Thursday, October 20, 2011

McCain Anti-Squirrel & Highway Coffee Pot Measure Defeated

The U.S. Senate yesterday defeated a bid by Sen. John McCain to stop funneling federal funds to transportation museums, highway beautification and preservation of historic bridges.

McCain claimed that money needed to repair rundown roads was being diverted to projects like squirrel sanctuaries and car museums, but Senators said his measure would block Amtrak's use of many historic rail stations and the preservation of icons like New York's Brooklyn Bridge and New England's covered bridges.

McCain said recipients of money under the current program have included things as odd as a giant coffee pot. My favorite quote: "I'm a coffee drinker, and so I think a coffee pot is pretty nice," McCain said. But he added, "The fact is we have deficient bridges. We have highways that need repairs." Hmmm... he's got a point there.

For the full story, read this Seattle Times story.

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About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.