Posts about Joe Biden

Transit

LaHood, Biden meet with governors on high-speed rail

by Elana Schor   •   June 3, 2009 4:30 pm

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Vice President Biden met at the White House this afternoon with officials from 20 states in contention for funding as part of the Obama administration's high-speed rail program.

"This is how the interstate highway system started, folks," Biden told the governors, according to the pool report filed by the White House press corps. "It wasn't like the Lord on the eighth day said—boom!—there's the interstate highway system."

The group included eight governors—from Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Massachusetts, Georgia and Missouri—but not New York's David Paterson, who's taking some flak from a Democratic state legislator for his decision to focus on legislative priorities in Albany.

Applications are due this summer for the $8 billion in high-speed rail money that was added to the economic stimulus bill, and detailed guidance on that process is slated for release by month's end.

It's still unclear, though, how many projects are in line for a share of that pot, not to mention the passenger demand and matching-funds requirements that rail proposals would have to meet.

As Sarah pointed out in her Streetsblog Network post today, directing the money to the most high-demand areas remains a key concern for transportation planners.

Another unanswered question is whether Congress will sign on to the administration's pitch for $5 billion in annual high-speed rail funding over the next five years. LaHood is headed to the House Appropriations Committee tomorrow morning, where part of his job will be to sell that long-term rail investment to his former colleagues on the Hill.

Meanwhile, the most well-represented corridor at the meeting appears to be the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, which would link Chicago with St. Louis, the Detroit area, Wisconsin and the Twin Cities of Minnesota. In an April letter to LaHood, governors from that region estimated the cost of their high-speed rail corridor at $3.4 billion, using 3,000 miles of track that don't require negotiations over rights-of-way.

Midwestern senators are also working the phones to ensure that freight rail doesn't stand in the way of an expansion of high-speed passenger service. Will the Midwest initiative's political might—both LaHood and the president are Illinoisans—help vault it ahead of the competition?

Cross-posted from Streetsblog.

Transit

Breakfast links: How to get to Pennsylvania Avenue

by David Alpert   •   December 16, 2008 10:01 am

By whistlestop railroad tour: President-elect Obama will get on a train after a rally in Philadelphia, meet Joe Biden for a rally in Wilmington, then stop in Baltimore before continuing to DC.

By bike: Tommy Wells would like to see a bike valet station at Inauguration. If there is one, he's hoping to use it.

By commuter rail: MARC and VRE will run special service for $25 round trip, after initially planning not to run at all. Wait, why do they get to charge extra while Metro is charging less than usual?

Retail woes: Georgetown landlords are refusing to rent to restaurants, preferring more stable national retail chains, reports Marc Fisher; opening Metro one hour earlier on Black Friday for $27,000 didn't work very well, costing $22.48 per rider.

Rockville caves: The Rockville City Council has taken no action on Beall's Grant II, reports Rockville Central. Since the Montgomery Housing Partnership needed approval to get Low-Income Tax Credits, the project is stalled if not scuttled.

And: 14th and You critiques the ARTS Overlay's restaurant prohibition (here's our take); Laurel authorized bonds to redevelop the Laurel Mall into a "Town Center" style retail hub.

Transit

Biden praises rail investment

by David Alpert   •   December 2, 2008 2:16 pm

In a speech at the National Governors' Association this morning, Vice President-elect Joe Biden endorsed, comparing our "I may have a bit of a pro-rail bias. [But] I think of the jobs we can create in both construction and innovation if we make similarly bold investments here in the United States as well as the environmental payoff that flows from that kind of investment."

As I said before, no matter how disappointing any of Obama's non-change nominees might seem, it's still looking pretty good for transit (at least so far) in an Obama administration.

Via Matthew Yglesias.

Transit

GO VOTE

by David Alpert   •   November 4, 2008 7:38 am

Posting will be light today because 1) I'll be voting (will there be long lines?) and 2) You should be voting instead of reading blogs. Voting is the most important thing you can do all year this year, especially if you live in Virginia.

Here are the top urbanism-related races here and elsewhere:

President: Barack Obama and Joe Biden are a dream ticket for cities. Obama voted for Amtrak funding, and Biden has been one of the Senate's Amtrak supporters, while John McCain opposes rail transit. Obama has made high-speed rail, mass transit and bicycle lanes a centerpiece of his economic policy. Obama had the right position on gas prices while McCain was dead wrong and still is. This choice couldn't be more clear. Plus, there are thousands of other reasons to vote Obama that have nothing to do with metropolitan policy.

DC: Patrick Mara is the best urbanist candidate for At-Large City Council. Also see my recent profiles of 2B09, 3C03, and 7D06. Vote for Eleanor Holmes Norton, of course.

Virginia: In Virginia's 11th district (Fairfax/Prince William), Democrat Gerry Connolly supports Metro to, and density at, Tysons; has fought BRAC-related auto-dependent sprawl; supports better bicycle infrastructure, and more. Here's the profile for the primary.

Maryland: Is there anything interesting? What do you think about slots? Anyway, vote.

New York: Vote for Obama on the Working Families Party line (Row E). It counts just the same, but strengthens progressive forces that are working for green jobs, affordable housing, public transportation, and more.

North Carolina: I'll be watching the nail-biter of a Senate race in North Carolina, where Democrat Kay Hagan strongly supports transit. Some extremely controversial and outright false Dole ads in the final days have made this a firestorm and a very close race.

Minnesota: Vote for Al Franken, because he's a really good guy, and so is his family, whom I had the pleasure to get to know while in New York.

California: Two ballot propositions are extremely exciting. As an urbanist, I'm rooting for 1A, which will fund a high-speed rail system from San Francisco to Los Angeles (with future spurs to Sacramento, Irvine and San Diego), giving Californians a sustainable way to traverse their state. As a person who believes in basic human rights, I'm rooting for the defeat of Proposition 8, which will reverse California's recently-won freedom for all couples to marry. That's yes on 1A, no on 8.

Have you voted yet? What other races are you watching around the nation?