Stimulus creates jobs in areas with low unemployment

Communities with the highest unemployment rates are receiving the least amount of transportation stimulus dollars, according to an AP analysis of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects. The analysis revealed that "states are planning to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than in communities with the highest." The money is being doled out to projects that are ready to go, which leaves out projects in struggling communities that haven't been able to fund the preparation and plans required.

The billions in transportation stimulus dollars that President Barack Obama promoted as a way to create jobs shortchange counties that need the work the most, an Associated Press analysis has found.

The AP's review of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects nationwide is the most complete picture available of where states plan to spend the first wave of highway money. It reveals that states are planning to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than in communities with the highest. The Transportation Department said it will attempt to replicate the AP's analysis as it continues pressing states to dole out money fairly.

One result among many: Elk County, Pa., isn't receiving any road money despite its 13.8 percent unemployment rate. Yet the military and college community of Riley County, Kan., with 3.4 percent unemployment, will benefit from about $56 million to build a highway, improve an intersection and restore a historic farmhouse.

More here.

It's a bird. It's a plane. It should be public.

The National Transportation Safety Board took a stance against the Federal Aviation Administration's plans to close data on bird and airplane collisions, the AP reported. In a letter to the FAA, the board wrote, "This lack of information could hamper efforts to understand the nature and potential effects of wildlife threats to aviation and hinder the development of mitigations for those threats."

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he intends to overrule the Federal Aviation Administration on its plan to keep secret data on where and when collisions between birds and airplanes occur.

LaHood told The Washington Post in an interview published Wednesday on its Web site that the public deserves to have access to the information and that the Transportation Department will be making an announcement soon.

Earlier Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board released a letter strongly disagreeing with the FAA's plan.

More here.