The transportation bill currently making its way through the House of Representatives sure does suck. It strips funds from safe streets projects and public transit, and dumps that money on highways instead. Which is all more or less what we’ve come to expect of GOP-sponsored bills — except this one’s so bad it’s even alienating Republicans.
Streetsblog spoke to several Republican representatives who said they were having grave doubts about the bill in its current form. A representative (ha) quote, from Rep. Steven LaTourette of Ohio:
In its current formation there are lots of things we don’t like about it. If it’s not changed drastically, we’re not going to support it. …
Infrastructure used to be something that was widely popular among both parties, and for some reason over the last few Congresses, they’ve become highly polarized.
Slightly less surprisingly, Rep. Bob Turner, whose district covers parts of Queens and Brooklyn, also opposes the bill. (Slightly more surprising is the fact that Queens and Brooklyn elected a Republican.)
Transportation for America is encouraging people to contact their representatives and call on them to vote against the bill.
