Planetizen Newswire
Keep up with essential planning news and commentary, delivered to your inbox every Monday and Thursday.
New Starts
Congress has continued to fund transit projects despite the Trump Administration's stated desire to end federal funding for federal transit. Now it appears the Trump Administration is killing transit with bureaucracy.
Streetsblog USA
For those who have spent the last year or so waiting on the edge of their seats in speculation about the contents of President Trump's promised infrastructure plan, there is finally some indication of what the future holds.
Axios
Planning and construction for the new Amtrak Gateway tunnels unders the Hudson River and the next phase of the Second Avenue Subway could grind to a halt under President Trump's proposed budget that substantially cuts capital grants programs.
The New York Times
Transit advocates should be concerned about the cuts proposed by the Trump Administration's early budget draft.
Streetsblog USA
The $289 million streetcar would serve the cities of Santa Ana (population 329,00), county seat and second densest in California after San Francisco, and Garden Grove (population 170,000) on a 4.1-mile route. Service could begin 2020.
Orange County Breeze
What seemed for decades like an impossible dream is becoming more and more of a reality: BART service to San Jose and the Silicon Valley.
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
Sound Transit, L.A. Metro, and Santa Clara VTA received sizable funding in FTA's New Starts/Small Starts program for their light and heavy rail extensions, thanks to Congressional representatives who included them in the omnibus bill,.
RT&S (Railway Track & Structures)
Florida's SunRail commuter rail received a $93.4 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to extend the 61-mile line. The grant will cover half the capital costs for the 17.2-mile extension from Orlando to Osceola County.
Federal Transit Administration
After a Senate committee slashed the Small Starts grant program, the new Marin-Sonoma "SMART" train may not be extended from San Rafael to the Larkspur ferry landing, a critical link enabling rail commuters to take the ferry to San Francisco.
Marin Independent Journal
While projects funded from the Highway Trust Fund are safe through May, discretionary programs run by DOT from annual appropriations must wait for Congress to approve a budget, which just got more complicated due to Obama's anti-ISIS funding request.
Transportation For America blog
With a vote last week by the Minneapolis City Council, the final local consent was granted the proposed Southwest light rail project. Despite that benchmark political action, the project will not be without challenges moving forward.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Los Angeles will receive its largest-ever federal grant, $1.25 billion, to help fund the Purple Line subway, aka the "Subway to the Sea." Also on its way is an $856 million loan from the TIFIA program.
Los Angeles Daily News
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has become the country's first transit agency to receive Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approval to apply for its new “core capacity” grants. The funds would be used to upgrade Red and Purple Line service.
Next City
DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx and U.S. Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah) attended the grand opening of the fifth and final rail line of Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) Frontlines 2015 Program, two years ahead of schedule and $300 million under budget.
Deseret News
Angie Schmitt delivers news that will bring some post-holiday cheer to transit and smart growth advocates. The Federal Transit Administration has revised the criteria by which it judges projects vying for funds from two popular programs.
DC.Streetsblog
In new rules published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the Department of Transportation is amending Bush era policies on awarding grants for Light Rail, Subway, and Bus Rapid Transit projects.
Bloomberg
The DOT awarded a billion and a half in grants to transit projects on the Fourth of July. Eric Jaffe has the lowdown on projects from Connecticut to Colorado.
The Infrastructurist
<em>Transport Politic</em> takes a detailed look at the transportation projects suggested by the Federal Transit Administration's recently released Annual Report on Funding Recommendations.
Transport Politic
The National Journal Online talks to three transportation experts about the recent statements by DOT Secretary LaHood that the agency would begin using livability-based funding guidelines for major transit projects. Will it work?
National Journal Online
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday that he would rescind a 2005 rule from the Bush administration that cost-effectiveness trump all other factors when approving transit projects.
Streetsblog
