Today’s Headlines – 12/22/09
December 22, 2009By Sean Barry
Record-breaking snowstorms crippled public transportation over the weekend, particularly in Washington DC, where bus lines were suspended and metro rail limited to underground stations. (WP)
Highway work zones lack basic safety regulations, resulting in hundreds of preventable deaths and 11,000 injuries each year. (NYT)
High unemployment has precipitated a drop in transit usage. (USA Today)
A new 90-minute documentary called “Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City” will look at whether Americans need to rethink how we travel, and debuts in February. (Chicago Tribune)
And, North Texas faces financial hurdles in its efforts to coordinate regional transportation. (Fort Worth Business Press)
Today’s Headlines – 12/18/09
December 18, 2009By Sean Barry
The general manager of DC’s metro system has changed his leadership team and made broader commitments to safety. (WP)
Virginia’s transportation board slashed road and transit funds by $893 million before Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell has even taken office. (WTVR)
An Illinois Congressman who serves on the House Transportation Committee called for quick action on reauthorization. (Southwest News-Herald)
U.S. Pirg’s transportation advocate argues the House jobs bill does too little to lay the groundwork for reform. (HuffPost)
And, AC Transit in the San Francisco Bay Area will be forced to cut service by more than 8 percent. (San Jose Mercury News)
House Jobs Measure Provides Needed Boost for Infrastructure
December 17, 2009By Transportation for America
Changes Needed In Senate to Get Biggest Bang for the Buck
The transportation spending priorities in the jobs bill, set for a vote in the House of Representatives today, will provide much needed short-term funding for our roads, bridges and transit systems that will put Americans to work across the country. These “stopgap” provisions will save and create jobs, and give states and localities the opportunity to start bringing their crumbling transportation systems back into a state of good repair.
Riders of public transportation systems all over the U.S. will benefit in particular from the provision allowing large transit systems to use 10 percent of the $6.15 billion in formula funding for operations, a critical provision during this crisis in transit funding. This emergency operating assistance will save jobs and prevent debilitating fare increases and services cuts that make it more difficult for working people to get where they need to go.
But to get the biggest bang for the buck in job creation and increase accountability for transportation funding, the Senate can make meaningful changes that will focus investments in a smarter more responsible way towards projects that create the most jobs, fastest and build for the long-term health of our economy.
In adjusting the jobs bill the Senate should:
- Include language to ensure the $27.5 billion allocated to the traditional highway program goes towards projects that restore our transportation networks to a state of good repair. The American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated current road repair needs at $94 billion per year. These “fix-it-first” projects are ready to go faster than other projects and create 16 percent more jobs than new highway construction. Unfortunately, the current draft fails to include language ensuring highway money is prioritized to fix crumbling roads and bridges.
- Include funding for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and the Department of Transportation’s High Speed Rail and TIGER programs to create good green jobs modernizing our transportation system and provide significant long-term benefits for the nation. The merit-based investments in the TIGER program increase accountability of spending and ensure we are funding projects that would create the most jobs and deliver the biggest benefits. The $1.5 billion TIGER grants available in the ARRA attracted $57 billion in applications, leaving more than $55 billion unfunded.
- Include workforce development provisions to target new transportation construction jobs to the people who need them most. This can be done by dedicating one percent of all funding for apprenticeship and construction careers programs in the transportation sector and by targeting 30 percent of all construction work hours to local, lower-income workers.
This jobs bill will provide needed funding for transportation projects to stem the tide of continuing job losses. But short-term measures, based on an outmoded, 1950s-era transportation program, simply are not sufficient to meet the economic challenges of the 21st century.
We applaud the House leadership for addressing the short-term needs for job creation while keeping a focus on taking up the successor legislation to the expired SAFETEA-LU law in earnest in this Congress. We look forward to supporting Congress and the Administration in bring about a bold new vision for our transportation program that supports long-term economic growth and creates a safer, cleaner, smarter system for everyone.
Today’s Headlines – 12/17/09
December 17, 2009By Sean Barry
The House passed a jobs bill yesterday that would give $36 billion to roads and transit and extend current transportation law through September 2010. (NYT)
Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed a new rail bill into law, promoting its potential job creation and revenue potential. (St. Petersburg Times)
A Michigan legislator is pushing to integrate the Detroit and suburban bus systems into a regional transit authority. (Detroit Free-Press)
Nebraska’s gas tax will rise by about half a cent under automatic changes in existing law. (Lincoln Journal-Star)
In addition to reducing the need to drive, smart growth policies may also lower emissions in other sectors by preventing cars from being constructed in the first place. (NRDC Blog)
And, the Safe Routes to School initiative has led to more children walking and biking at a relatively low cost. (DOT Fastlane)
Debate panelists split over buses, broader impact of transit investments
December 16, 2009By Sean Barry
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| Albuquerque1 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America |
| The new Rail Runner commuter rail service in New Mexico has been hugely popular, drawing new riders and luring former drivers to the service. |
Monday’s online debate on conservatives and public transportation was billed as a back-and-forth on why the ideological right should embrace public transportation. While differences persisted between our conservative and libertarian panelists about the impact of transit investments, another schism developed over how big a role buses should play.
Monday’s debate hosted by Transportation for America centered around the book Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation, written by conservatives William Lind and the late Paul Weyrich.
Lind used his opening remarks to summarize the book and refute the oft-repeated right-wing argument that public transportation requires government subsidies while automobiles and the roads required to support them are somehow a free-market outcome.
“In fact, the dominance of the automobile is a product of massive government intervention in the marketplace,” Lind said, citing decades of federal support for the interstate highway system as streetcars remained privately operated — resulting in crushingly unfair competition. “Conservatives above all people should know what happens when you subsidize one competitor and tax the other.”
“You’re either investing in (both highways and transit) or subsidizing both,” agreed panelist John Robert Smith, president and CEO of Reconnecting America and former mayor of Meridian, Mississippi. “You can’t have it both ways.”
Sam Staley, director of urban and land use policy at the libertarian Reason Foundation, was the designated mass transit critic of the debate, which he conceded was “probably accurate” but in need of further clarification. Staley is skeptical about the ability of transit to drive economic development or result in major lifestyle changes.
“I definitely think that transit has an important role to play,” Staley said, “but I think we need to be paying a lot more attention to the conditions under which transit works and when it doesn’t.”
Staley cited the Washington D.C. Metro’s Orange Line, saying transit has succeeded in dense, developed areas like Ballston in Northern Virginia but is less effective when those conditions are missing in places like New Carrollton, on the Maryland side of the District. (Didn’t the changes along the Orange line in Virginia come about largely due to that transit investment?)
Despite his misgivings about mass transit in general, Staley found himself in the unlikely position of defending buses from Lind’s attacks. Lind argued most Americans “don’t like riding buses” and that only trolleys or streetcars would persuade choice-riders to give up their cars, to which Staley responded: “If we discount buses, we’re really doing a disservice to transit generally.”
The final panelist, American Public Transportation Association (APTA) president Bill Millar, also defended buses, saying the industry is rapidly adopting new technologies like bus rapid transit and dedicated lanes, which will appeal to drivers.
Panelists answered a number of interesting questions from listeners on topics such as public-private partnerships, rural transit needs and winning over anti-tax conservatives. Overall, despite differences over the role of buses and transit’s ability to influence broader change, panelists agreed on the general importance of public transportation and the need to make practical decisions not rooted in partisanship.
Smith put it well: “As mayor, I never found a pothole or a railroad crossing that identified as a Democrat or a Republican.”
If you missed the webinar or want to listen again, you can do that with any of the links below, or on the webinars page:
- Audio/video of session with presenter slides (click to launch in a new window)
- Full audio file (.mp3)
- Full downloadable video file (.mp4)
- Read more about the Moving Minds book.
- Buy the book from Reconnecting America
House passes short extension of transportation bill, moves to jobs bill
December 16, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
A few hours ago, the House passed a $636 billion defense spending bill that included a two-month extension of the federal transportation law. Don’t count on two months as the final length of an extension though — House members are hedging their bets.
Later today, the House will vote on a separate $174 billion jobs bill. Tucked inside that bill is a longer extension of the 2005 transportation bill that would extend SAFETEA-LU all the way to the end of September 2010.
With the health care logjam preventing the Senate from considering any other meaningful or controversial legislation, House leaders know the chances of the Senate acting on their jobs bill before January are virtually nil. But the Senate is expected to approve the defense spending bill that includes the two-month extension before Christmas. We assume House members hope the Senate will come back from recess and pass the jobs bill with the longer extension early in 2010.
Along with the nine-month extension of SAFETEA-LU, the jobs bill also provides $36.7 billion to states for transportation investments. Elana Schor had an early breakdown on Streetsblog Capitol Hill, but read on below the jump for some details about the money included for transportation.
For the most part, the balance of funding is the same as the economic recovery act (ARRA) from February, with a few notable exceptions. There are no competitive TIGER grants or additional money for high speed rail in this version, but it does include the flexibility to use 10 percent of transit funds on operating assistance to preserve service and jobs.
(Continue Reading)
Secretary Ray LaHood on the the Daily Show with Jon Stewart
December 16, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was the guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night, and got an easy question right off the bat. When asked by Stewart about how a high-powered CEO could get from New York to D.C. “when it’s foggy out,” alluding to the three Wall Street CEOs who had their plane grounded in last week’s fog, missing a meeting with the President, Ray LaHood gave a simple answer.
“Amtrak runs in the fog,” he said.
Watch to the end for LaHood’s plug for the investments in high speed passenger rail. The applause that follows certainly sounded organic — like a group of people who are excited about one day getting to ride speedy passenger rail from city to city.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Ray LaHood | ||||
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Today’s Headlines – 12/16/09
December 16, 2009By Sean Barry
Developing nations could make or break any potential deal that comes out of the Copenhagen climate summit this week. (LA Times)
Big city mayors around the world, including New York City’s Mike Bloomberg, have already signed an ambitious emissions reduction pact. (Bloomberg)
Copenhagen is “walking the walk” on the environment by lighting its Christmas tree through stationary bike pedaling. (WSJ)
The stimulus bill defined “economically distressed areas” so loosely it included every county in California and Arizona. (TNR)
And, New York Governor David Paterson criticized a proposal to phase out free bus and subway rides for half a million student commuters. (City Room)
Today’s Headlines – 12/15/09
December 15, 2009By Sean Barry
Senator Barbara Boxer, chair of a key committee and a leader on climate change, told Copenhagen negotiators “America has already acted” on emissions and that “we are doing more everyday.” (Roll Call)
Yesterday’s T4 America-hosted online debate highlighted a cultural divide over bus versus rail transit. (Streetsblog)
Large-scale use of plug-in hybrid cars is still several decades away, according to a new analysis by the National Research Council. (Green Inc.)
Houston Mayor-elect Annise Parker plans to take an active role in transportation, including completion of a new light rail line. (Houston Chronicle)
And, soaring health care costs have contributed to painful cuts at the San Francisco Bay Area’s bus system. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Still time to register for today’s discussion on conservatives and public transportation
December 14, 2009By Sean Barry
What is the conservative rationale for providing efficient public transportation? Some conservatives would likely suggest that the entire concept is an oxymoron. Conservatives William Lind and the late Paul Weyrich believe otherwise.
This is the final post in a three-part series on Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation, the subject of an online debate later today (at 3 p.m. Eastern, register now!) Panelists include co-author Lind, mass transit critic Sam Staley, director of urban and land use policy at the Reason Foundation; John Robert Smith, president and CEO of Reconnecting America and former mayor of Meridian, Mississippi; and Bill Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
The authors identify four elements to their conservative vision for good public transport: coverage, frequency, ease of connection and a preference for rail over buses.
In a previous post, we noted the community-building element of public transportation and how that exemplified a conservative value few would fault. There is also the element of preserving — or, in some cases, reviving — what has worked in the past. Many of America’s greatest cities not only have a tradition of robust transportation infrastructure, but they also contain a historic built environment with untapped potential.
“As conservatives, we want to revive America’s older, industrial cities,” the authors note. “Older cities have lots of infrastructure that can be built on. Conservatives prefer building on what exists to creating vast systems from nothing (at vast cost).”
While lining up with many traditional conservative principles, the notions of preserving resources, building on existing traditions and making good use of what we have are goals most can support.
As conservatives, Weyrich and Lind do not speak the language of visionary social programs and even say they “desire no new technology.” Yet they reach the same conclusion as others in increasing public transportation investment as a means to achieve both economic and social ends.
We hope you’ll join us at 3 p.m. today.
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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
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