Transportation is about more than mode choice, it can be a nasty fight to the death. The winning technology or manufacturer stands to make millions–even billions–while the losers often slink away into obscurity. As America gears up for a transportation revolution, a future in which renewable energy takes center stage, a pit fight is already underway.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants to give bikes the same rights as cars, Senate Republicans will fight any climate bill legislation that comes their way, electric cars attempt to squeeze out their gas counterparts and Michael Bloomberg will do everything in his power to give New York back to its pedestrians. While the fights aren’t always evenly-matched, they’re always entertaining. Here is our Alt8 Top Transportation Showdowns of 2010.

Ray Lahood vs. Gas-Fueled Cars: President Obama’s Transportation Secretary has been one of the biggest proponents of alternative transit. In fact, LaHood famously said that the government was going to give bicycling and walking the same importance as automobiles in transportation planning and federal funds. While announcing nearly $300 million in federal money that would go towards building streetcars, bus rapid transit, bike projects and other initiatives, LaHood said, “This investment by the Obama Administration in our nation’s communities will create jobs, boost economic development and recovery, and further reduce our dependence on oil. Our goals are to provide cleaner, safer, and more efficient ways to get around.” Of course, truckers yelled in protest. Rep. Steve LaTourette, (R-OH) mockingly asked, “So is it his thought that perhaps we’re going to have, like, rickshaws carrying cargo from state to state, or people with backpacks?”

Advantage: Ray LaHood

Senate Republicans vs. Energy Bill
Where does one begin with the state of the energy bill? The bill that was passed in Congress with great promise, made absolutely no headway in the Senate. Any possibility of a carbon cap initiative was, of course, out of the window, but even a limited bill directed only at capping emissions at power plants didn’t make it through. The only thing that we saw got passed was a bipartisan bill that dealt with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and few other fuel efficiency upgrades. “We don’t have a single Republican to work with us,” Senate majority leader Harry Reid complained. Though the GOP didn’t help the cause, the Democrats were pretty spineless as well. They let the Republicans control the conversation and convince the public that this was a “national energy tax,” which would kill jobs and cost the average household more money in terms of electricity bills and fuel. From our perspective everyone but big oil would have won from the bill, and in the end – they were the only ones that did.

Advantage: Senate Republicans

Bike Riders vs. Drivers
The perennial nemeses, bikers and drivers were back in the forefront this year, with a town banning biking, a gubernatorial candidate calling bike sharing a U.N. conspiracy, and on the other hand New York City attempting to convert miles of roadway into bike lanes and pedestrian walkways. In fact, parts of the city along Times Square and Herald Square have been entirely cut off from cars. Clearly, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s methods have worked given that bike riding has increased by 28 percent in the city in the past year. But New York isn’t alone: In fact city officials, and advocates across the country have rallied for more livable streets and from 2000 to 2007, bicycle commuting in Chicago increased 203%; from 2005 to 2008, there was a 104% increase in Philadelphia; and since 2006 there has been a 53% increase in San Francisco. And while driver frustrations against cyclists who don’t follow the laws are justifiable, overall bike related accidents have actually gone done. In fact, study after study says that an increase in bike lanes actually makes the streets safer for everyone.

Advantage: Tie

Light Rail vs. Bus Rapid Transit
The argument for or against either system is actually purely based on money and time. Most reports show that BRTs cost about half the amount of a light rail system, are much less expensive to maintain and take very little time to maintain. On the other hand, light rail systems, because they are permanent structures, do more to encourage transit-oriented development. Besides, they have a far more reliable, sexier image – which helps when you’re trying to get drivers to leave their cars at home. Frankly, if a city has the money, a light rail system would work well in the long run, but given the current state of our infrastructure it makes far more sense to at least get a BRT system up and going.

Advantage: Bus Rapid Transit

Biofuels vs. Conservation
Biofuels producers would like to have you believe that the only way forward is to switch from petroleum to renewable alternatives today. They’re right and wrong. Americans waste more energy through leaking windows and inefficient home heating devices than flows through the Alaska oil pipeline each year. Meanwhile the problems with biofuels are many: They need for arable land, water to grow crops, and often, the same unsustainable diesel or petroleum for fertilizer and to power farm machinery. Chief offenders are palm oil-, corn ethanol- and soy-based fuel alternatives that carve up pristine forests or deprive human bellies of edible crops on the quest to provide renewable energy.
The USDA has set a goal of 36 billion gallons of biofuels production by 2022, meanwhile Americans burn 20 million barrels (840,000,000 gallons) of oil per day.

Advantage: Conservation.

Internal Combustion vs. Hybrids
The internal combustion isn’t sexy, but it does its job well. While hybrid technology might be all the rage, hybrids make up just one percent of the global vehicle market, and that number is expected to grow to three percent over the next decade, said John Voelcker of Green Car Reports. Hybrid engines add significantly to the cost of ownership, though they help realize considerable fuel savings. However, today’s internal combustion engines are much more efficient than their predecessors, and much more widespread than hybrid technology, which means they will doing most of the “greening,” of the vehicle fleet while still huffing petrol fumes.

Advantage: Internal Combustion

Nissan LEAF vs. The Chevy Volt
A new generation of clean cars is heading to America’s driveways and garages, when two of the world’s largest automakers, General Motors and Nissan, begin widespread sales of the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF this autumn.

While the rivalry between the two has its fun moments, GM thinks they have the superior clean car because of their range-extending gasoline engine quells range anxiety, while Nissan’s LEAF is zero emissions and qualifies for a host of government incentives to encourage clean car ownership. Both OEMs see the new cars as integral to the future of their companies, but production will not exceed 50,000 units per year for the next three years, so don’t bet the farm on either.

Advantage: Tie

High Speed Rail vs. Everybody
To hear people talk about high speed rail in American, you could be forgiven for thinking passenger rail cars were carrying toxic waste and blood thirsty zombies. Wendell Cox has called American high speed rail ‘The Runaway Subsidy’ train, while Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker has staked his political career on opposition to the Midwest High Speed Rail Initiative, launching a campaign website www.notrain.com. High speed passenger rail is a slow-moving target is because, even by conservative estimates, it will enter revenue service in 10 years, and the more than $10 billion in rail funds that has been committed by the Obama administration, but this is just a drop in the bucket. Virtually no one in America has ridden on high speed train, so they don’t know what they’ve signed up for. Expect attitudes to change significantly when the first trains begin operation.

Advantage: High Speed Rail.