Transportation For America » Tell your Senator to sponsor the Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009 (S.1036)

Tell your Senator to sponsor the Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009 (S.1036)

May 29, 2009
By Stephen Lee Davis

Would you believe that the United States of America has no overarching strategy that determines when, how, or where transportation dollars are spent? No plan. No vision. No goal. Senators Lautenberg and Rockefeller are trying to change that.

A few weeks ago, they introduced a bill that sets a bold new vision for federal transportation policy that’s in line with our goals for reform: building a cleaner, smarter, safer system that provides more travel choices for all Americans. But their bill — and real reform — needs the support of many more senators to become the law of the land. Ask yours to become cosponsors of the Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009 today.

In contrast to the transportation bills passed since 1991, this bold bill lays out clear guidelines for exactly what the next five-year federal transportation spending plan should accomplish, and several of Transportation for America’s proposals from our recently-released Blueprint were echoed clearly in the legislation.

Reduce delay per capita by 10 percent,
Reduce national motor vehicle-related fatalities by 50 percent, and
Reduce national surface transportation-generated carbon dioxide levels by 40 percent, all by the year 2030.

If we’re going to get a truly transformative transportation bill in 2009, getting a large number of Senators to support this smart, principled bill would be a huge step in the right direction. As Sen. Frank Lautenberg told the Washington Post, “a national surface transportation policy for our country is long overdue. We need a transportation policy that reestablishes our leadership throughout the world when it comes to transportation — and meets our country’s transportation demands for generations to come.”

Write your Senator and tell them to cosponsor this important legislation today.