Despite it’s suspicious title — the DRIVE (Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy) Act — the new federal transportation bill proposed by the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee “is not as big a disaster as you might think” to quote Streetsblog. The story goes on to explain that the new 6-year bill is neither a step forward nor a step back, mainly continues existing policies related to streets and highways, and does not include the transit title, which will be drafted by the Banking Committee soon.

Of special interest locally, the story notes that while the previous federal bill expanded the TIFIA loan program (which is financing some LA transit projects) from $122 million to $1 billion, this bill would trim it back to $650 million and add in eligibility for transit-oriented development projects.

Note that the national advocacy organization Transportation for America is asking that you call U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and ask them to support 3 amendments that will strengthen the role of locals in the DRIVE Act. There’s more info here: http://t4america.org/2015/06/23/senates-new-transportation-bill-is-a-good-start-but-more-should-be-done-for-local-communities-2/ And here is T4America's statement on the bill.