T4America Blog

Kicking off “Transportation Vote 2012”

Local communities across the country are preparing to vote on the people, plans and projects that will set the tone for transportation progress in the months and years to come — with many communities already showing us how it’s done. Transportation Vote 2012 will help educate voters, advocates and candidates and keep abreast of transportation-related campaigns as they unfold.

As the House and Senate struggle to come to agreement over renewing the federal program, local governments and voters are feeling urgency about the state of our infrastructure. And voters across the political spectrum are supportive of spending their money on improving it – despite an ongoing a fiscal crisis and the anti-government rhetoric that permeates political discourse.

With maintenance needs growing along with population and travel demand, local governments increasingly are asking voters to approve ballot measures to fund transportation – and usually succeeding.

What is Transportation Vote 2012?

For the next six or seven months, we’ll be offering a series of online presentations, including interviews with experts and lessons we’ve learned, that will help individuals and non-profit groups talk about transportation effectively; engage in educating candidates around transportation reform and infrastructure investment; understand why and how local transportation ballot measures are winning at the polls. We’ll be sharing inspiring success stories from other communities; profiling local leaders and communities who are showing Congress how it’s done.

Whether covering the upcoming historic transportation ballot measure in Atlanta, telling the story of St. Louis’ successful transit referendum that saved their bus service and expanded rail transit in 2010, showing you what you can do in an election, or highlighting a spate of candidates making transportation a key issue in a local election, we’re going to equip you to get more engaged and help improve transportation decisions in your community.

Join us for the first presentation. Free and open to the public.

This first Transportation Vote 2012 online presentation is coming up next Thursday May 17th at 2 PM EDT, so register today and save the date. It’s completely free and open to the public — not just T4 America coalition members or supporters.

Do you work for a non-profit organization and want to raise the profile of transportation issues during the election but are unsure of the “do’s and don’ts” when engaging in educational activities around an election? For this first event, we’re going to talk about the types of educational activities that 501(c)3 non-profit organizations can legally engage in around the elections to raise the profile of transportation.

Join us May 17 at 2 p.m. EDT for “Transportation Vote 2012: Engaging in Elections for Non-Profit Organizations.”

And look for the TV2012 banner above on the T4 America website to mark more coverage and events, coming soon!