Walk Score expands into Transit Score; housing plus transportation costs
An exciting new service launched this morning from our friends at Walk Score will help people all across the country find out how transit-accessible a home or a neighborhood is while gaining a better understanding of the true cost of buying a home — the cost of housing plus transportation. Starting today, when you visit Walk Score you’ll also get information about nearby transit options, commuting details, and the expected cost of housing plus transportation. Welcome to Transit Score.
Normal, Illinois breaks ground on transportation hub
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin speaks in Normal, Illinois on the site of the new multi-modal transportation hub. Photo courtesy of the Bloomington Pantagraph. Just over two months after T4 America Director James Corless visited Normal, Illinois, that same town of 45,000 broke ground on a new transportation hub that promises to spur the economy and […]
Increased traffic is hazardous to our health
Much of the discussion around health and transportation has zeroed in on how a lack of travel options and an unwalkable built environment in our communities reduces physical activity. But when traffic is the leading cause of death among children worldwide and the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 1 and […]
InfrastructureUSA sits down with T4 America Director James Corless
At T4 America, we often lament that transportation policy is a page eight issue as opposed to a page one issue. Groups like InfrastructureUSA help bring our priorities to the forefront. James Corless, our director, spoke with the folks at InfrastructureUSA on the phone last week about an array of topics, including high-speed rail, reauthorization and articulating an infrastructure vision for the 21st century.
20 years after the ADA, continuing the fight to improve access for all
A couple of years ago, we profiled Dr. Scott Crawford, a wheelchair user and resident of Jackson, Mississippi who has long fought for accessible buses with wheelchair lifts, curb ramps and better sidewalks. As Dr. Crawford’s story reminds us, there is still a lot of work to do, but he’s had a powerful legal tool in his fight to make streets and transit services equitable and accessible for all users: The Americans with Disabilities Act, which turned 20 years old just this week.
America’s transit systems require $77.7 billion just to reach a state of good repair
Failure to keep up with regular maintenance and repair in many of our country’s public transportation systems due to tightened budgets is literally slowing us down, through longer commutes, unreliable service and reduced access, exacerbating the effects of a down economy and high unemployment. A study prepared by the Federal Transit Administration reveals chronic underinvestment in the nation’s transit systems and estimates $77.7 billion is needed just to rehabilitate what we already have.
Blueprint America on complete streets in Atlanta
Do yourself a favor and check out this short video from PBS’ Blueprint America series that aired in just the last few days. The overall package is about “disappearmarks” — earmarks totaling millions in the last federal transportation bill that have never been allocated or spent, according to the Sunlight Foundation. But this from Atlanta focuses much more specifically on how unsafe, incomplete streets and outdated transportation planning has resulted in a major road in Atlanta (and countless others) where pedestrians take their lives into their own hands each and every day, just to get to work, school, or the closest bus stop.
What does the FREIGHT Act really mean for our freight and ports?
The new FREIGHT Act introduced by Senators Lautenberg, Murray and Cantwell would create a truly multimodal national freight program for the first time in the U.S. It recognizes that our freight system should move our goods from coast to coast while also being part of the solution for many of our most pressing problems: air quality, dangerous emissions, oil dependence, and congestion on our highways and interstates.
Helping kids get active and healthy by “keeping them moving”
We’re facing an epidemic of childhood obesity, and this could very well be a generation of children who live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents. A healthier transportation system for America’s kids requires change in federal policy. But change will remain out of our grasp without a sense of urgency from everyday people on the ground. So where’s the meeting point between policymakers in Washington and citizens in their neighborhoods?
American Conservative magazine “rails against the machine,” promotes alternatives to the automobile
William Lind, a respected figure in right-wing circles, is adamant that public transportation shouldn’t be politically divisive, explaining why in “Rail Against the Machine,” featured in this month’s American Conservative magazine — part of a special package on public transportation with contributions from a host of special authors.
Active transportation, more walking and biking can help us confront obesity
Obesity is on the rise in 28 states and one of the biggest public health challenges facing America, but boosting walking and biking could help turn the tide. That is the conclusion of “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010.”
America’s military families have diverse transportation needs
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense. Just as America’s veterans rely on transportation options to access crucial health care, military families face unique travel challenges as well. One challenge is getting kids to school and recreation in new locations. The average child in a military family moves and switches schools three times as […]
America’s veterans need more and better transportation options
As we celebrate the birth of our country this Fourth of July, we should also remember to honor the men and women who have served in uniform. Keeping our promise with America’s veterans mean giving them the resources they need when they return home, and that includes their transportation needs.
Innovation and competition make the housing-transportation connection work
A map of the Chicago Transit Authority system. Note: a version of this post was also published on the National Journal’s Transportation Experts blog. This country is in desperate need of innovation. We are still mired in a recession triggered by a collapse in real estate that was driven in no small part by the […]
Secretary LaHood, members of Congress celebrate Pennsylvania Avenue’s new bike lanes
LaHood with Mayor Fenty, DDOT Director Gabe Klein and Reps. Blumenauer and Oberstar. Photo courtesy of USDOT. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has made a point of championing bicycling as a legitimate travel option everywhere, but he is also keeping an eye on his own backyard, including Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC. LaHood joined DC Mayor […]
Transportation for America proposal creates more jobs than current transportation law, Economic Policy Institute finds
What if we could re-design our nation’s transportation policy to increase travel choices, reduce oil dependency and create more jobs? According to an Economic Policy Institute study, we could do just that if Congress adopts Transportation for America’s proposal.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer stumping for $2 billion transit aid bill
Last week, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, a top Democrat in Washington and influential policy player, spoke out forcefully in favor of the Public Transportation Preservation Act, a $2 billion lifeline for the nation’s transit agencies. The Act would provide emergency operating aid for buses, subways and other systems throughout the country and would give a significant boost to the tri-state region.
Making Normal, Illinois the new “norm” for transportation planning
Last week, Transportation for America Director James Corless was in Normal, Illinois, a town of 45,000 and recipient of a $22 million grant for a new city transportation hub, touting the project as a model for smarter federal transportation spending in the next six-year transportation bill.
Video: John Robert Smith on helping politicos see the importance of passenger rail
In this short video, Former Meridian, Mississippi Mayor and current T4 America co-chair John Robert Smith talks about the project to build a new multimodal train station in downtown Meridian when he was mayor, proposed cuts to Amtrak that happened shortly afterward, and how a few key Senators championed funding for Amtrak after seeing how ordinary people outside of D.C. depended on that service.
Dozens of bicyclists ride to USDOT Friday to tell Secretary LaHood “thanks”
Transportation for America was proud to co-author and circulate a letter thanking Secretary Ray LaHood for USDOT’s policy statement elevating walking and biking in national policy. Last Friday, several of us at T4 cycled with a handful of national partners to DOT Headquarters across town to thank the Secretary in person.
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