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Member Weekly News Bulletin 12-16-2016

Nat’l & policy

Infrastructure may take a back seat to Obamacare, taxes–Politico Morning Transportation

“LOWER ON THE PRIORITY LIST: Investment in infrastructure may take a back seat to Republicans’ plans to repeal Obamacare and overhaul the tax code during the first nine months of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. When asked Wednesday about how large of a stimulus Trump wants to propose, Reince Priebus pivoted to talking about the GOP’s health care and tax ambitions, which he said will come first”

 

Trump’s Infrastructure Strategy Has Produced Uneven Results in States–Governing Magazine

“In late-October, before a restless crowd in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Republican-elect Donald Trump laid out the closing argument of his campaign. “What follows is my 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again,” he declared, enumerating legislative and executive actions that were punctuated by applause from the crowd. His agenda rested on the familiar pillars of his campaign — building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, renegotiating trade deals and repealing the Affordable Care Act. It also touched on his ambitious infrastructure proposal, the “American Energy and Infrastructure Act.”

 

Mayors: Trump pledged partnership on infrastructure and public safety–Washington Examiner

“President-elect Donald Trump met Thursday with the mayors of Columbia, S.C., New Orleans, La., Oklahoma City, Okla., and other members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.”

 

Mayors startled when Trump promises to keep tax-exempt bonds–Politico

“Tax exemptions on municipal bonds are hardly the sexiest political issue surrounding Donald Trump’s transition. But a group of mayors, meeting with the president-elect at Trump Tower on Thursday, were surprised with welcome news when they pressed Trump to keep the exemptions.”

 

U.S. DOT releases final MPO Coordination Rule–U.S. DOT Fastlane

“Today, USDOT is announcing a final rule aimed at ensuring that regional planning truly takes place on regional scale.  The rule, issued jointly by FHWA and FTA, aligns practice with the statutory definition of “Metropolitan Planning Area” (MPA) and requires that MPO planning takes place at this regional level – encompassing the entire Urbanized area (UZA) and the surrounding area forecast to become urbanized in the next 20 years.”

 

American Developers Are Building Less Parking Per Bedroom–Streetsblog USA

“For decades the number of parking spaces built for each new residence in America has marched steadily upward. But now we may have reached a turning point.”

 

Local & state funding

GOP leaders says some type of tax hike needed for Indiana roads–Indianapolis Business Journal

“Key Republican leaders said Wednesday that Indiana lawmakers must consider some kind of tax increase if they’re going to move forward on plans to improve the state’s infrastructure.”

 

Local & state news

Feds Will Investigate Charge That CDOT’s I-70 Widening Violates Civil Rights–Streetsblog Denver

“The Federal Highway Administration will follow-up on a civil rights complaint against CDOT’s massive I-70 expansion through north Denver that opponents of the project filed last month [PDF].”

 

Transit

TEX Rail secures $499 million federal grant for Fort Worth-DFW trains–Texas Star-Telegram

“TEX Rail is no longer a commuter train project that is — forgive the cliche — on track to be opened by late 2018. It’s now barreling full-steam ahead (sorry again) in that direction.”

 

Shared-use mobility & tech

Uber launches self-driving cars in San Francisco–The Hill

“Uber’s self-driving cars are hitting the road in San Francisco as part of the company’s expanded public test of autonomous vehicle technology.”

 

California DMV Calls Uber’s Autonomous Autos ‘Illegal’–Wall Street Journal

“Uber Technologies Inc. is barreling ahead with testing autonomous cars in San Francisco despite stiff opposition from the state of California, which called the company’s experiment illegal and threatened to sue.”

 

Amazon is secretly building an ‘Uber for trucking’ app, setting its sights on a massive $800 billion market–Business Insider

“Amazon is building an app that matches truck drivers with shippers, a new service that would deepen its presence in the $800 billion trucking industry, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Business Insider.”

How one state is using transportation to boost their economy — a story of success from Massachusetts

Massachusetts’ recent economic development success is attributable in part to the leadership of the past two gubernatorial administrations — one Democratic, one Republican — and their efforts to focus state investments on improving public transit, repairing critical infrastructure and doubling down on supporting and creating the walkable communities that are in high demand.

This short story is adapted from Transportation Innovations That Save States Money and Attract Talent, our new short policy guide for governors. It shows how a fresh approach transportation is fundamental to creating quality jobs and shared prosperity while running an efficient government that gets the greatest benefit from every taxpayer dollar. – Ed.

Flickr photo by Massachusetts Office of Travel. https://www.flickr.com/photos/masstravel/29675157103/

Massachusetts won a major endorsement for their strategy when, in 2016, General Electric announced it would relocate its corporate headquarters from suburban Fairfield, CT, to the Seaport neighborhood in Boston. GE reportedly turned down sizable tax-incentive offers from other states and chose, instead, to locate in a walkable and transit-served location where the company could draw educated younger workers. GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt said that in Boston, GE found “an ecosystem that shares our aspirations.”

GE was just one of dozens of companies that have located to town or city centers in Massachusetts in recent years, as chronicled by Smart Growth America’s Core Values research. Boston and adjacent cities like Cambridge and Somerville are booming and are magnets for educated, young workers.

Over the past two gubernatorial administrations the state has invested in these walkable communities that anchor a talented workforce and foster economic development.

Former Governor Deval Patrick’s (D) administration championed new funding for transportation projects and inked an agreement that combined funding from the state, the federal government, and a private real estate developer to finance a new subway stop at Assembly Square. The station opened in 2014 and anchors a major mixed-use development that has transformed a former industrial site. The Patrick administration also advanced plans for an extension of the Green Line light rail service to more Somerville neighborhoods.

Though Governor Charlie Baker (R) won while running against future automatic increases to the state gas tax, he clearly understands that improving transit and investing in these walkable places was critical to the state’s prosperity.

MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack presenting at T4America’s Transportation Leadership Academy focused on performance measures.

To achieve this vision, he appointed Stephanie Pollack, a transportation expert and transit advocate, to run MassDOT, the state’s department of transportation. While some in the state were surprised by his pick of a notable transit advocate to run MassDOT, Governor Baker and Secretary Pollack have a shared interest in reforming the state’s transportation programs to ensure that transportation investments are connected to economic development goals. They’re intent on measuring the results that are important for voters and taxpayers and holding the agency accountable for meeting them.

“Transportation is not important for what it is, it’s important for what it does,” Pollack frequently says — as she did at the last gathering of our Transportation Leadership Academy.

The Baker administration considered abandoning the Green Line project when faced with escalating costs. But the benefits of the project were too significant for the state to walk away.

As Pollack has said, “The return on investment in transportation, whether it’s the Green Line extension or another [project], is not just measured in how many people physically use it. It’s also measured in improvements to the economy, decreases in people’s commuting time, creation of new jobs and reduction in greenhouse gases.”

Instead, the state’s largest transit agency, the MBTA, found ways to lower the expected costs by redesigning stations and is contracting new management for the project. While focusing intently on reforming MBTA, Baker sought workable plans in order to maintain the commitments that the commonwealth, under previous administrations, had made to communities.

In order to achieve clear outcomes with transportation dollars, MassDOT began to implement a new, performance-based process to help select projects in which to invest. Evaluating the expected outcomes from every possible project helped the agency put together a capital plan that balances repair of critical infrastructure and further improvements to transit.

In addition to funding transit, MassDOT has also targeted funding specifically at making local streets better for walking and biking through an incentive-based complete streets program. A small investment of state funds leverages local funds to plan and build projects to make streets better for people traveling by foot and by bicycle.

Massachusetts is enjoying economic returns from administrations that understood how tailored transportation investments could support walkable communities. The leadership and reform efforts under both Democratic and Republican administrations is paying off with a state that is attracting talented workers, drawing relocating businesses, and creating quality jobs.

Read our full guide for Governors, which covers how state transportation policy too often fails to accomplish these types of goals, and offers recommended, proven solutions with a track record of success in other states.

While other cities try to replicate Houston’s successful bus network overhaul, Maryland’s plan for Baltimore falls short

At a time when other cities are redesigning their bus transit service and aggressively investing overall in public transportation to provide more consistent, predictable service to serve residents and employers, Baltimore — thanks to the state of Maryland — is attempting to get the most out of its bus system with only marginal new investment and changes in service that won’t do much to improve access to jobs, schools, or opportunity.

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MTA Route 3 bus on Cathedral at West Franklin Street in Baltimore. Flickr photo by Elvert Barnes.

One of the most widely read transportation stories of the past few years is the dramatic transformation of Houston’s public transportation system, made possible by completely rebuilding their bus network and re-launching in 2015. As CityLab’s Laura Bliss wrote earlier this year:

The old hub-and-spoke system that had for decades funneled commuters downtown was straightened into a grid that cross-cuts the sprawling city, with fewer redundancies, more frequent service, and all-day, all-week service on heavily used lines.

For no substantial increases in operational costs, Houston was able to redesign their system to connect one million people and jobs with high-frequency all-day service. Paired with an expansion of light rail, it’s brought a significant increase in both ridership and the access that their residents have to jobs and opportunity.

The map of Houston’s frequent bus service, before (and after) their 2015 network redesign.

Meanwhile, halfway across the country in the summer of 2015, another story was unfolding.

That summer, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan canceled Baltimore’s long anticipated Red Line rail project that would have created a powerful new high-capacity transit line through the city. It would have connected jobs at Bayview (Johns Hopkins Bayview, National Institutes of Health), Woodlawn (Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and the downtown office core with scores of residential neighborhoods all along the line — including some of the West Baltimore neighborhoods that would benefit the most from the investment and connection to opportunity that a new transit line provides.

A rendering of a station on the proposed Red Line in Baltimore, canceled in 2015 by Governor Hogan.

With many in Baltimore still reeling, just a few months later, Gov. Hogan’s administration released BaltimoreLink, “a transformative new vision for the future of transit in Baltimore City.” It was billed as a $135 million investment to rework Baltimore’s transit service, but those numbers are a little deceiving, as you’ll see.

The city and region’s transit is planned and operated by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), a state agency. No Baltimore agencies are in the driver’s seat of their own transit system, and have surprisingly few avenues for oversight and accountability of the MTA-run system.

Assessing the state’s proposal

Back in the fall, T4America helped the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance (Transportation Alliance), a coalition that supports improving and expanding transportation options in the Baltimore region, perform a quantitative analysis on the plan to see if the numbers would bear out on the benefits the state was claiming. Would the plan improve access to jobs, schools, and healthy food?

After all, in principle, a major reworking of the bus system map to improve service was a goal long-sought by the advocates in Baltimore. Once the MTA launched the BaltimoreLink effort it became the goal of advocates to challenge the MTA to produce measurable improvements on key indicators.

On behalf of the Transportation Alliance, we performed an analysis of the change in accessibility under the new plan. Using Citilabs’ Sugar Access tool, we measured the change in access at the individual block level, looking at access to all jobs, as well as access to high-opportunity jobs and access from low-opportunity neighborhoods. We also looked at access to public middle and high schools and grocery stores.

So would it be truly transformative? Would it increase the number of jobs that are accessible to everyday Baltimore residents? Would it provide increased connections to opportunity for a wider range of people?

The short answer is no.

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A man studying while on on MTA Route 3 bus on North Charles at Centre Street in Baltimore. Flickr photo by Elvert Barnes

The long answer is that the plan “represents a missed opportunity to address regional goals in connecting households to jobs, schools, and essential services through transit,” according to the Transportation Alliance’s terrific summary of the findings. The bottom line is that BaltimoreLink does not deliver the promised transformational improvements and in contrast to MTA’s claims, we found a sharp decrease in accessibility on weekends (Sunday morning peak) and a marginal increase on weekdays. Read more about the detailed findings in the Transportation Alliance’s executive summary. (pdf)

In response, the administration initially attacked the empirical study, the Transportation Alliance and other local transit supporters. MTA recently released a revised plan which the Transportation Alliance and other stakeholders are reviewing. The MTA will hold public hearings in January, finalize the plan in March and implement the changes in June 2017.

Redeploying routes more effectively would be only one part of any proper solution. The region also needs local oversight in transit planning and an ironclad pledge for coordination between the state and the city to get anywhere near the kinds of benefit that Houston was able to realize. As the Transportation Alliance’s summary goes on to note:

Unlike Houston, Baltimore is an older, dense city where right-of-way is much more limited. Much of BaltimoreLink’s success in terms of speed and reliability hinges on coordination of road space and traffic signals between MTA and the City of Baltimore’s Department of Transportation. [But] without dedicated bus lanes and traffic signal prioritization, the potential benefits of this project may not be realized. It is inaccurate to anticipate reliable, rapid, transit going through downtown without dedicated right-of-way.

Looking ahead

While Baltimore stands to benefit immensely from redesigning its network, the benefits will be limited if the MTA merely reallocates its current resources — the state of Maryland needs to increase their investment in transit to improve service and accessibility for residents.

Click tor read our 2015 report analyzing the proposed economic benefits of the Red Line in Baltimore (and the approved Purple Line in the Washington, DC suburbs.)

In 2015, the city was on the cusp of going ahead with the Red Line, a brand new high-capacity rail transit line, which would have resulted in 83,000 more people living near high quality, frequent transit. Now, without that sizable (state and federal) investment represented by the Red Line, they’re on the receiving end of an alternate plan that represents just a 1.5 percent increase in MTA’s annual operating budget — about $70 million over six years; a plan that does little to separate transit riders from traffic congestion or tangibly improve access to jobs and opportunity.

That’s small potatoes, and the state needs to do better.

Maryland’s economic future is tied directly to the performance of their major metropolitan areas. Making smart investments that can increase access to opportunity for more people can help those places prosper, boosting the state’s overall economy in the meantime.

Houston it’s definitely not, but this story isn’t over yet.

Helping governors save money and attract talent through a fresh approach to transportation

A new guide released today by Transportation for America shows governors and their administration how a fresh approach to transportation is fundamental to creating quality jobs and shared prosperity while running an efficient government that gets the greatest benefit from every taxpayer dollar.

With new governors set to take office in the new year and scores of incumbents returning and setting their agendas for 2017, it’s crucial that they consider how transportation can be a valuable tool for achieving their policy goals — whether producing savings in the budget, attracting and creating jobs, giving taxpayers greater benefit for each dollar, or building healthy and safe communities.

Transportation failures — whether excessive time that people or freight are stuck in traffic, decreasing air quality, flawed implementation of mega-projects, or the perceived and real inefficiencies of government bureaucracy — are a drag on the economy and quality of life for residents.

Many state departments of transportation just aren’t well calibrated to solve today’s challenges. Planning is isolated from development and other infrastructure decisions, state programs have a narrow focus on building highways to the exclusion of building unified, holistic systems, and the most efficient solutions are often overlooked in favor of overbuilt or ill-conceived mega-projects.

And above all, the recipe for successful local and regional economic development has changed significantly.

In the past, economic development was focused on recruiting and luring large employers and expecting new workers to follow the jobs. But younger workers are choosing where to live and then looking for jobs. Economic development now depends on building great places that draw and anchor talent. Quality of life, vibrant communities, and transportation choices are no longer simply nice add-ons, they are essential to economic growth and prosperity in communities large and small. And employers are making the same shift to stay competitive, seeking communities with these features precisely because they attract talented workers.

Yet the transportation policies and bureaucratic practices in so many states often fail to provide the infrastructure that helps build these kinds of places that businesses are now flocking too. Instead, many state agencies are continuing to offer transportation strategies more suited to solving yesterday’s problems. State policymakers need to change the focus of transportation spending in order to realize the full potential from these investments.

This new guide offers best practices to help state leaders achieve greater benefits and avoid costly pitfalls in their transportation programs, including several examples of states solving problems by instituting reforms within their transportation programs.

  • Virginia developed a new system to pick projects based on benefits and better communicate the benefits of each state investment.
  • Tennessee saved millions of dollars by right-sizing and reconsidering projects that had long been in their pipeline. One $65 million project became a $340,000 project, with nearly the same benefits.
  • Colorado built a new, multimodal corridor with tolled lanes and bus rapid transit to provide commute options.
  • California has launched a new, all-electric car share program in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

As new governors begin their terms and new legislatures are seated, it is a critical time to evaluate state transportation spending and how we can get greater benefits from these programs. The examples in this guide from around the country show how governors, administrations, and state DOTs have solved problems by reforming policies and practices. Download it today.

We can help states achieve these changes through tailored technical assistance and through START network policy support. Find out more and join this network today.

 

Member Weekly News Bulletin 12-9-2016

Nat’l & policy

House passes stop-gap funding bill amid shutdown fears–Talk Media News

“The House voted to approve a continuing resolution (CR) on Thursday that maintains current funding for federal agencies until late April to avoid the possibility of a government shutdown. The measure passed the House 326-96 Thursday afternoon and is expected to come to the Senate floor by Friday afternoon.”

 

Shutdown looms as Senate Dems oppose short-term spending bill– Politico

“Coal-state Senate Democrats are not backing off their resistance to a short-term government funding measure, raising a major threat of a shutdown at midnight Friday if the standoff over coalminer’s benefits drags on.”

 

Transportation funding boost on hold-The Hill

“An infrastructure funding boost that was approved and paid for by Congress last year is once again on hold because of a short-term spending bill.”

 

Local & state funding

Why voters said ‘yes’ to public transportation on Nov. 8–The Hill Op-Ed

“In the wake of Election Day 2016, at least one clear winner has emerged: public transportation. There were a historic number of transit-related funding initiatives on ballots across the nation (49), of which about 70 percent passed. This impressive result means that there will be about $170 billion in new funding for systems that provide Americans with mobility options ranging from commuter and light-rail trains to subways, buses, and other transit services.”

 

Scott outlines plan to manage transportation needs–Rutland Herald

“Gov.-elect Phil Scott (Vermont) is pledging to focus on the state’s transportation needs without increasing the state’s debt or raising taxes and fees.”

 

Tennessee legislature poised next year to debate transportation funding, including a gas tax raise–Nashville Public Radio

“Tennessee Republicans are setting the wheels in motion for a debate — at last — over raising the state’s gas tax. The tax pays for roads, and lawmakers say congestion, especially in Middle Tennessee, shows the state’s old rate isn’t keeping up. Gov. Bill Haslam has been hinting at a need to raise the gas tax for two years, and recently he’s been turning to the topic again.”

 

Wisconsin State House Speaker: No Easy Solution for 1 billion dollar transportation funding gap – Fox 6 Milwaukee

“Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos wants to make it clear that there are “No Easy Answers” for solving the state’s $1 billion transportation budget deficit.”

 

New Democratic supermajority in California State Legislature raises hopes of transportation funding package in 2017-Sacramento Bee

“Broadening the path to long-sought deals on affordable housing, transportation infrastructure and climate change, California Democrats have again captured a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of the Legislature.”

 

Local & state news

RI, city leaders unveil final 6/10 Connector plan-WPRI

“State and city leaders on Thursday unveiled their final plan for fixing the decaying Route 6/10 Connector bridges, arguing the revamped $400-million proposal will improve highway safety while enhancing the neighborhoods around the 1.6-mile expressway.

 

Massachusetts DOT Says Move to Electronic Tolling is Saving Time Commuting–Boston Globe

“The move to electronic tolling on the Massachusetts Turnpike has shaved about 12 minutes off morning commutes, state transportation officials said Wednesday.”

 

 

Rail

FRA releases new train safety design guidelines that could let U.S. railroads run faster, more efficient trains-Streetsblog USA

“Why are American trains so expensive and yet so slow? One factor that rail advocates often point to is the Federal Railroad Administration and its rail safety regulations — rules that are finally on the verge of changing.”

 

FRA releases latest data on progress on positive train control implementation-FRA

“The Federal Railroad Administration today released third quarter 2016 data submitted by railroads on their progress in implementing Positive Train Control (PTC). The data show uneven progress across the country and across railroads toward activating the life-saving technology.

 

Transit

Cambridge Massachusetts is planning to use innovative roundabout design to increase bicycle safety-Boston Cyclists Union

“Just imagine: instead of gritting your teeth as you attempt to navigate the vehicular minefield that is present-day Inman Square, you could soon be circulating pleasantly along the rim of a traffic-calmed motoring peanut, a point of genuine interest lending harmony to this key crossroads.

 

Texas transit agencies eye bus changes after ridership jump in Houston–Texas Tribune

-“Houston’s bus overhaul, planned for years but rolled out literally overnight in 2015, has led to an increase in bus ridership, bucking state and national trends. Many are taking notice.”

 

Shared-use mobility & tech

Ohio plans to turn part of a local highway into a “smart road” – Columbus Dispatch

“Gov. John Kasich bristles — becomes a tad defensive, in fact — when the term “Rust Belt” is applied to Ohio. Standing in Dublin, in front of a “driverless” tractor-trailer and the section of Route 33 it soon traversed, Kasich announced a planned $15 million state investment on Wednesday to create a “smart mobility corridor.”

 

Uber, Lyft, and the future of transportation in Austin–Curbed

“Business travelers arriving at any major airport in the United States, regardless of the time of day, climate, or even city, will, almost on cue, do the exact same thing: They’ll open Uber or Lyft, looking for a ride before they walk out the door, sometimes even before they get off the plane. These two companies alone accounted for 52 percent of all ground transportation costs (including car rentals) during a three-month period this fall, according to a recent study by Certify, an expense management software tool. In this context, the experience of getting a ride at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas, is odd.”

 

UPS debuts delivery by electric bike in Portland–Oregon Live

“UPS will be swapping one of its big brown trucks for a big brown bike. The Atlanta logistics company said Wednesday that it’s testing delivery by electric bicycle in Portland, a first for the company in the United States. UPS, which started as a bicycle messenger service in Seattle, began testing e-bike delivery in Europe in 2012.”

Our Smart Cities collaborative kicked off with an inspiring two-day gathering

On the morning after the presidential election, thanks in part to the support of the McKnight Foundation, representatives from 17 cities gathered in Minneapolis for two days to kickstart our yearlong collaborative focused on proactively shaping cities through transportation and technology.

Smart cities collaborative meeting wide group shot

Members of the collaborative give a thumbs-up following the close of the two-day meeting in Minneapolis.

In the wake of an election that focused a lot on what divides us, it was inspiring to be with such an amazing collection of leaders from 17 cities, large and small, and watch them begin to develop connections and sow the seeds of collaboration during the inaugural meeting of T4America’s Smart Cities Collaborative, which has been supported by Sidewalk Labs.

We had three main goals for the meeting: help participants build relationships with others from their peer cities and get to know one another, establish the core problem or problems that they’re trying to solve, and then start developing an action plan for a specific pilot project.

For two days, we heard lively discussions as the participants described their inspiring views on what kind of cities they want be in the future, exactly what they want to accomplish during the Collaborative, and how technology can help them achieve their goals.

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Most encouragingly, a palatable “me-too” vibe saturated both days as people started talking and realizing that other cities — whether much smaller, larger or far away — are dealing with many of the same issues.

“It really helps to talk to peers with similar issues who understand the concept of shared mobility,” one of the participants told us afterward.

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And instead of getting down into the weeds with questions like, “Which payment vendor should I use, or how do I build this smartphone app?” we tried to back up to a bigger picture view, starting with questions such as, “What transportation challenges are your city struggling with? What outcomes would you like to see in 10 years? How can we ensure that new transportation models and digital tools are inclusive of everyone?”

That’s not about technology, that’s about vision.

After all, a smart city isn’t the one with the most technology. A truly smart city is one that understands how they can utilize technology to help them get where they want to go.

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But the collaborative isn’t only about goal-setting or big-picture concepts — it’s also about real-world projects. Over the course of two days, each city was responsible for the initial development of an action plan for a specific pilot project. The participants worked together in small groups organized around topics like shared mobility, automated vehicles and others to identify what political and policy considerations, financial hurdles, project metrics, and community engagement strategies they’ll need to consider along with what technical assistance needs they have.

“I feel like we walked away with an actionable 12-month plan,” another participant told us.

These cities are eager to ensure that this monumental shift in transportation doesn’t shape their cities without their input and produce a new generation of transportation haves and have-nots. And with so many new questions looming over federal transportation policy, working together to solve these challenges will be crucial.

We had a tremendous two days with these cities and are eager to see what comes next.

Want to know more about smart cities and why all of this matters? Read this post for more background:

Smart cities: why now?

Transportation for America’s statement on the selection of Elaine Chao to serve as Secretary of Transportation

press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC — On the confirmed reports of President-elect Trump’s selection of Elaine Chao to serve as the Secretary of Transportation in his cabinet, James Corless, Director of T4America, released this short statement:

Transportation for America looks forward to working with Elaine Chao as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. While information is scarce on her personal viewpoints on transportation policy, we believe that transportation investment is an issue that can help unite us — efficiently connecting all of us to the places we need to go each day.

Chao is certainly a capable manager for a large federal agency like USDOT, having led the Department of Labor for the entirety of President George W. Bush’s two terms, as well as a stint as deputy secretary at USDOT under his father, President George H.W. Bush.

While federal policy governing the majority of transportation spending has been determined for the next four years by Congress’s FAST Act transportation authorization passed in 2015, President-elect Trump has stated that infrastructure will be a priority of his first 100 days in office, and the incoming secretary will surely have a sizable impact on any possible infrastructure package in 2017.

It’s crucial that Elaine Chao and USDOT exert their influence to ensure that any new money flowing into infrastructure is directed to the projects that can bring the greatest return on investment, boost our local economies, and continue building a transportation system that can provide access to opportunity for all Americans.

We look forward to working with her and continuing our strong relationship with USDOT.

Transportation for America is an alliance of elected, business and civic leaders from communities across the country, united to ensure that states and the federal government step up to invest in smart, homegrown, locally-driven transportation solutions — because these are the investments that hold the key to our future economic prosperity.

Capital Ideas 2016

Capital Ideas banner sacramento promo
State policy panel brooke lierman marko Liias stacey abrams
Dave Williams capital ideas breakout group 2
Capital Ideas wide shot Geoff

The premier conference on state transportation policy and funding

November 16-17, 2016 in Sacramento, California

With Congress finally wrapping up their five-year transportation bill in late 2015, the focus is fully on states when it comes to policy and funding for transportation. At least 23 states have stepped up and passed new transportation funding legislation since 2012. An unfortunately much smaller number of states have passed smart policies to reform how those dollars are spent. In early 2017, a host of new state legislative sessions will begin again and transportation will be on the front burner in many state capitols.

Our second Capital Ideas conference took place in Sacramento, CA on November 16-17. Read about the 2016 conference here.

Revisit our post-election livestream panel discussion

Two days after the election, we streamed a live post-election panel discussion on how the 2016 elections will impact transportation policy at the federal, state and local levels. If you missed it, catch up here.

View the archive video on Youtube here.

How will this year’s elections impact transportation? How will any congressional shakeup affect the committees with jurisdiction over transportation? What happened with the more than $200 billion in ballot measures decided in critical races across the country? With the help of a few national experts, we had a discussion about what the new presidential administration means for transportation, and how congress, key state races, and ballot measures will impact your community.

Recorded from a Facebook live stream during the first meeting of our Smart Cities Collaborative in Minneapolis, MN.

Wrapping up Capital Ideas: Making the case for smarter state transportation policy

After two days of hands-on expert advice — and hopefully some inspiration and encouragement — state and local leaders from all over the country are returning home from our second Capital Ideas conference better equipped to advance creative and innovative transportation funding and policy reforms to make the most of limited infrastructure dollars.

Capital Ideas wide shot Geoff

Smart Growth America president and CEO Geoff Anderson kicking off Capital Ideas in Sacramento, CA on November 16, 2016

For two days in Sacramento, more than 50 speakers interacted with 200-plus smart, passionate leaders helping their states take a different path when faced with dwindling transportation revenues or outdated, 1950’s policies that are ill-equipped to solving the complicated, multimodal challenges that local communities face today.

We heard from state DOT officials doing impressive things to save money and spend it more effectively. We heard from state legislators who’ve rolled up their sleeves and raised new revenues for transportation. We heard from experts at nearly all levels of government who are thinking about the future of technology and the ramifications for the communities we call home.

And we heard from a red-state republican state legislator who detailed his journey from transit skeptic to believer in a keynote on the second day of Capital Ideas.

When Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes was tapped to serve on the Utah Transit Authority’s board in Salt Lake City, he confessed that he didn’t even believe at the time that transit was a prudent investment. But part of the powerful story of how he came to see the necessity of investing in transit was his discovery that certain highways being widened (at high cost) would be at capacity and completely congested within only six years.

And as he became something of an evangelist for investing in transit to provide more options and a balanced, multimodal system for the booming region, he would point out the heavy cost of putting all the eggs in one basket. “How much land would we have to condemn to do something like this? How much would this cost?” he would ask other local leaders in tandem with this photo from his presentation:

Greg Hughes Capital Ideas congestion photo

But perhaps the most exciting part of Capital Ideas was the 25-plus separate breakout sessions that stretched across both afternoons.

After half a day firmly rooted in folding chairs mostly being talked to, the breakouts allowed participants to interact and go hands-on with notable experts. Experts like Dave Williams with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, who shared Georgia’s experience with passing state legislation to enable local transit referenda. (A measure that Atlanta voters approved last week to raise $2.5 billion in new tax money to invest in MARTA and transit in the region.)

Dave Williams capital ideas breakout group 2

Dave Williams with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, top center, walks his table through Georgia’s experience passing state legislation that altered the state’s gas tax and also enabled Atlanta to go to the ballot for transportation funding.

 

Delegate Brooke Lierman capital ideas

During the breakouts, Maryland Delegate Brooke Lierman, right, shared her experience advancing state legislation to begin evaluating and scoring transportation projects on their merits.

We covered an incredible range of topics, but a few clear themes and a hopeful undercurrent ran throughout the two days.

T4America Director James Corless noted that nearly every story of transit ballot box success was preceded by a failure. Salt Lake City. Denver. Seattle. Atlanta. And the list goes on.

“It’s OK to fail,” he exhorted everyone. “It’s ok, as long as you learn and get back up. And you have to get back up.” And most importantly, “There is no need to do it alone. And in fact, you can’t do it alone!”

Indianapolis shows a good road map for doing it together.

“Indy’s strong local coalition [for their successful transit ballot measure] included the Indy Chamber and numerous faith-based groups and churches,” he noted. “That’s a good roadmap for coming together to make the investments we need to build prosperous local economies and ensure that everyone can connect to opportunity.”

With a lot of looming question marks about federal transportation funding and policy right now, the importance of getting state (and local) transportation policy right is coming into sharp focus.

As the conference closed wrapped up Thursday afternoon, T4America chairman and former Mayor John Robert Smith offered a reminder that solutions need to come from the bottom up, and that we will succeed or fail based on the breadth of the coalitions we build.

John Robert Smith Capital Ideas“We’ve heard about the importance of knowing who is in the foxhole with you and appreciating the strength of those in the foxhole with you, but I want us to expand and broaden the coalition we have here. We’re going to need to be bipartisan and inclusive,” Mayor Smith urged participants. “I want you to help us find those people, find those stories, lift up those stories and support that voice and perhaps we can have an impact on minds that might otherwise be closed.”

And for those discouraged by what’s happening at the federal level (or any level, truthfully) when it comes to decisions made about investing in transportation, Mayor Smith reminded everyone — especially the scores of elected leaders in the room — to hold fast to the long view of progress.

“When I speak to local elected officials, I always tell them: If your commitment and vision is limited by a four- or eight-year term, you’re failing the people you represent,” he said.

“Your commitment and vision has to be decades ahead. It has to be beyond your service, and perhaps even beyond your lifespan. The work that we do, the plans we make, the vision we have, will neither be completed and realized nor will it be destroyed in a four- or eight-year term. Our vision, our plans, our commitment are bigger than that. They’re bolder than that. They’re more resilient than that. I want to encourage you: stay that course, be that voice.”

We’re incredibly grateful for the 200-plus people who traveled to Sacramento for Capital Ideas and helped made it a rousing success. Thank you so much for joining us. Many of the participants who came to learn were also some of the policy experts at the roundtables. Panelists stuck around and dove into other issues they were interested in. Capital Ideas was knowledge- and experience-sharing of the highest order.

Our heartfelt thanks goes to the Sacramento Area Council of Governments for co-hosting the conference and pitching in at every turn and in every way. And we thank our sponsors: TransitCenter, Uber, CalTrans, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy.

See you in 2018??

Billions in transit measures approved Tuesday — unpacking the 2016 election results

Though we’ll be waiting to see where the federal chips land with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration and the congressional committee changes, Tuesday night’s biggest transportation news was the fact that local voters across the country approved scores of ballot measures that raise new local money for transportation improvements.

Transpo Vote 2016

View the results on the slate of measures we were tracking here.

Representing more than $150 billion of the more than $200 billion in local transportation measures on Tuesday’s ballots, residents of Los Angeles and Seattle approved measures that will make enormous decades-long expansions in local and regional transit. In L.A.’s case, an overwhelming number of voters (nearly 70 percent) said “YES” to investing more of their tax dollars in public transit, approving Measure M to add a half-cent to the sales tax and extending 2009’s Measure R half-cent transit tax for perpetuity.

In an election where President-elect Trump played heavily to economic concerns, the residents of Indianapolis — enabled by legislation actually signed by VP-elect Pence — voted to increase their income taxes to improve and expand their historically subpar bus service.

Indy’s plan will create new connections and dramatically improve service for current customers, while also starting the buildout of an impressive bus rapid transit network to connect yet more neighborhoods and people to opportunity. In Raleigh (Wake County), voters approved a half-cent sales tax for building out the regional transit network. Planned service, including 20 miles of new bus rapid transit routes and new commuter rail, is expected to quadruple transit ridership in the county in the next ten years.

It’s worth noting that local leaders from both Indy and Raleigh spent a year in the Transportation Innovation Academy we conducted with TransitCenter back in 2015, laying much of the groundwork for these successful campaigns.

Transportation innovation academy denver group

2015’s Transportation Innovation Academy class of Raleigh, Indy and Nashville.

In Atlanta, the city residents within Fulton County approved a half-cent tax for MARTA, their transit system, to raise $2.5 billion to fund subway extensions, hefty improvements in bus service, new light rail on the Beltline project which will eventually encircle the city with transit, a walking/biking trail and linear parks, and improvements to bike and pedestrian connections near stations and bus stops.

The federal level

As for the incoming presidential administration, President-elect Trump’s 100-day plan includes an infrastructure push, which “leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over ten years. It is revenue neutral.” In his acceptance speech last night, he said, “We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it.”

There’s no clear roadmap of what’s to come in January 2017, or what any Trump-backed infrastructure package would look like. According to this piece in Yahoo News, there’s an indication that “Trump’s plan would rely heavily on private funding, with the government encouraging investment through a tax credit that would raise the return to investors and lower the cost of borrowing to states and municipalities that would oversee the projects.”

Stay tuned for more information over the next few weeks, and don’t miss Thursday’s livestream discussion at 12 p.m. Central time on Facebook Live. If you weren’t able to tune in, you can view the full video of the livestream here: https://www.facebook.com/transportationforamerica/videos/10157670655470117/

11/11 Addendum: Here’s the Director’s Note from T4America Director James Corless in our post-election newsletter:

Without a doubt, the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential race was a surprise. But there are similarly surprising — and encouraging — trends in Tuesday’s local elections that illustrate part of the path forward for cities and towns eager to continue making smart transportation investments.

Indianapolis, covered above, is a great example.

Deep in the heart of a state that went solidly for President-elect Trump and also contributed the Vice President-elect to the ticket, the residents of a large county that includes a wide spectrum of incomes voted to increase their own taxes for transit. And the improved and expanded transit service will pay dividends first and foremost to the lower-income Marion County residents that depend on the current service or would benefit the most from better connections to jobs and opportunity.

As we move forward and look for ways to build bridges and unify our communities after an unusually divisive national election, it’s important to find common ground and ways to work together to make our communities the best they can be. Indy’s strong local coalition included the Indy Chamber and numerous faith-based groups and churches. That’s a good roadmap for coming together to make the investments we need to build prosperous local economies and ensure that everyone can connect to opportunity.

Can-do places: How Seattle is accommodating population growth and sustaining economic growth while maintaining quality of life

This story from Seattle, Washington is the seventh in our series of stories illustrating how local communities across the country are casting a vision and often putting their own skin in the game first with local funding while hoping for a strong federal partner to make those plans a reality.

In cities, towns and suburbs like Seattle all across the country, local leaders are responding to new economic challenges with innovative plans for their transportation networks, including taxing themselves to make their visions a reality. But they can’t do it alone and need strong federal and state partners to make it work.

Set aside some time to read this long profile of what’s been happening in Seattle — which includes their enormous measure on November’s ballot, where voters will decide whether or not to bring the next phase of their regional transit expansion to life.

 

Seattle, Washington

 The economy in Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region is soaring, and area population growth is supersonic. Unmanaged, that prosperity could drive the cost of living out of reach for many low- and middle-income Seattleites and choke the regional transportation network to deadlock congestion, pumping the brakes on the region’s historic prosperity. But forward-thinking transportation investments and smart city planning have the region poised to stay in control of the boom.

Read the full story here.

Mt. Rainier peaks over the Seattle skyline. Natural beauty, a bustling job market, and high quality life have this Pacific metro booming.

Mt. Rainier peaks over the Seattle skyline. Natural beauty, a bustling job market, and high quality life have this Pacific metro booming. Flickr photo by Daniel Schwen.

What should the next administration do when it comes to transportation?

sga-transition-guide-coverOne of the biggest challenges for the incoming presidential administration is to make the economy work for individuals and families of all income levels. This short new guide of federal policy recommendations is designed to help the new administration accomplish just that.

As part of Smart Growth America, today we’re releasing Expanding the Economic Recovery to All Americans Through Smarter Growth, a short guide from SGA providing concrete recommendations that federal officials in the incoming administration can implement to help grow the middle class, connect more Americans to opportunity and expand opportunities for creating lasting wealth.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

This short document covers SGA’s specific policy recommendations within five broad strategies:

  1. Create more housing choices
  2. Connect Americans to opportunity by providing more transportation choices
  3. Empower local communities
  4. Invest in existing communities
  5. Make smarter, more cost-effective investments

T4America’s transportation policy recommendations within this document show how the incoming administration can connect Americans to opportunity by providing more transportation choices, empower and invest in local communities and make smarter, more cost-effective investments.

Indicators pointing to an economic recovery don’t matter if you still can’t get a job, your housing costs are escalating, or the opportunities are drying up where you live. While median household income has risen in recent years, it is still shy of where it was in 2007, adjusted for inflation. And among lower- and middle-income households, it has been slower to rebound. The contentious 2016 election has highlighted deep divisions and shown that there are wide disparities between who is experiencing recovery and who is missing out.

Though they are vital to Americans’ prosperity, the role of housing, transportation, and access to education and job opportunities have been largely missing from any national conversation about boosting wages, expanding the middle class or providing pathways out of poverty.

Smart growth is not a cure-all and the administration should lean hard on other economic, social and cultural solutions. But given the effects of housing and transportation costs on people’s pocketbooks, smart growth strategies — expanding economic prosperity, improving lives by improving the communities that we call home, and creating opportunities for people to have a high quality of life and build wealth — have to be part of the solution.

Live stream: How the 2016 election results will impact transportation

Sign up to join Transportation for America live on November 10th and hear a panel of experts discuss how this year’s elections will impact transportation policy at the federal, state and local levels.

Update: We will be streaming on Facebook Live. Join us here at 12 p.m. Central time/1 p.m. Eastern

How will this year’s elections impact transportation? How will any congressional shakeup affect the committees with jurisdiction over transportation? What happened with the more than $200 billion in ballot measures decided in critical races across the country?

Two days after the election, on Thursday, November 10th at 12 p.m. central time, join us on Facebook for a live discussion with a few national experts about what the new presidential administration means for transportation, and how congress, key state races, and ballot measures will impact your community. Our panel of experts will offer an in-depth look at the new administration, offer key insights, and answer questions. Streaming live from Minneapolis, MN (where we’ll be hosting the first meeting of our Smart Cities Collaborative), this will be an interactive discussion you won’t want to miss.

SIGN UP

Speakers

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  • Moderator: Hon. Peter McLaughlin, Commissioner, Hennepin County, Minnesota (invited)

Date: Thursday, November 10, 2016
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm (EDT), 12:00pm – 1:00pm (CDT)

SIGN UP

Politics of performance-based project prioritization in Portland

Leaders and advocates in the state of Oregon and in the Portland metropolitan region have been discussing how to use performance measures to inform smarter investment decisions and build public trust in how transportation dollars are spent. As the Portland-based representative for Transportation for America, I’ve been deeply engaged in these discussions, including serving on a work group for Metro, Portland’s metropolitan planning organization, providing guidance on performance measures in the next long range transportation plan, and working with state leaders on legislation to integrate performance-based decision making into the Oregon DOT’s programs.

This is the first of a series of posts on the issues and challenges of performance-based planning in the Portland region.

Many staffers working on Metro’s long-range transportation plan — referred to locally as the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) — had the opportunity to attend a two-day symposium at Portland State University focused largely on performance-based project prioritization. Robert Liberty, director of the Urban Sustainability Accelerator at Portland State University, organized the symposium entitled New Thinking for a New Era: A Symposium on Transportation Investment Decision-making. Attendees included staff from MPOs around the country and experts at the cutting edge of performance-based planning.

Participating with T4A director James Corless and SGA senior policy advisor Lynn Peterson, we heard about a range of new policy developments and technical tools from:

  • Chris Ganson, California Governor Edmund G. Brown’s office, on the implementation of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as a primary measure of environmental impact (instead of level of service (LOS)).
  • Eric Sundquist, Managing Director of State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI), on accessibility performance measures and the Sugar Access tool developed by Citilabs, and the implementation of Virginia DOT’s ‘Smart Scale’ project prioritization.
  • Sam Seskin, recently retired from CH2M HILL, on the development of Oregon’s MOSAIC
  • Steve Heminger, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (the MPO for the San Francisco Bay Area) on their approach to performance-based project prioritization.

Of particular interest were the lessons learned on the politics of integrating performance-based project prioritization into the MPO planning process. A recurring theme was the need to give decision-makers the space and time to get comfortable with a new approach. It can be a challenge to sell elected officials or skeptical board members on a performance-based project prioritization that allows a process imbued with the region’s values to elevate the best projects — rather than a process where the most influential or persuasive voice gets their project funded.

There were a few recommendations for putting elected officials at ease in the early stages of developing a prioritization process:

  • Develop a prioritization system in a way that does not initially put projects at risk of being removed from funding consideration. Local projects are precious to local officials, and they will initially do everything to protect them — even at the expense of the long-term regional gains and smarter investments.
  • Limit the array of projects that will be subject to prioritization. For example, if a project is close to construction, consider it a done deal. Expend effort on analyzing more expensive projects rather than cheaper ones, and focus on capacity expansion projects as opposed to maintenance and operations.
  • Consider if projects need numerical rankings. MTC categorizes projects as high priority, medium and underperforming and uses those categorizations to inform subsequent decision-making.

While these are all ideas to consider, it became clear at the symposium that local context matters. In the Puget Sound region, Councilmember Balducci shared the story of opposition to a specific proposed road through pristine land that helped initiate Puget Sound Regional Council’s (PSRC) project prioritization process. In addition, PSRC developed its process in a time of plentiful funding, and so it was ready to apply when scarcity arose and the MPO needed to cut projects from its constrained list.

MTC has gone through an iterative process that has added rigor over the course of 15 years. At a time when there was controversy over some particular measures, support for the overall approach was strong, and so they continue to expand the program. Originally applied only to projects that expand the system, they have begun evaluating state-of-good-repair projects for prioritization as well.

As Metro considers using performance-based prioritization in its investment decisions, these stories could help inform how to bring skeptical decision-makers on board. It’s challenging for local leaders to switch from the political wrangling they’re accustomed to, to a rational approach that elevates the best projects based on their merits. However, when they emerge on the other side with smarter investment decisions, the ability to communicate decisions more transparently, and as a result, greater public trust and greater ability to raise more transportation revenue, there is no compelling reason to go back.

[VIDEO] How did Utah build miles of transit and raise state transportation funding?

How did Utah leaders and citizens stare down a recession while raising new state revenues for transportation and making a range of investments to bolster the economy and quality of life? On day two of our Capital Ideas conference on November 16-17, Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes will be on hand to answer that question and others.

Click the video above to hear a few nuggets from Capital Ideas keynote speaker Speaker Hughes about his state’s approach to building consensus for new transportation investments.

Back in 2015, the Utah legislature voted to raise the state’s gas tax and tie it to inflation, and provide individual counties with the ability to go to the ballot with sales tax increases to fund critical local transportation priorities — which ten Utah counties approved a year ago.

Republican House Speaker Greg Hughes has been on the front lines of these efforts to raise new state funding, empower local communities and build a huge regional transit system nearly from scratch in Salt Lake City. In addition to Speaker Hughes, hear from an expansive roster of other speakers at this year’s Capital Ideas conference.

Don’t miss out on these conversations. Join us in Sacramento on November 16-17 for Capital Ideas. Register now and reserve your spot!

REGISTER TODAY

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Help us spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, and email. Click to share.

Thanks to our conference sponsors

SACOG logo

Capital Ideas is co-hosted by SACOG

We also recognize the generous support of our many philanthropic partners who have helped make this conference possible.

Members get a deal!

Dues-paying T4America members get $100 off registration. Inquire with us about getting a promo code. Find out more about T4America membership here.

Come a day early for the first national Complete Streets conference

A reminder that Street Lights: Illuminating Implementation and Equity in Complete Streets will be taking place on the day before Capital Ideas begins. Get two great conferences out of one trip to California — register today to secure your place in the room.

Help show just how dangerous our streets can be for people walking

This fall, our colleagues at the National Complete Streets Coalition will release Dangerous by Design 2016, a report that will again rank the nation’s most dangerous places to walk using the Pedestrian Danger Index. This year’s report will dive deep into how income, race, and place play an outsized role in how likely people are to be killed while walking. And they’re looking for your help when it comes to illustrating just how bad it can be out there.

For too many people, a walk is a deadly risk. Poorly designed streets have led to an epidemic of pedestrian fatalities, especially among people of color and in our nation’s poorest neighborhoods. More than likely, one of these dangerous streets or intersections is near you or is one you have to use every day. When T4America last released a version of this report back in 2011, we had powerful photos submitted from all over the country.

Help illustrate the hazards you face everyday by expanding upon those photos previously submitted. Send in photos of streets in your neighborhood that are “dangerous by design.” Streets like these:

Metro ATL Pedestrians06Metro ATL Pedestrians41Walking in the ditch

Poorly designed streets like these above — often built or designed with federal dollars or guidelines — endanger pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike. And as this latest edition of Dangerous by Design will expand upon, people of color and census tracts with below average income are disproportionately represented.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Send in photos via email to photos@completestreets.org.
  • High resolution photos are preferred for maximum quality.
  • Please indicate how photos are to be credited if used online or in the report.
  • Provide information about the photo. Where was the photo taken? Is this a street that you have to use regularly?

We want to see the missing crosswalks, missing curb ramps, and the long and dangerous treks along busy highways. We want to see every way that our current road designs have failed to provide for the safety and convenience of everyone that needs to use them. Help show just how difficult and dangerous we’ve made walking for so many people. The NCSC folks are preparing the report now, so pass them along soon!

16 cities join T4America’s Smart Cities Collaborative to tackle urban mobility challenges together

In a new collaborative supported by Sidewalk Labs, cities will work together to create policies, pilot emerging technology & share insights to improve transportation in cities small and large.

Washington, DC; New York, NY – Transportation for America (T4A) and Sidewalk Labs announced today the sixteen members of a new T4A Smart Cities Collaborative to explore how technology can improve urban mobility, creating a tangible new opportunity for the scores of ambitious cities that did not win or weren’t eligible for USDOT’s Smart City Challenge. Over the coming year, the collaborative will bring together these cities to tackle the challenges related to implementing smart city policies and projects — sharing best practices and technical assistance, and piloting new programs.

Nearly 60 cities applied to be a part of the collaborative, which will hold its first meeting in Minneapolis on Nov. 9-10, 2016.

“We’re in the midst of the most transformational shift in urban transportation since the start of the interstate era more than 50 years ago. And just like that era, cities have enormous potential to help or harm their residents with the decisions they make,” said James Corless, Director of T4America. “It’s incredibly encouraging to see this long list of cities proactively shaping the future to ensure that this monumental shift in transportation doesn’t shape their cities without their input and produce a new generation of transportation haves and have-nots.”

“We have spent the past several months speaking directly with cities across the country, and what we’ve heard is mobility is a major issue across the board. Cities know that technology offers ways to improve mobility, but exactly how to realize its potential isn’t obvious,” said Sidewalk Labs Chief Policy Officer Rohit T. Aggarwala. “Cities understand that they need to work together, but the question has always been how best to band these municipalities in partnership. This collaborative will be an unprecedented step in unifying these urban areas and accelerate solutions that provide affordable, efficient ways to get around.”

Through the collaborative, the member cities will form working groups that will focus on three core areas:

  • Automated vehicles, and their potential impact on urban transit systems, congestion, transportation equity, and the environment.
  • Shared mobility, and how it could help cities provide equitable, affordable, and more sustainable transportation choices.
  • Performance measures and data analytics, and how to use data to manage complex transportation networks and achieve transit equity and environmental goals.

Initially, the cities will participate in a variety of information-sharing meetings, both with each other and with industry-leading transportation experts. From there, the groups will receive direct technical assistance, create pilot programs, and share results with the rest of the collaborative to drive best practices across the country.

The collaborative is the result of the partnership T4A and Sidewalk Labs announced in June to engage cities in developing efficient and affordable transportation options for all. The partnership builds on T4A’s experience collaborating with state and local governments to develop forward-looking transportation and land-use policy, combined with Sidewalk Labs’ expertise working with cities to develop digital technology that solves big urban problems.

The sixteen cities participating in the collaborative are:

  • Austin, TX
  • Denver, CO
  • Centennial, CO
  • Chattanooga, TN
  • Lone Tree, CO
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Miami-Dade County, FL
  • Madison, WI
  • Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
  • Nashville, TN
  • Portland, OR
  • Sacramento, CA
  • San Francisco, CA
  • San Jose, CA
  • Seattle, WA
  • Washington, DC

—

ABOUT TRANSPORTATION FOR AMERICA:
Transportation for America is an alliance of elected, business and civic leaders from communities across the country, united to ensure that states and the federal government step up to invest in smart, homegrown, locally-driven transportation solutions — because these are the investments that hold the key to our future economic prosperity. T4America is a program of Smart Growth America.

ABOUT SIDEWALK LABS:
Sidewalk Labs is an urban innovation company that works with cities to develop technology that solves big urban problems across transportation, housing, energy, and data-driven management. It’s the result of a partnership between Alphabet and Daniel Doctoroff, the former Deputy Mayor of Economic Development and Rebuilding for the City of New York and the CEO of Bloomberg LP.

For interview requests, please contact:

Going deep with regional leaders on using performance measurement

We wrapped up an in-person workshop today with seven local groups of metropolitan leaders, learning how performance measures and a data-driven approach to assessing the costs and benefits of transportation spending can lead to better decisions and a smarter transportation network.

Transportation Leadership academy boston 1 Transportation Leadership academy boston 2 Transportation Leadership academy boston 3

Throughout yesterday and today in Boston, MA, a team of T4America staff have been joined by some notable experts with on-the-ground experience to dive deep into the topic of performance measures with metropolitan leaders from seven regions across the country. It’s part of our yearlong Transportation Leadership Academy focused on performance measures.

What’s performance measurement? More carefully measuring and quantifying the multiple benefits of transportation spending decisions to ensure that every dollar is aligned with the public’s goals and brings the greatest return possible for citizens.

If you’ve been following along, we’ve been writing regularly about how the transportation law that Congress passed in 2012 (MAP-21) created a new system for states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to measure the performance of their investments against federally-required measures.

This year’s iteration of our Transportation Leadership Academy is focused on providing these local leaders with tools and support to incorporate this new system into their processes of creating plans, selecting projects, and measuring the effectiveness of each transportation dollar that gets spent. This program, created in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is educating these seven teams made up of local business, civic, elected leaders, and transportation professionals.

Though the academy is focused on working with regional leaders, a few states also have experience with performance measures. In Massachusetts, as part of a 2013 deal to raise new revenue for transportation, the legislature required the DOT to develop and use performance-based criteria in the state’s transportation investment decisions. Stephanie Pollack, the head of MassDOT, shared her experience with this week’s attendees and why it makes sense to assess transportation projects together and against one another, rather than just sone-by-one.

“Transportation works as a network and fails as a network,” she said. “So why do people think we can fix the network project by project by project? I’m most interested in what is the best suite of projects.” She went on to describe why data matters, but only if you measure the right things. “You should be asking people what matters to them and measure that. If you don’t, you are telling your customers that what matters to them is unimportant. …Data is only useful if it helps you tell a story or make better decisions.”

There are other metro areas that have been using performance measures for years and have valuable experience to share.

The MPO for the Bay Area, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), has done more than most metro areas when it comes to using data and sophisticated modeling to aid and assess their decision-making. Participants got to hear the Hon. Steve Kinsey discuss MTC’s deep experience using cost-benefit analysis and their quantitative approach to performance measures.

And Robin Rather, a strategic communications veteran who has done deep research into the topic, explained how the messages and language matter, i.e., making the case for performance measures in economic terms is one of the most effective ways to get skeptical MPO board members or the public to buy-in to the idea.

This second academy workshop wraps up early this afternoon, marking the end of the academy’s in-person gatherings. Training will continue via other forms through the rest of the year, and we’ll be following up with some thoughts on the academy and sharing the perspectives of some of the participants. Stay tuned.