Tracking congressional transportation lobbying

The Center for Public Integrity has put together an interactive map showing transportation lobbyist spending as Congress debates transportation funding.

Says the Center:

Notorious for earmarks like Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere,” Congress’s funding of transportation is a broken process influenced by special interests, according to the investigation. Interest groups employed 2,100 lobbyists and spent an estimated $45 million to lobby lawmakers on transportation in the first half of 2009 – a spending pace on par with the amount spent lobbying on climate change, the Center found.

The center has done a lot of the heavy lifting, but due to some of the limitations of disclosure, researchers are asking for help from local folks familiar with specific transportation projects, and connections between those projects and lobbyists.

The map is here. They've included some research tips if you scroll down.

UPDATE: The map worked earlier, but it's having problems as of 5:45 p.m. The center says this may be due to updates being made. Give it a few hours.