All posts from the month of April 2009
Today’s Headlines — 4/23/09
April 23, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
- Oberstar stuck in traffic, misses transportation meeting. (Star Tribune)
- Time is running out for more than eight million public transportation riders in the New York City metropolitan area. (New York Times)
- Most regions only dream of a future in which high-speed rail plays a significant role, but Philadelphia considers itself lucky. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
- Hearings on climate-change bills open this week on Capitol Hill, and now the carbon choices begin. (Christian Science Monitor)
Today’s Headlines — 4/22/09
April 22, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
- Boston’s MBTA is forced to lay off 75 workers because of worsening finances. (Boston Globe)
- Some counties are turning down stimulus money. (Associated Press)
- Obama’s high-speed rail investments promote discussion of standards. (Wall Street Journal)
Webinar Wrap: Housing and Development
April 21, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
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| Download the third and fourth in a series of policy briefs from T4 |
Our third webinar took place last week, and almost 300 people attended the session to hear from development experts on the connections between transportation policy, real estate development, and affordable housing.
- Policy Brief: Transportation and Housing (pdf)
- Policy Brief: Transportation and Development (pdf)
- Audio and video recording of the entire webinar
- Podcast audio file (.mp3)
- Podcast video file (.mp4)
- Sign up for more sessions on the webinars page
With economic crisis putting jobs in jeopardy, homes in foreclosure and entire communities in peril, Americans are facing extraordinary challenges in finding affordable and accessible housing options. Now more than ever, we need federal leadership to help make the critical link between our housing and transportation policies and creating revitalized communities where people can find good places to live and convenient ways to get around.
Shelley Poticha, President and CEO of Reconnecting America and the Center for Transit Oriented Development moderated the discussion and provided an overview of the Transportation for America Campaign.
Christopher Leinberger, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Partner of Arcadia Land Company; discussed the benefits of walkable urbanism and the linkages between land value and transportation systems. Ann Norton, Senior Staff Attorney at the Housing Preservation Project, provided a snapshot of Blueprint planning from the Minneapolis / St. Paul Metropolitan Area that links up transportation and land-use planning. Finally, John McIlwain, Senior Resident Fellow at the Urban Land Institute discussed policy options for locating housing around transportation nodes and creating compact, mixed use, mixed income neighborhoods.
There are still more webinars on tap. The next session is April 30 on Transportation, Public Health and Safety.
Today’s Headlines — 4/21/09
April 21, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
- Spain’s bullet trains, soon to bypass France and Japan’s infrastructure, are rapidly transforming the country. (Wall Street Journal)
- Stimulus spending is even more critical in some areas with desperate need to rebuild infrastructure, improve highway safety and put people back to work. (Washington Post)
- Capitol Hill gears up for big climate week. (Politico)
- Obama’s first 100 days are up against FDR’s. (Los Angeles Times)
- Follow a historic train trip on Twitter. (USA TODAY)
Today’s Headlines — 4/20/09
April 20, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
- CA ponders how we can both encourage cleaner fuels and discourage destructive ones in today’s political environment. (Los Angeles Times)
- A history of high-speed rail. (TIME)
- Obama is still promising an energy bill in 2009. (Reuters)
- San Diego is encouraged by high-speed rail investments and hopes for continued investments in smart transportation for the 21st Century. (San Diego Union Tribune)
Urge your Mayor to join Transportation for America
April 20, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
| Read the letter from the mayors, send it to your mayor and tell them to sign on. |
| MAYORS’ LETTER (.doc) |
| More about our partners |
When we launched our campaign platform in late February, we were fortunate to have Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Mississippi here in Washington, D.C. to deliver the keynote address.
Perhaps better than anyone, mayors understand the impact that Washington’s decisions on transportation spending can have locally. From big cities to small, they see the crumbling infrastructure, congestion, and lack of transportation choices that hamstrings their cities’ ability to compete economically.
Six four mayors have already joined Transportation for America, but we’re looking for more.
Just a few weeks ago, these mayors wrote a letter to President Obama and Congress explaining why they support the campaign. It urged our national leaders to take the opportunity presented by this year’s transportation bill to write something truly transformative — keeping America competitive and keeping all Americans moving.
For a generation, the United States has invested trillions of dollars in a world-class highway system. Today, we need to protect that investment by prioritizing maintenance over expansion while we build out the rest of the system — so that all of America has access to the transportation options needed to compete and thrive in the 21st Century global economy.
Urge your mayor to join the campaign and be one of the first to sign the letter! Download the mayors’ letter, take it to your mayor and tell them to sign it and join Transportation for America as a partner.
The letter was signed by Mayors John Engen of Missoula, MT, Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis, MN, Mayor Patrick McCrory of Charlotte, NC, and Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, MS. (Since then, Mayor Don Ness of Duluth, MN, and Mayor John DeStefano of New Haven, CT have added their names.)
Your mayor can add their name to the letter by filling out the form and returning it to us. Continue reading to see the full text of the letter.
(Continue Reading)
More on today’s high speed rail announcement
April 16, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
President Obama’s remarks from the press conference this morning have been posted on the White House blog. In his remarks, joined by Vice President Biden and Transportation Secretary LaHood, Obama appealed to our national pride and pointed to the benefits that high-speed rail would bring to all Americans:
There’s no reason why we can’t do this. This is America. There’s no reason why the future of travel should lie somewhere else beyond our borders. Building a new system of high-speed rail in America will be faster, cheaper and easier than building more freeways or adding to an already overburdened aviation system — and everybody stands to benefit.
They also posted some details about the corridors eligible for funding, including this map below, which is very similar to an older Department of Transportation map from several years ago.
According to the information from the White House site, the potential corridors eligible for funding are:
- California: San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego
- Pacific Northwest: Eugene, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver, B.C.
- South Central: Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Little Rock
- Gulf Coast Corridor: Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Birmingham, Atlanta
- Chicago Hub Network: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis, Kansas City, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville
- Florida: Orlando, Tampa, Miami
- Southeast: Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Macon, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville
- Keystone: Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh
- Empire: New York, Albany, Buffalo
- Northern New England: Boston, Montreal, Portland, Springfield, New Haven, Albany
Transportation for America released a statement this morning from Campaign Director James Corless in support of the President’s initiative:
We applaud President Obama’s leadership, and look forward to working with him to help shape the sustainable transportation solutions that will bring our system into the 21st Century. It is clear that President Obama and his administration are ready to move America in a new direction. Transportation systems have enormous impacts on the lives of the American people – from our pocket books to climate change, from our household expenses to the global economy.
Americans are increasingly rejecting the status quo in favor of more transportation options that will make our communities more walkable, more energy efficient, more equitable and healthier. The President’s commitment to high speed rail is an important piece of what must be a bold new vision for our national transportation program.
You can watch video of the press conference here, via Politico.com
Transportation for America Applauds President Obama and Department of Transportation’s High-Speed Rail Initiative
April 16, 2009By Transportation for America
| CONTACT: Cosabeth Bullock 202.478.6128 202.904.7466 Cbullock@mrss.com |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2009
Washington, D.C. — James Corless, Director of the Transportation for America campaign, today issued a statement in support of President Barack Obama’s high speed rail initiative:
“Today, President Obama, along with Vice President Biden and Department of Transportation Secretary LaHood, unveiled a plan to connect America’s cities and communities through a network of high-speed and revived conventional rail corridors. While this is only one step in the work needed to modernize the nation’s transportation network, this down payment will expand transportation options for all Americans, spur commerce and economic development and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
“We applaud President Obama’s leadership, and look forward to working with him to help shape the sustainable transportation solutions that will bring our system into the 21st Century. It is clear that President Obama and his administration are ready to move America in a new direction. Transportation systems have enormous impacts on the lives of the American people – from our pocket books to climate change, from our household expenses to the global economy. Americans are increasingly rejecting the status quo in favor of more transportation options that will make our communities more walkable, more energy efficient, more equitable and healthier. The President’s commitment to high speed rail is an important piece of what must be a bold new vision for our national transportation program.”
“We look forward to working with President Obama’s administration and Congress to move beyond the current, 1950s-era federal transportation program and build a safe, clean and smart transportation system for the 21st Century.”
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Obama outlines a 21st-Century vision for high-speed rail
April 16, 2009By Andrew Bielak
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| Are high speed trains no longer just for Europe and Asia? Photo of Rome Centrale Station by T4 supporter Kenneth G. Sislak |
Updated: More details and a statement from T4 posted here
President Obama made headlines this morning by presenting a blueprint for creating a high-speed rail network in the United States.
By articulating this vision, the administration has put to rest any doubts that it is ready to connect our cities and regions with a 21st century network of passenger rail that will make us globally competitive and help us rebuild our economy for the long haul.
The new administration has already made the single biggest investment in high-speed rail by committing $8 billion in the recovery bill passed in February. At his press conference today, President Obama let Americans know that building out a technologically advanced rail network isn’t a pipe-dream — it’s a much-needed strategy for making our economy viable and putting us on the level of other developed countries for train travel:
“A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve,” Obama said in prepared remarks. “High-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”
Aside from simply articulating his administration’s commitment to passenger rail, President Obama announced the release of a new report that shows how we can help protect our climate, strengthen our economy, and regain our competitive edge by building on a set of 100 to 600 mile rail corridors across the U.S.
Geoff Anderson, the president of Smart Growth America and co-chair of Transportation for America, has been working at the front lines for years to help us grow smarter and build better transportation systems, and found much to support in Obama’s statements.
“It’s really exciting that this administration, unlike past administrations, is interested in transportation and will play a role,” Anderson said. “From the American public standpoint that’s an exciting thing, particularly when he has an understanding of how transportation affects us, from our pocket books to climate change, and from households to the global community.”
Today’s Headlines — 04/16/09
April 16, 2009By Andrew Bielak
- Obama takes the morning to focus on the nation’s transportation system. (Washington Post)
- Eight states in the Midwest look to get a portion of the $8 billion in high-speed rail funds from the stimulus. (Associated Press)
- Looking at the intersection of cycling and fashion in New York City. (New York Times)
- Gas prices expected to rise by nine percent over the summer. (Wall Street Journal)
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May 10, 2012 - Graphic: A closer look at the Senate MAP-21 vote by state
March 27, 2012 - Fixing the House bill: Cutting regulatory burdens and bureaucracy
March 15, 2012 - Fixing the House bill: reducing air pollution by providing more travel options
March 13, 2012
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