In a DOT press release this week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood makes a $1.58 billion commitment to fund the New Starts program.
Aiming to reduce the nation's dependency on petro, improve public transportation access, and mitigate air quality, LaHood approves funding for the 9 existing, 7 new, 9 proposed, and 2 other transit projects that will greatly expand America's network of light rail, subway, BRT, and streetcar systems.
"America's long-term economic success requires investing now in transportation infrastructure capable of moving people and goods more safely, efficiently and quickly than ever before," LaHood asserts.
As head of the agency that oversees New Starts, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff adds, "Our investments in expanding America's transit networks will not only improve reliable transportation access for communities across the country, they will support construction jobs and economic development."
Read the full story: U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Announces $1.58 Billion for 27 Major Transit Projects Across America
Friday Funny: Infrastructure: 'If Anything Exciting Happens We've Done it Wrong'
The news satire show "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" gave comic treatment to the country's ever-present, much-neglected infrastructure crisis. It's hilarious and scary. At the same time!
Ray LaHood Joins the Board of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, one of the country's most recognizable voices of leadership for infrastructure investment, will join the Board of the Lincoln Institute of land Policy.
Report Aims to Reinvent the MTA; Critics Say it Misses the Mark
After Capital New York leaked an early draft of the report by a MTA Transportation Reinvention Commission, critics are wondering if the commission is living up to its titular promise.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic Place Names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
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One Hundred Miles
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