The good, the bad, and the ugly in the Senate’s long-term transportation bill
Last month, the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works passed a long-term transportation policy bill. Unfortunately, billions of new dollars for the existing system overshadow its notable new programs, like a climate title and Complete Streets requirements. The transportation authorization bill, known as America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act (ATIA), includes a few new, notable, […]
Phoenix voters could take extreme action to kill rail transit
Later this month, Phoenix voters will decide whether to ban all future rail transit investment, putting an abrupt end to light rail expansions and dealing a major blow to the city’s and region’s efforts to create a sense of place, attract talent, and grow the economy.
Why we’re thrilled to support the Build Local, Hire Local Act
Last month, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and Representative Karen Bass (CA-37) introduced legislation that would create transportation accessibility performance measures and a grant program to reconnect communities divided by highways. Last month, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative. Karen Bass (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, introduced the Build Local, Hire Local Act (S. […]
House oversight hearing on transit grants left unanswered questions
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held an oversight hearing on Tuesday, July 16, to question the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) about its ongoing failure to release billions of congressionally-appropriated funds for local transit construction projects in a timely fashion. We still have questions. While Acting FTA Administrator K. Jane Williams provided some answers to […]
Get to know Minnesota’s new Community Vitality Fellow Marcus Young
As announced earlier this week, Marcus Young, a behavioral artist, will be embedded within the Minnesota Department of Transportation for a year serving as an artist-in-residence in a program created by Smart Growth America. Marcus will be taking a fresh look at the agency’s goals to promote economic vitality, improve safety, support multimodal transportation systems, and create healthier communities.
In the Wall Street Journal: Our chairman advocates for long-distance rail
T4America’s chairman, John Robert Smith, starred in a mini-documentary from the Wall Street Journal about Amtrak’s proposal to cut long-distance routes. Smith made the case for saving these routes.
Marcus Young to be Minnesota Department of Transportation’s first Community Vitality Fellow
Transportation for America and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) are excited to announce MnDOT’s inaugural Community Vitality Fellow, Marcus Young. Young will be embedded within the agency for a year in its Saint Paul headquarters where he will serve as an artist-in-residence, taking a fresh look at the agency’s goals to promote economic vitality, improve safety, support multimodal transportation systems, and create healthier communities
Senate Transportation Infrastructure Act makes welcome additions but fails to change the status quo
Today the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works approved America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act, a bill that will reauthorize the FAST Act once it expires in September 2020. T4America director Beth Osborne offered this statement: “This first attempt at reauthorization from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has some notable new additions worth praising, […]
Mayors tell the Senate that transit, biking, and walking are climate change solutions
Testimonies from mayors at a recent Senate hearing showed that cities understand that reducing driving and expanding other transportation options is key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and boosting local economies at the same time. Last week, the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis held their first hearing, which focused on what cities […]
House committee grills USDOT on transit funding delays
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held an oversight hearing to question the Federal Transit Administration about its ongoing failure to release billions of congressionally-appropriated funds for local transit projects in a timely fashion through the transit Capital Investment Grant program.
Federal transit funding delays cause real harm
USDOT has been slow-walking federal transit funding since the Trump administration took office and the U.S. House is finally holding an oversight hearing to hold them accountable. Here’s a look at one major way USDOT is making it look like they’re advancing transit grants when they’re really not and some of the impact that’s had on communities on the ground.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding an oversight hearing on USDOT’s failure to release transit grants
Transportation for America urges the House of Representatives to turn up the heat on USDOT for failing to release funding for transit grants during an oversight hearing on Tuesday, July 16.
The Generating Resilient, Environmentally Exceptional National (GREEN) Streets Act introduced in the Senate today
Today Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced a bill that would measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled. This would be transformative. Transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gases (GHG), contributing 28 percent of the United States’ total GHG emissions. While many other sectors have improved, transportation […]
There’s a reason why Missouri voters twice rejected gas tax increases
Missouri spends more of its transportation budget on building new roads than maintaining its existing roads—23 percent of which are in poor condition. If it did a better job prioritizing maintenance, perhaps it wouldn’t need to ask taxpayers for a bailout. The state of Missouri gets over $1 billion a year from the federal government […]
Announcing our inaugural Arts, Culture and Transportation Fellows
Transportation for America announces its inaugural class of fellows for the new Arts, Culture and Transportation Fellowship to help 11 individuals in four cities take their work at the intersection of arts and transportation to the next level.
Letter urges lawmakers to fully fund transportation this year and rethink the federal transportation program
WASHINGTON, DC – With over 200 signatures from elected officials and organizations, Transportation for America today sent a letter to Congress calling for Members to use fiscal year 2020 appropriations and the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization as two opportunities to fundamentally change the federal transportation program. Transportation for America (T4America) urges Congress to fully fund […]
A major obstacle cleared for bringing new passenger rail service to the Deep South
Almost 14 years since Hurricane Katrina wiped it out, passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast is closer than ever to returning after a vital federal grant was awarded to help fund the capital investments required to bring new and drastically improved passenger rail service back between New Orleans and Mobile, AL, and Transportation for America played a major role.
Gulf Coast passenger rail receives $33 million in federal funding
New Orleans to Mobile passenger service gets a boost BATON ROUGE, LA, June 7, 2019 — The Southern Rail Commission’s efforts to restore passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast received a significant shot in the arm Friday with the long-awaited announcement of a $33 million grant from the Federal Rail Administration (FRA). This federal […]
Try as Trump might, transit grants are here to stay
The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to eliminate a critical transit grant program and Congress has repeatedly parried those attempts. The new transportation funding bill from the U.S. House is only the latest evidence that those transit grants are here to stay.
National transportation policy is a rudderless ship sailing off into oblivion
For well over two decades, we’ve had no big-picture guiding purpose for the federal transportation program. Like a ship with a jammed rudder heading off aimlessly into forever, federal transportation policy has been limping along without an overarching purpose or destination in mind. How does this inertia lead us toward all the wrong things?
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