Subsidies

Pumping Gas

Time for a Federal Gas Tax Holiday?

Senate Democrats introduced legislation to lower gas prices by suspending the federal gas tax through the end of the year. General funds would be directed to the Highway Trust Fund to replace gas tax revenue.

February 15, 2022 - Fox Business

Rental Cars

Watch: The Car-Centric Legal System, Explained

So many subsidies ensure the dominance of the automobile in the daily live of the United States, it's hard to keep track of them all. Law Professor Greg Shill is keeping track, however.

October 16, 2019 - THINK

Uber Jump bike

Shared Mobility Subsidies Dry Up, Revealing the Industry’s Economic Realities

Companies are looking to generate profits, but customers have come to expect low-cost, subsidized travel and raising prices will prove challenging.

August 16, 2019 - Time

How's My Driving

In the Eyes of the Law, Drivers Aren't Playing Fair

A new paper accounts for all the ways "the legal system puts its thumb on the scale for drivers to the detriment of everyone else: transit users, cyclists and pedestrians."

March 10, 2019 - Streetsblog USA

Wisconsin

Revisiting Wisconsin's Foxconn Deal, Now Called a 'Boondoggle'

Wisconsin taxpayer will be paying the bill for the deal to bring Foxconn to Racine "for decades, if not generations, to come."

November 3, 2018 - The Verge

Apartment Building Pays $100 a Month to Tenants Who Don't Use Parking

Miami developers the Melo Group are paying renters to give up parking spaces, even though they already built the garage.

August 18, 2018 - Fast Company

Attacking Auto-Dependency by Attacking Auto Subsidies

It's not the car but the driving subsidy that is responsible for many of the ills associated with auto dominance. Asking, "How do we get people out of cars?" is the wrong question, argues Joe Cortright, urban economist for City Observatory.

July 22, 2018 - City Observatory

Seattle, Washington

Tech Companies Pulled $9.3 Billion in State and Local Subsidies in Five Years

Good Jobs First put a price tag on the lucrative deals local and state officials throw at flashy tech companies. It's a trend that is only growing with deals like Foxconn in Wisconsin and the expected Amazon HQ2 announcement.

July 6, 2018 - The Guardian

Oil Drills

Global Subsidies for Fossil Fuels: $5 Trillion a Year

A new study from researchers at the International Monetary Fund finds the cost of doing fossil fuel business.

August 15, 2017 - The Guardian

Bay Bridge Toll

Road Funding By Taxes, Tolls, and Fees, Broken Down by State

The Tax Foundation endeavors to provide a simple explanation of road funding.

July 16, 2017 - Tax Foundation

Subsidized Carpool Rides: There's an App for That

Contra Costa County, California, located in the East Bay Area, is looking for new incentives to get commuters to carpool through the congestion region. If only there were an app for that.

June 27, 2017 - Government Technology

Calgary Suburbs

Calgary Ends the 'Sprawl Subsidy'

An op-ed by the mayor of Calgary, Canada celebrates the adoption of a new off-site levy that will change the financing formula for new development and the necessary infrastructure that comes with it.

January 19, 2016 - Calgary Herald

The Bronx

Conservatives Have a Bad Feeling About Smart Growth

Bloggers, pundits, authors, and researchers, have made the case for conservatives to embrace the effects of smart growth. Yet still, a distinctly partisan divide flavors the debate about how to make room for a growing number of Americans.

November 18, 2015 - The Urban Edge

Cincinnati Stadium Riverfront

Friday Funny: John Oliver's Takedown of Public Money for Professional Sports Stadiums

HBO's John Oliver wants cities to do one thing when professional sports teams come asking for public money to build new stadiums: "Make them pay!"

July 17, 2015 - The Washington Post

North Carolina DOT to Consider Fees for Developers, Billboard Companies

One of the arguments against sprawl and its variety of manifestations is the large amount of public subsidies, for private benefit, required to make it work. North Carolina will consider a small step in ending the free ride.

November 5, 2014 - Charlotte Observer

Questioning Hotel Tax Subsidies in Los Angeles

Desperate to build hotel capacity in the neighborhood surrounding the Los Angeles Convention Center, the city has granted hundreds of millions in tax breaks to hotel developers. Some are asking the city to rethink the subsidies.

April 21, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Why Don’t More Conservatives Support Smart Growth?

A self-identified conservative who supports the “broader vision of smart growth” has identified a reason why more conservatives don’t support smart growth: the political economy of sprawl.

April 17, 2014 - Bacon's Rebellion

Exposing Sprawl's Hidden Costs

A new report sheds light on the costs of suburban sprawl that aren't well understood by officials and residents. If more knew the true financial costs they might reconsider their policies and priorities, believes author Dave Thompson.

October 30, 2013 - The Toronto Star

For Amtrak, Short Trips Are Route to Profitability

A new report from the Brookings Institution delves into the ridership and financial winners (and losers) for America's largest intercity rail operator. Last year, Amtrak made money on its 26 routes shorter than 400 miles.

March 1, 2013 - The Washington Post

What's Really Keeping Americans off of Transit?

Josh Barro offers his take on the charge, oft resorted to by transit advocates, that subsidies for road maintenance encourage driving. Instead, he argues, we should turn our attention to the mechanisms that make it hard for transit to compete.

July 3, 2012 - The Washington Examiner

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