Daily Headlines — 07/31/09
July 31, 2009By Masood Habib
- ‘Cash for Clunkers‘ runs out of money after only days. (New York Times)
- After House approval, Senate OKs $7 billion for Highway Trust Fund. (AP)
- CDC report recommends complete streets policy to fight obesity. (Streetsblog)
- President Obama’s nominee to head the Surface Transportation Board, which approves rail mergers and decides rate disputes between shippers and railroads, aims to look into rail freight pricing. (Wall Street Journal)
Want Congress to know what your commute is like? Take ‘em to work with you!
July 30, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
In just a matter of days, your members of Congress will be turning off the lights in the House and Senate chambers, allowing their DC staffers to stop their 80-hour workweeks, and heading back home to your states and districts. Debates over health care and climate change will still be ringing in their ears as they meet constituents back home before returning in September.
But what about the looming transportation crisis? Will they be spending much time back at home talking about that?
This summer, as you’re stuck in traffic, squeezing into your carpool, feeling the minutes tick away as you wait for the always-late bus, or pedaling your way through dangerous intersections to put in a hard day’s work, too many legislators are unaware of what commuting each day means for their constituents.
That’s why we’re asking our elected officials to give their drivers a week off, leave their first-class tickets at home, and join our Take Your Legislator to Work Challenge!
For the Challenge, T4 America and some of our 350+ local partners will be organizing to ask your member of Congress or other prominent state leaders to leave their cars and first class flights at home for a week and ride the same carpools, trains, buses, subways, or bikes their constituents use everyday to get where they need to go. Maybe once they’ve seen what things are like on the ground and how limited your options are, they’ll be ready to talk about a truly reformed transportation bill when they come back to Washington in September.
The T4 America campaign is also going to be asking some notable leaders and individuals here in DC that aren’t going anywhere for the summer to take part in our Challenge. Check back right here on the blog for latest news on legislators that are participating or what you can do to help persuade them to join up, and hopefully, we can get a few of them to write or tweet about their experiences for us.
Cash for Clunkers already headed to the scrap pile?
July 30, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
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| Rusty and McQueen from Pixar’s CARS |
UPDATED (7/31, or less than 24 hours later): Acting faster than anyone probably thought Congress was capable of, the House approved an influx of $2 billion in additional funding today to the program to keep it going. The Senate is scheduled to take up the measure next week.
The government’s new Cash For Clunkers program (C.A.R.S) has been active for less than a week, but it looks to be heading for a premature end. The Associated Press is already reporting that the the Department of Transportation has been making calls to legislators to let them know that they’re planning to suspend the program at midnight tonight. (Thursday 7/30)
Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns about large backlogs in the processing of the deals in the government system, prompting the suspension.
A survey of 2,000 dealers by the National Automobile Dealers Association found about 25,000 deals had not yet approved by NHTSA, or nearly 13 trades per store. It raised concerns that with about 23,000 dealers taking part in the program, auto dealers may already have surpassed the 250,000 vehicle sales funded by the $1 billion program.
There is still the possibility that the program could be extended with another infusion of cash, which the AP story does not mention.
The relative merits of the program and the effect on actually having any impact on improving fleet vehicle mileage have been debated elsewhere, but it was clearly a popular program during its first week in existence. (Did you see the TV commercials?) But as Elana Schor over at Streetsblog Capitol Hill pointed out the other day, some experts claimed that only a marginal number of cars would be bought that wouldn’t have been purchased regardless.
While the DOT estimates that as many as 250,000 autos will be scrapped before the initial infusion of cash runs out, car industry forecasters at Edmunds.com believe only 50,000 extra sales will result, leaving the taxpayers with a whopping $20,000 bill for every new car purchased.
What’s the impact of the Highway Trust Fund patch or an extension of the current bill?
July 30, 2009By Lilly Shoup
UPDATED 7/30: The Senate passed the $7 billion patch late this afternoon by a 79-17 vote. All 4 amendments failed, so the identical bill has been approved by both chambers and now heads to President Obama’s desk for signature.
With the House passing a $7 billion patch for the Highway Trust Fund yesterday afternoon to keep it from running out of money before September, we thought it might be useful to post a brief Q&A about the trust fund patch and how the full six-year transportation authorization bill could be affected. The $7 billion patch now moves to the Senate for a vote, probably this afternoon, before reaching President Obama’s desk. The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) provides funds for the federal portion of transportation projects.
If the patch is approved by the Senate, Congress will then be is now facing a much bigger decision before the current transportation bill expires on September 30th: pass a new six-year transportation bill, or pass a short- or long-term extension of SAFETEA-LU, the existing transportation bill.
What is the short-term patch and who supports it?
The short-term patch would repair the trust fund insolvency through a $7 billion cash infusion into the HTF. The funds would be transferred from the General Fund before Congress goes on recess in August and would ensure that states can continue to obligate transportation funds through September 30th, 2009. The patch would address the funding shortfall due to declining gas tax revenues that are no longer sufficient to cover the federal portion of transportation projects.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar supported this option and testified before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on July 23rd asking for the $3 billion patch. (That patch has since been increased to $7 billion to match the Senate’s preferred amount.)
How does this relate to the upcoming expiration of SAFETEA-LU on September 30th?
With this cash infusion Congress could continue to focus on pushing the authorization of a new 6-year surface transportation bill this September. The original $3 billion figure was based on recent estimates made by DOT but both the White House and DOT officials have expressed concern that $5-7 billion is a more accurate figure needed to keep the HTF solvent through September. (The House passed a $7 billion patch.)
What is the extension and who supports it?
An extension would continue SAFETEA-LU policies and funding guarantees for a specified amount of time to allow Congress and the Administration to continue working on a full 6-year comprehensive bill. A proposed 18-month extension would extend SAFETEA-LU to March 2011. Numerous Senators have stated their preference for an 18-month extension, which is also currently supported by the White House. On July 23rd the Senate Banking Committee became the third Senate committee to approve an 18-month extension bill. Congress is also considering the possibility of a short-term extension of 3, 6, or 12 months in lieu of a longer-term extension.
How would the extension be funded and how does it address the near-term shortfall in HTF funds?
An extension of SAFETEA-LU for any length of time would be paid through gas taxes and a possible General Fund infusion. (More funding from some source would certainly be required, as gas taxes do not cover the current funding levels.)
The Senate Financing Committee Chairman Max Baucus released a funding proposal (S. 1474) on July 21st that would maintain the HTF’s solvency throughout an 18-month extension. This provision will transfer $26.8 billion from the General Fund to transportation ($22 billion to HTF, $4.8 billion to the mass transit account). The fund transfer will begin in time to provide near-term funding (through August) before HTF reaches insolvency.
Any questions? Ask away in the comments and we’ll try to answer.
Daily Headlines — 07/30/09
July 30, 2009By Masood Habib
- House approves $7 billion for Highway Trust Fund. (Washington Post)
- How climate change might affect the future of transportation. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- AFL-CIO says we can’t wait for 2011 for a new transportation bill and enthusiatically support Rep. DeFazio’s proposal for taxing oil securities. (AFL Blog via Streetsblog)
- Concern that “Cash for Clunkers” may already be running out of money. (Bloomberg)
- New York City council passes a bill requiring buildings to allow access for bicycles. (New York Times)
Can we cut the carbon emissions from transportation in half by 2050?
July 30, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
If we’re serious about reducing CO2 emissions, with nearly a third (28%) of our greenhouse gas emissions coming from the transportation sector, the question won’t be should we try to get cuts from transportation, but rather, what cuts can we get from transportation? Moving Cooler, a new report released this week by a collection of groups, studies that question in depth and demonstrates how we can clean the atmosphere while also reducing our oil dependency, expanding our options for living and getting around and making transportation more affordable overall.
T4 America is currently focused on making sure that a share of revenues generated by the climate bill will be directed into cleaner transportation choices, but there’s been some question about exactly which strategies and investments will be the best bet for getting the cuts we need to meet our ambitious targets.
Building on the 2008 release of Growing Cooler, which showed how increases in driving and population would wipe out gains in fuel mileage technology, Moving Cooler makes the case that we need to look beyond the idea that newer, more efficient cars or low-carbon fuels will be enough on their own to achieve the big reductions we’ll need to meet our targets. What other strategies can we employ to get there from here?
The report looks at “bundles” of different techniques for reducing emissions from transportation — like road pricing, intelligent transportation systems, increased public transportation, pay-as-you-drive insurance, and making walking and biking safer and more convenient, to name a few — and finds that we could cut transportation emissions by as much as 47 percent if we employed all the tools examined in Moving Cooler.
Implementing some of these strategies would help cut emissions, but also provide Americans with numerous other benefits.
Offering more good options for living and getting around while using less oil will reduce our individual and national vulnerability to disruptions in either the oil supply or the climate. Giving more people the opportunity to drive less to accomplish daily tasks is essential to any long-lasting strategy. The best message from this report is that we can increase personal choice and freedom without imposing unnecessary hardships.
Growing Cooler showed that people living in more efficient, less automobile dependent environments drive about a third less, on average. Meeting the growing demand for more housing and travel choices would reduce driving and become a significant factor in fighting climate change.
Moving Cooler shows how a combination of public investment and market forces can unleash the private sector to help reduce our carbon footprint and reduce oil dependency by giving people the types of transportation choices they are increasingly looking for.
Daily Headlines — 07/29/09
July 29, 2009By Masood Habib
- New report concludes we can cut carbon emissions in half by 2050. (New York Times)
- The House could move as early as today to vote on a $5 billion patch for the highway trust fund. (Reuters)
- Meanwhile, the Federal Highway Administration warns that funding to states may start to wane unless congress acts quickly. (Journal of Commerce)
- States, such as Virginia, struggle with ways to pay for large deficits in transportation funding. (Washington Post)
- Transportation for America launches it’s Montana campaign today! (Billings Gazette)
Cellphones and texting pose great risks behind the wheel
July 28, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
Last week, the New York Times covered the news that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration decided in 2003 not to release preliminary data showing that talking on cellphones while driving — whether using a hands-free device or not — posed a safety risk nearly equivalent to drunk driving. Researchers at the NHTSA were pushing for a more extensive research program to follow their preliminary research, but due to what the Times cited as “political considerations,” not only was the extra study and research not ordered, but the existing findings were essentially buried.
The memos, research and draft letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta were released to The Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen via a Freedom of Information request, who sent them to the Times.
The NHTSA officials were encouraged to stick to their mission of information-gathering and to avoid lobbying states to pass laws restricting cellphones in any way. But what good is information gathering when the results don’t leave the agency, much less find their way into the hands of lawmakers or state legislators?
The news in the Times‘ Driven to Distraction series only got worse yesterday.
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute is releasing a peer-reviewed report showing that truckers who text message while driving were 23 times more likely to crash. The study outfitted tractor-trailer drivers with cameras to study their behavior and found that “in the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices — enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field.”
Tom Dingus, director of the Virginia Tech institute, one of the world’s largest vehicle safety research organizations, said the study’s message was clear.
“You should never do this,” he said of texting while driving. “It should be illegal.”
Most shocking perhaps was the closing story. If you happen to live near Windham, Maine, you might want to keep an eye out, though this sort of behavior is more common than one might think. According to a survey of 2,501 drivers in the story, “21 percent of drivers said they had recently texted or e-mailed while driving,”
“It’s convenient,” said Robert Smith, 22, a recent college graduate in Windham, Me., who says he regularly texts and drives even though he recognizes that it is a serious risk. He would rather text, he said, than take time on a phone call.
“I put the phone on top of the steering wheel and text with both thumbs,” he said, adding that he often has exchanges of 10 messages or more. Sometimes, “I’ll look up and realize there’s a car sitting there and swerve around it.”
Mr. Smith, who was not part of the AAA survey, said he was surprised by the findings in the new research about texting.
“I’m pretty sure that someday it’s going to come back to bite me,” he said of his behavior.
Montana Citizen Groups and Organizations Join Call to Invest in 21st Century Transportation System
July 28, 2009By Transportation for America
| Contact: Elizabeth Andrews (406) 459—1377 eandrews@mrss.com |
| Release Materials for Download: FULL RELEASE KIT (.zip) |
| Press Release (pdf) Montana Partner list (pdf) AARP Transportation and Aging fact sheet (pdf) Graph of Montana Population Projection (pdf) |
| T4 Blueprint: Route to Reform (pdf) T4 Rural Policy Brief (pdf) T4 Equity Policy Brief (pdf) T4 Health Policy Brief (pdf) T4 Development Policy Brief (pdf) |
Helena – Today organizations from across Montana joined in announcing the Montana Campaign of Transportation for America (T4 America) to help launch an aggressive statewide effort to advocate for fundamental changes to our federal transportation program.
The Montana coalition — including 33 groups and mayors — of the national campaign brought together organizational leaders to share why they are getting involved and their vision for the upcoming federal transportation bill, which they feel has the opportunity to improve health, increase access to essential services, and create jobs in Montana, while investing in a transportation system that makes Montana citizens healthier, safer, and more prosperous.
Today, speakers at a media conference shared their reasons for involvement in transportation issues and why they are getting involved in this campaign. Several speakers spoke in favor of T4 America’s Blueprint for Reform and emphasized the critical importance of transformational change to the status quo, as soon as possible. Others underscored the importance of being bold and forward thinking in the new transportation bill, reminding attendees that, “we should strive for a truly transformational transportation bill.”
“Expanded transportation choices including more walkable, bikeable and transit friendly communities that can increase opportunities for physical activity and reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, asthma, and other health threats,” shared Dr. Robert Shepard, Medical Director with New West Health Services. He added that “Communities that make walking, bicycling and riding the bus as easy and convenient as driving have healthier and more active populations, yet our transportation policy and design guidelines remain excessively focused on a single transportation mode, contributing to increasingly sedentary lifestyles, poorer air quality and associated health problems.”
“Affordable, active, easy to use and flexible transportation options are essential for accessing health care services, establishing and maintaining social and family contacts, staying healthy and preserving independence and general well-being,” said Saundra Lowry with the Area IV Agency on Aging. “People age 65 and older are the fastest growing demographic in the state — this means that an increasing proportion of our population, because of where they live and the lack of transportation alternatives such as public transportation and walkable communities — is at risk of becoming isolated and immobile if they are unable to get around.”
“Access to jobs, schools, shopping, and critical community services is vital for Montanans living in small cities and towns, and rural communities, but all too often there aren’t options for getting around, forcing families to drive long distances on poorly maintained roads to reach everyday destinations,” said Barbara Stiffarm with Opportunity Link. “We need to preserve our existing transportation network and provide adequate transportation alternatives for our communities, otherwise we run the risk of leaving Montanans in these areas isolated from essential services and economic opportunity.”
“Healthy transportation options and networks not only accommodate access and mobility needs but are a key determinant of quality of community life,” said Melanie Reynolds with the Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department and the Association of Montana Public Health Officials. “We need federal leadership to help make the critical link between health, safety, and transportation policies and create communities that promote active living, reduce pollution levels, increase accessibility, and ensure safety for all transportation users.”
“We are hearing from community members and organizations across Montana that folks want healthy, clean, safe and sustainable transportation choices, both within and between communities; choices that will help get them to and from their jobs, affordable housing, healthcare and education and recreational opportunities,” said C.B. Pearson, the Montana Representative for Transportation for America Campaign. “There is a growing demand for aggressive local, statewide and national policy, as well as, increased political will of local, statewide, and national elected officials to change the way we do transportation in Montana and across the country.”
In the coming months, the Montana Transportation for America Campaign plans to work with the congressional delegation to ensure that we create an accountable, performance-based national transportation bill that gives Montanans and the rest of our country healthier options and makes our streets and communities safer.
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| Click to enlarge this image, or download it as a full-size PDF |
| Transportation for America Montana Campaign Partners (As of July 28, 2009) Download this list (pdf) |
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“More transportation options will help people of all income levels avoid high gas costs and driving frustrations, make it easier to find an affordable home with access to jobs, and strengthen our cities, small towns and rural economies…now is the time for those of us who want healthy, safe and sustainable transportation choices to be working together to influence not only local policy, but one of the most important pieces of legislation in our country…one that will profoundly shape how we travel to jobs, health care services and educational and recreational opportunities in the future.” Lisa Ballard of Current Transportation Solutions “Montana community trails are a cornerstone of our community’s quality of life, and a small but important step along our nation’s path to energy independence and a healthier future…achieving this future is going to require significant investment in a diversified transportation system that balances roads, transit and bicycle/pedestrian facilities.” Ted Lange with the Gallatin Valley Land Trust “Montana and the nation need a transportation policy for the 21st Century that includes better funding for public transit, complete streets, and filling in and expanding our commuter, recreation and bike/pedestrian trails…we believe there has never been a better opportunity to voice our support for such ideas than this year as the federal transportation bill is up for renewal.” Jackie Corday from Missoula Parks & Recreation |
Daily Headlines — 07/28/09
July 28, 2009By Masood Habib
- June was a good month for the stimulus; nearly 50,000 jobs created or sustained by water and transportation projects. (Reuters)
- Three potential scenarios for what may happen with the transportation bill this week. (Streetsblog)
- A more in depth look at the ‘hidden’ report on the dangers of driving while using a cellphone. (New York Times)
- More lanes not the answer on Maryland’s heavily congested I-270. (Baltimore Sun)
- While Midwest governors meet to discuss plans for high-speed rail (USA Today), economists discuss whether the costs outweigh the benefits of rail plans. (New York Times)
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- Transit grants out the federal door, but what about the cuts?
March 8, 2010 - Transit riders in Atlanta face massive cuts, “wholesale restructuring” of service
March 5, 2010 - Opposition to Senate extension results in looming shutdown of federal transportation programs
February 26, 2010 - T4 jobs proposal would create nearly half a million jobs, according to Economic Policy Institute
February 17, 2010 - Obama’s 2011 budget gives a lift to livability and transportation
February 2, 2010
- Transit grants out the federal door, but what about the cuts?
The United States of Transit Cutbacks
Driving is down and transit ridership is at record highs. Yet transit agencies across the country are considering layoffs, service cuts and fare hikes. Find out more and learn what you can do to help at t4america.org/transitcuts
Transportation: In your eyes
Send us your transportation-related photos.
