Metro knocked down one of the bigger barriers to competition in the D.C. area’s wireless-phone market Friday afternoon by announcing thatall four nationwide wireless carriers would offer service in its subway stations and tunnels.

The  Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s press release led off with words that many Metro riders have been waiting for years to read: “Metro riders will be able to call home from any cell phone.”

Today, the only signal to reach Metro’s underground stretches comes from Verizon Wireless; Sprint users can roam on that signal, but AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile subscribers are out of luck. It’s an awkward little detail that I’ve had make part of my standard guidance to people shopping for wireless-phone service.

That Friday-afternoon release went on to explain that Metro’s board approved an agreement with AT&T Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon to “build a new wireless infrastructure in the underground rail system during the next four years.” The first results will appear pretty soon:

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Washington Post)

In the viability plans General Motors and Chrysler submitted to support their federal aid requests, the companies pledged to try to meet new fuel economy standards. 

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source:  New York Times)

Kansas will widen U.S. Route 69 to remove a bottleneck outside Kansas City, along with three other expensive projects. Maryland will spend its money in smaller pieces, resurfacing dozens of rutted roads and highways. Colorado will build an interchange on Elk Creek Road in Jefferson County, complete with an underpass for the elk.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source:  PBS Blueprint for America)

(Source:  Whitehouse.gov via Planetizen)

Just two weeks after signing that legislation, we’re about to start the biggest investment on our nation’s road, bridges, highways and tunnels since we built the Interstate Highway System over 50 years ago.  It’s a big deal.  The work is beginning now, with hundreds more projects getting underway in the next few months.  Some project will start this month, some won’t get going until the summer.  We’re going to do everything we can to get them moving as quickly as possible.  But Americans didn’t get in this mess overnight.  And unfortunately, unfortunately, it’s going to take some time for us to get out of this.

     Mr. President, you also made it clear that we have an obligation to the taxpayers of this nation to make sure their money is being used wisely, to make it accountable and transparent.  Folks, we’re going to ask of you a sense of diligence and transparency and responsibility as has not been asked before, because we’ve never made this kind of investment before.  This is a big deal.  Never before in the history of this country have the people been more able to see with such complete transparency how we’re going to put their money to work, not just in this agency but particularly here. 

Excerpts from President Obama’s address:

     Of the 3.5 million jobs that will be created and saved over the next two years as a result of this recovery plan, 400,000 will be jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools, repairing our faulty levees and dams, connecting nearly every American to broadband, and upgrading the buses and trains that commuters take every day.  Many of these projects will be coordinated by Secretary LaHood and all of you at the Department of Transportation.  And I want you to know that the American public is grateful to public servants like you — men and women whose work isn’t always recognized, but whose jobs are critical to our nation’s safety, security, and prosperity.  You have never been more important than you are right now, and for that we are all grateful.  (Applause.) 

     Now, in the coming days and weeks, my administration will be announcing more details about the kinds of transportation projects that will be launched as part of the recovery plan.  But today, I want to speak about an investment we are making in one part of our infrastructure.  Through the Recovery Act, we will be investing $28 billion in our highways, money that every one of our 50 states can start using immediately to put people back to work.  It’s an investment being made at an unprecedented pace, thanks in large part to Joe Biden, who’s leading the effort to get the money out the door quickly.  Because of Joe, and because of all the governors and mayors, county and city officials who are helping implement this plan, I can say that 14 days after I signed our Recovery Act into law, we are seeing shovels hit the ground.

 

(Source: Room for Debate, a New York Times blog)

(Photo: Librado Romero/The New York Times) In Times Square, pedestrians often find themselves maneuvering among cars blocking the intersections.

The pedestrian mall, the urban planner’s failed attempt to revitalize Main Streets during the 1960s and 70s, is back!

This week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that cars would be barred from several blocks of Broadway, including Herald Square and Times Square. He said the changes would relieve traffic congestion and crowded sidewalks – far different problems from what spawned the pedestrian malls of the 70s. And it’s not just New York that’s rethinking this old idea. San Francisco is considering restrictions on private cars on Market Street, the city’s main artery.

When do these car-free zones succeed? And why have they left streets deserted and unappealing in the past?

• Robert Sullivan, author
• Sam Staley, co-author of “Mobility First”
• Alexander Garvin, architect and former Planning Commission member
• Steve Davies, Project for Public Spaces
• Randal O’Toole, author of “The Best-Laid Plans”

Click here to read more.