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Congress takes a step towards “completing America’s streets”

Before and after of a complete street. Tell Congress to support complete streets.

Did you know that almost half of all the trips we take each day are under three miles? So why aren’t more of us walking or biking for some of these shorter trips each day? Frankly, most of our streets just aren’t designed for safe and comfortable use by everyone — and almost all of us are pedestrians at some point during each day.

Complete streets are safe and accessible for everyone that needs to use them — cars, transit users, bicyclists, pedestrians, young, old, disabled, and everyone else.

Over the last two days, Complete Streets bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate.

Introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin in the Senate, and Rep. Doris Matsui in the House, these bills need our support — and more congressional sponsors. (Sen. Tom Carper and Rep. Ellen Tauscher, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, and Rep. David Wu are the current co-sponsors.)

Complete streets make it possible for children to walk and bike to school safely, give seniors more security traveling to appointments, and provide everyone with safer, greener and more convenient ways of getting around without their cars.

Photos of La Jolla, California before and after by Dan Burden

For the last few years, local governments have been the ones leading the way. More than 80 state and local governments have passed ordinances mandating that new road construction provide a full menu of transportation options to meet the needs of everyone using the road. As you can see from the quote from Mayor Diaz in Miami at right, mayors — and the cities they lead — have seen and experienced the immeasurable benefit that complete streets provide for their communities.

Now we need Congress to take the next step.

“Rates of childhood obesity have tripled in recent years, and mayors clearly understand that this is due in large part to the lack of a pedestrian infrastructure. In opening streets to multiple modes of transportation, we are enabling a more active lifestyle by providing the option to get out of cars. America’s mayors strongly endorse transportation policies that integrate transportation, energy, environmental and public health.”

– Mayor Manuel A. (Manny) Diaz, President, US Conference of Mayors, Miami

With these bills in Congress, we have a chance right now to make sure our streets are safe and inviting for everyone who uses them — not just those driving cars.

The Complete Streets Act (H.R. 1443 and S. 584) would direct state and metropolitan transportation authorities to adopt and implement complete streets policies for upcoming federally-funded transportation projects.

Complete streets provide a full menu of transportation options to meet the needs of everyone using a road — pedestrians, cyclists, the disabled, and users of public transportation. They are cost-effective because they save money on retrofits and reduce congestion, improving conditions for existing businesses and attracting new development. They help us reduce our oil dependence by making it easier for people to leave their cars at home. And complete streets improve safety for everyone and encourage healthy and active lifestyles, saving all taxpayers money in future health care costs.

Write your member of Congress today and tell them to support or co-sponsor this important legislation.

From the National Complete Streets Coalition release:

The gradual conversion to complete streets will reduce crashes, deaths, and injuries, particularly the almost 5,000 annual fatalities and 70,000 injuries among vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists, including older Americans and children. Studies have found that designing for pedestrians by installing raised medians and redesigning intersections and sidewalks reduces pedestrian risk by 28 to 40 percent, and some treatments reduce automobile crashes as well.

More resources:

» Press release from Rep. Matsui’s office.
» Press release from Sen. Harkin’s office.
» More about Complete Streets from T4 coalition member The National Complete Streets Coalition.
» Guest post from Barbara McCann with the CS Coalition at the Infrastructurist
» Read the press release from the National Complete Streets Coalition. (pdf)
» Questions? Ask away in the comments. Some experts might stop by to answer.

A day of air travel over North America, and what it means for rail

From Wired Magazine via Aaron of Streetsblog comes this amazing map and video that shows a day of air travel over North America. Using data from the Federal Aviation Administration and a service called FlightView that tracks airline travel each day, artist Aaron Koblin created this Google map that shows 24 hours of airline travel on August 12, 2008.

There’s also a breathtaking movie version of this same map, that shows the flights in real time through the course of the day.

The sheer number of airplanes traveling over the United States is simply mind boggling. On this day chronicled in the map, the FAA tracked 205,000 flights in U.S. airspace. Anyone who has ever traveled by plane knows that we have plenty of air above our country, but the problem is the fact that too many of them need to be in specific pieces of air at the same time. Or traveling through the same crowded airports.

Watch the movie and look at what happens to the east coast — especially the northeastern corridor — during the major commuting hours. Our major airports are bursting at the seams, and our air traffic control system, while among the safest and most professional in the world, is hard pressed to keep up with the growing demands placed on it. (more…)

Meridian, Mississippi Mayor urges a renewed effort to continue “uniting” the United States of America

Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Mississippi gives the keynote address at the platform launch event last week. Creative Commons photo by Steve Davis/Transportation for America

As we mentioned last week, Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Mississippi came to Washington, DC last week to help Transportation For America officially launch our full platform with a special event in the Cannon House Office Building.

Mayor Smith provided a stirring keynote address, evoking Eisenhower’s vision of a connected America — a vision realized over the last 50 years through our interstate system that was once the envy of the world.

But times have changed, and while investing in maintenance of what we’ve already built, we now need to kick start an ambitious effort to build the second half of our transportation system: The robust intercity rail, the streets safe for walking and biking, the public transportation that provides congestion relief and transportation choices for Americans far and wide, and the rest of an interconnected 21st Century network that can keep us moving into a prosperous American future.

We were honored and delighted to have him speak at our launch event.

Continue below to read his full speech from last Thursday. Our thanks to Mayor Smith and his office for supplying us with the full text. (more…)

Transportation For America officially launches campaign platform

Today in Washington, D.C., Transportation for America held an event on Capitol Hill to formally announce our new coalition of more than 225 organizations and 17,000 individual members and to release the platform drafted with input from dozens of practitioners and stakeholders. In opening remarks, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) called the coalition perhaps the “most formidable” such coalition assembled on behalf of transportation reform.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer addressed the guests and VIP’s gathered in the Capitol Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building

With events last night and this morning on Capitol Hill, we brought together leaders in the worlds of transportation, public health, business and social justice to launch the platform.

Our campaign platform calls on President Obama and Congress to launch a new federal transportation mission that breaks with the worn out ways of the status quo, helps put an end to America’s oil dependency, brings opportunity to all Americans and allows our country’s businesses to compete and thrive in the 21st Century.

Other panelists, including Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association, Judith Bell of PolicyLink, Richard Baron of McCormack Baron Salazar and Transportation for America campaign director James Corless, spoke on behalf of the public health benefits, implications for real estate development and the need for local areas to have greater latitude to address their mobility issues.

Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Mississippi — a city that has worked hard to turn their rail connections into downtown reinvestment and vice versa — spoke at length about the need for the next phase of our transportation system to unite our country in the same way that Eisenhower envisioned the interstate system would help a collection of States be unified as a truly “United” States of America:

Few national issues offer a greater opportunity for imaginative change. And we need a Congress that will reach across the aisle that separates their parties, and reach across the geography that separate their states. These issues are complex and daunting, but we must act and act now. Our children and children’s children will hold us accountable. To fail would be to leave this nation as Eisenhower said, “As many separate parts.”

Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association shows off his copy of the Platform.

The Platform is now available for you to download and read.

But more importantly, join us in urging Congress and the Obama adminstration to consider our platform as they move towards writing this year’s transportation bill. Add your voice to thousands of others urging a new direction for transportation!

Also today, the National Association of Realtors released a poll done in conjunction with Transportation for America that shows strong support for investment in public transportation, walking and biking and a better-managed and maintained highway system. Read the details about the NAR/T4 poll.

Transportation for America also announced that the coalition will launch a series of town hall meetings and provide materials for self-organized house parties where engaged citizens can talk about what a renewed national vision for transportation investment could mean for their communities. Watch here for more to come on that over the next several days and weeks.

Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Mississippi, left, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer take their respective turns at the mic this morning on Capitol Hill.

Photos licensed with Creative Commons by Steve Davis/Transportation for America

Attend our platform launch this Thursday at the U.S. Capitol

Come and join us!

This Thursday on Capitol Hill, we will be releasing our full campaign platform for the upcoming transportation bill, with some very special guests in attendance. If you are in the DC area, (or can make it here by Thursday!), please join us for an entertaining, informative discussion on the future of transportation in America as we officially launch Transportation For America’s platform.

Be sure to keep tabs here on the campaign blog throughout this week. We’ll have the full platform posted later this week after the launch.

Hope to see you Thursday.

President Obama: “I would like to see some long-term reforms in how transportation dollars flow…”

President Obama gave an interview to five columnists aboard Air Force One last week en route to Chicago, and he talked at length about infrastructure, transportation, and the need to make serious reforms in transportation spending this year when the five-year transportation bill is reauthorized. He hinted at how proper investments in transportation and infrastructure can help boost the economy and meet other national goals like reducing energy usage — all while making a downpayment on a 21st Century transportation system we’re all hoping for.

President Obama with his Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. From the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Flickr stream (Creative Commons)

An excerpt from the very long interview:

Q. Mr. President, if I could ask you about infrastructure, You’ve got infrastructure spending in the stimulus package. The need is much faster than that and the money is tight. Do you anticipate any significant further additions in federal infrastructure spending in the reasonably near future, and are you making plans to establish an infrastructure bank?

President Obama: Well, number one, we’ve got the transportation reauthorization bill that’s going to be coming up. So one thing to keep some perspective about on the recovery package is this is supposed to provide a jolt to the economy above and beyond what we’re doing already in the federal budget. And so I expect that Secretary LaHood, working with the various transportation committees are going to be moving forward on a transportation bill. I would like to see some long-term reforms in how transportation dollars flow, and I’ll give you just a couple of examples. I think right now we don’t do a lot of effective planning at the regional level when it comes to transportation. That’s hugely inefficient. Not only does it probably consume more money in terms of getting projects done, but it also ends up creating traffic patterns, for example, that are really hugely wasteful when it comes to energy use.

If we can start building in more incentives for more effective planning at the local level, that’s not just good transportation policy, it’s good energy policy. So we’ll be working with transportation committees to see if we can move in that direction.

The idea of an infrastructure bank I think make sense — the idea that we get engineers, and not just elected officials, involved in thinking about and planning how we’re spending these dollars. I may get some objections from my colleagues, Democrat and Republican, on the Hill about that, but I think there should be some way for us to — just think how can we rationalize the process to get the most bang for the buck, because the needs are massive and we can’t do everything, and if it’s estimated that just on infrastructure alone it would cost a couple trillion dollars to get our roads, bridges, sewer systems, et cetera, up to snuff, and we know we’re not going to have that money, then it would be nice if we said here are the 10 most important projects and let’s do those first, instead of maybe doing the 10 least important projects but the ones that have the most political pull.

Transportation Secretary LaHood on Obama’s recovery package

398px-ray_lahood U.S. DOT Secretary Ray Lahood released his statement on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and he’s saying many of the right things. Of course, the true test will come when the states start deciding where to spend the flexible transportation dollars in the stimulus package. Will states choose to make a dent in the severely backlogged repair and maintenance needs before building new highways?

(On that note, Recovery.gov also launched today, where anyone can track where the stimulus money is being spent.)

A notable excerpt from the middle of LaHood’s release:

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We will use the transportation funding in the Act to deliver jobs and restore our nation’s economy. We will emphasize sustainable investment and focus our policies on the people, businesses and communities who use the transportation systems. And, we will focus on the quality of our environment. We will build and restore our transportation foundations until the American dream is returned.

We will invest in jobs to expand transit capacity and modernize transit systems. Transit is a centerpiece of my focus on livable communities and our Department will work closely with Vice President Biden’s “Middle-class Taskforce” on transit initiatives.

We will invest in jobs to allow Amtrak to add and modernize cars and engines and upgrade its tracks.

We will invest in jobs to expand airport capacity and make safety improvements.

We will invest in jobs to build and rehabilitate and make safer roads, highways, bridges and ports.

And we will invest in jobs to launch high-speed rail in America. This will transform intercity transportation in America, reduce our carbon footprint, relieve congestion on the roads and in the skies, and take advantage of a mode of transportation that has already benefited Europe and Japan for many years.

There are those who argue that we need to waive environmental regulations to put people to work more quickly, but that is simply not the case. We have a backlog of worthwhile transportation projects waiting for funding that have already met those standards. We are ready to build a new transportation infrastructure and we will work to keep it green.

I have met with state officials and other transportation stakeholders, and we have discussed how the money can be spent quickly to create jobs on projects that make long-term sense for our transportation systems in communities across the nation. We also reviewed the need for transparency and full accountability on this spending. We will do things by the book.

Summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

For those of you who don’t check the “Campaign News” tab at top on a regular basis or get the full RSS feed, we posted our full summary of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. If you are interested in the full, detailed, numerical breakdown of transportation spending in the stimulus package, this is the post for you.

Read Transportation For America’s full summary of the provisions and funding requirements for transportation in The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Though a Worthy Down Payment, Stimulus Raises Urgent Need for New Transportation Vision

	Download this Release (.pdf) Download this Release (.doc)
	Contact: David Goldberg 202-412-7930 david.goldberg@t4america.org Ben Grossman-Cohen 202-478-6185 bgrossman-cohen@mrss.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The transportation spending priorities in the stimulus bill conference report passed by the House of Representatives today are a significant departure from the status quo and ought to represent the leading edge of a major new thrust in our national infrastructure policy. The Senate is expected to pass the conference report as soon as tonight.

Given the need for haste in crafting the bill, congressional and Administration negotiators were handcuffed by backward-looking, existing programs even as they tried to shape investments for a future of reduced oil dependency, greater opportunity for Americans to join the middle class and cleaner transportation choices. Despite some shortcomings resulting from current transportation law, Congress has adopted a bill that if properly enacted by state and local authorities, could be a down payment on a new direction for America’s infrastructure:

$27.5 billion allocated to the Surface Transportation Program (STP) that should go a long way to restoring our transportation networks to a state of good repair. Unfortunately, Congress neglected to include language ensuring this money is prioritized to fix crumbling roads and bridges, so now the onus is on state and local governments to ensure these funds are not spent improperly.
Unprecedented flexibility for spending STP funds — traditionally spent mostly on highways — on ports, transit, passenger and freight rail or other projects as national, state or regional needs may require.
A significant share of transportation dollars directed to local decision makers and metropolitan regions rather than state departments of transportation.
$8.4 billion for public transportation, recognizing the strong and growing demand for transit service. However, none of these funds can be used to prevent cuts in service and jobs at transit agencies suffering from massive budget shortfalls. It is up to Congress to ensure this gap is filled in upcoming appropriations negotiations.
$9.3 billion for intercity and high-speed passenger rail, an encouraging indication that Congress realizes how important it is to expand alternatives to our overburdened highway and aviation networks.
The inclusion of up to $825 million for projects that will make our streets safer for walking and biking, providing help for commuters who have increasingly turned to these alternatives to save money and increase their physical activity.

When President Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it will provide a down payment on the transportation investment needed to get our economy moving. But the urgency of recreating our national transportation program to address the challenges of the future is more starkly clear than ever.

Now Congress and the Obama-Biden administration must begin consideration of the successor legislation to the expiring SAFETEA-LU law — our current, 1950s-era federal transportation program. This critically important legislation must provide a new 21st Century vision for investment in our transportation system that is safer, healthier, cleaner, more equitable and smarter so that our nation can compete and thrive in the future economy.

Transportation numbers emerge on the stimulus

UPDATE (2:00 p.m., 02/12/09): Talking Points Memo has acquired a summary of the new bill, which includes a comparison of each spending item to the House and Senate legislation. It looks like the final number for highways is $27.5 billion. The bill to come out of conference also includes $1.3 billion for Amtrak.

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We now have what appear to be the final numbers for transportation infrastructure in the stimulus. While the totals for transit and highway spending were both in the same ballpark as what they were in the original House and Senate bills, the sum for high-speed has drastically increased from the numbers in the first two versions. Here’s a rundown:

$27.5 billion for highways and bridges
$8.4 billion for transit
$8 billion for high-speed rail
$1.3 billion for Amtrak

Although it’s too early to know exactly how things played out behind the scenes, the Associated Press reports that President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid helped push up the funding for high-speed rail.

BREAKING: House-Senate compromise on stimulus

A number of news outlets are reporting that a group of Senate and House members have come to a tentative agreement on the stimulus, paving the way for the final passage of the bill. The small conference of legislators have reportedly negotiated a $789.5 billion stimulus — a sum that’s about $30 billion less than the House version of the bill and $50 billion less than the Senate legislation.

As we told you yesterday, the two versions of the bill had some significant differences between them on transportation, and hopefully, we’ll be find out today what lawmakers came up with. Here’s all we know so far on what programs have been cut or changed, according to George Stephanopoulos:

The compromise scales back the tax credits for auto and home purchases and other tax cuts. It also restores some of the House education funding that the Obama administration has called “crucial.”

Be sure to check back with us later today to see how everything went down.

Comparing transportation spending in the Senate and House stimulus

With the stimulus successfully passed through the Senate, it moves into conference with the House, where the two chambers will try to hammer out the version to be voted on again by each house before heading to the President’s desk if it passes.

Here is our side-by-side comparison on the transportation spending in the two versions. For the non-policy wonks out there, you’ll want to stick to the numbers at the top before it descends into the particulars of the second half of the table.

Check back here later Tuesday or Wednesday morning for our complete list of what we’re asking Congress to do in conference. (For example, keep the House’s $12 billion for transit.)

You’ll need to click through to see the full table if you’re on the main blog page. (more…)

Senate compromise preserves transit funding — for now

It appears the Senate compromise on the stimulus package keeps transit and highway funding unchanged. Neither the high speed rail funding or competitive grants for any mode were reduced, as was originally thought to be the case. We’re suspending our appeal to make calls for now.

The Senate will move to vote on the overall stimulus package Monday or Tuesday. Then it moves to conference committee with the House to determine the balance between the two bills that will ultimately be voted on by both chambers and sent to the President’s desk.

Streetsblog Network members The Transport Politic and Greater Greater Washington both had good summaries of the Senate compromise. The Transport Politic breaks down the funding compared to the House version, and points out some crucial differences that will be hashed out in conference:

The final version of the compromise stimulus bill, which was formulated by a group of about 20 moderate senators, has been released by Senated Ben Nelson (D-NE). It does not decrease funds currently proposed to be allocated to high-speed rail or transit programs, but it does not meet the higher standards for funding for fixed guideways and New Starts that were provided in the amendment added to the House version of the bill by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

Greater Greater Washington reminds us that while transit wasn’t raided and redirected to highway funding, there’s still no assurance that the highway funds will be directed to where they can be the most effective. Repair and maintenance will create more jobs, spend money more quickly, and will not come with the price tag of future billions in maintenance like new highways do.

People on the left and right have plenty of other complaints about this stimulus. And it still gives the lion’s share of money to states under the old formulas which favor highways. There’s no “fix it first” requirement making sure state DOTs repair crumbling bridges before building greenfield freeways. Still, we were able to stop the Senate from making things a lot, lot worse. That’s a start.

Nothing is truly finished yet. Until the Senate passes their version, amendments could still spring up and funding levels could change. If it passes, the House and Senate will conference together next week to determine how to balance out portions of the bill that are not in line with each other.

For example, the House has $12 billion for transit, while the Senate has less than $9 billion. As TP points out, “the bills are different enough that we won’t know what the final bill will look like until the Senate/House conference committee releases its report after it meets.”

Stay tuned here on the blog or on Twitter to follow updates next week as the bill proceeds. Watch Monday for news about urging the conference to keep the House’s higher transit figures.

BREAKING: Threat to transit funding in Senate compromise?

UPDATED: (8:30 p.m. 2/7/09) The Senate agreement reached last night has no changes for transit, highways, intermodal competitive grants, or high-speed rail. We recommend halting calls on the proposed cuts to transit. See this newer post for more updated information.

The so-called “compromise” plan about to be put forth by Senators Nelson and Collins would cut somewhere between $80-100 billion from the Senate stimulus package. How do they propose to get there?

In part, by cutting transit’s already paltry amount nearly in half, and raising the amount of highway spending by an undisclosed amount.

According to a Senate memo obtained by The Plum Line, there is a proposal to remove $3.4 billion from transit funding and raise the funds for highways above the $27 billion already earmarked for highway spending. If true, cutting $3.4 billion from public transportation (and increasing highway spending) would reduce the roads/transit split in this bill far below even the tepid 80/20 share that current federal spending reflects.

Tell your senator not to support any proposed change to the stimulus package that reduces funds for transit below those in the original Senate proposal, but rather to push for increasing the funds to meet the soaring demand for reliable, clean transportation. And tell them not to increase highway funding without increasing transit proportionally.

Call-in information removed in light of agreement reached in Senate.

For targeting purposes, the Senators reported to be in the room are Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mark Begich (D-AK), Tom Carper (D-DE), John Tester (D-MT), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Jim Webb (D-VA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Michael Bennett (D-CO), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Udall (D-CO), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and George Voinovich (R-OH).

Leave us notes in the comments on your calls if you like.

Friday Senate stimulus update

UPDATE: Look for a list of amendments on the docket at the bottom.

Obviously, things are moving very fast in the Senate today. Here is a summary of a mix of rumor and fact as of 1 p.m. EST if you’d like to follow more closely:

The Inhofe amendment — to take unspent stimulus funds after one year and direct them to highways, water, and other infrastructure projects on lists submitted by states — was re-filed. But it was objected to by Finance Chair Baucus over a unanimous consent agreement. It’s not completely dead yet, as some outlets have claimed. It still could potentially resurface. Baucus has now asked all Senators to refrain from offering any more amendments.
Votes on amendments are scheduled to begin around 1 pm. (They’ve begun voting on amendments now.)
A bipartisan group of senators continues to work on an agreement to reduce spending levels by approximately $107 billion, according to C-SPAN. The $5.5 billion in competitive grants for transportation could be on the chopping block. The appropriators are working on recommendations from Collins/Nelson/McCain and others.
Majority Leader Sen. Reid will likely make the procedural call to end debate and move to a vote this evening. According to the New York Times, if the compromise on spending cuts have not been reached, he could move on Sunday, with the vote coming Monday.
All of this could change at any point. Check back here, or follow us on Twitter for more updated information.

According to the Senate Majority Leader’s calendar, the previously failed Murray/Feinstein amendment to raise infrastructure spending (roads and transit both) is still due to be considered today. Though Sen. Bond’s two amendments to move high speed rail and competitive grant money to highways are not listed on this calendar, they could still be alive however, so take action and write your Senator if you have not already.

1 p.m.: Voting has ended on first four amendments, none of which concerned transportation. General debate is underway now. After debate, “the Senate will consider the following amendments. They will be considered in rotating fashion going back and forth to each side.”

Conrad-Graham #501 (strikes funding/foreclosure prevention)
Dodd #145 (foreclosure mitigation);
Cantwell #274 (Energy), with a modification which is at the desk
Feingold #485 (Energy conservation);
Grassley #297 (FMAP);
Enzi #293(Health IT);
Vitter #107(ACORN);
Bunning #531 (Business Credits);
Wyden #468 (Bonuses); and
Thune #538 (Tax Rebate)

As you can see, there is no mention (YET) of the Murray/Feinstein, Bond, or Inhofe amendments. Infrastucturist passed on a quote from an Inhofe’s staffer about his $30 billion amendment: “Senator Inhofe intends to bring it up, and we think there may be a good opportunity to do so today.”

We’ll keep this updated through the afternoon as the bill progresses.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

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During hectic weeks like these last two while the stimulus was debated in the House and Senate, it can be hard to keep up with all the news and rapid developments as things change hour to hour with debate, votes, and amendments.

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Schumer amendment in Senate could boost transit funding

Take Action! Write your Senator!

UPDATED: Sen. Schumer has the release posted on his web site now. Copy updated to reflect that below. Coverage of the Grand Central press conference today from Bloomberg News

Sen. Chuck Schumer and fellow New York Congressman Rep. Jerrold Nadler released a statement today detailing Sen. Schumer’s amendment to increase funding for transit in that chamber’s version of the economic recovery package. (Rep. Nadler authored the amendment that passed the House last week.)

Sen. Schumer’s amendment would boost transit funding from $8.4 billion up to $14.9 billion, with additions to the vital program (New Starts) that would provide funding for new, ready-to-go transit projects across the country. Currently, the House version has $2.5 billion for New Starts, where the Senate version has zero. This amendment would correct this imbalance, while also boosting the overall amount for transit.

You can read the full release here. An excerpt:

“Last week, we scored a major victory in Washington, as the House of Representatives approved my amendment to increase transit funds in the stimulus bill by $3 billion, bringing the total amount of transit dollars in the package from 9 billion to 12 billion. This additional funding would mean hundreds of millions more in transit money for New York, creating thousands of local jobs, protecting our environment through green projects, and improving public transportation across the region. These funds would go a tremendous distance toward stemming the advance of our deepening economic recession. And now, with the support of Senator Schumer in the Senate, we have taken one great step closer to realizing this essential goal.”

Schumer’s amendment would boost funding in the Senate version of the stimulus package by $6.5 billion, from $8.4 billion currently in the bill to $14.9 billion. Specifically, Schumer’s amendment would increase funding in the transit capital pot from $8.4 billion to 10.4 billion, add $2 billion for rail modifications, and $2.5 billion for New Starts. The last two funding increases would match funding in the House bill.

Contact your Senator today to send a message. Tell them to support increased transit funding — and Sen. Schumer’s amendment — in the Senate package.

Let them know that this is exactly the kind of spending you want to see in the stimulus package — spending that can boost the economy while investing in long-lasting infrastructure that will help us meet our national goals of improved infrastructure, less oil dependence, and lower emissions.

You can check back here or with Streetsblog NYC for more breaking news on the Schumer amendment and transit funding in the Senate bill.

The Inauguration: A shining moment for public transportation

If you were watching television last Tuesday, you saw at least two historic things happen, but there’s a chance that the lesser of them escaped your notice.

What you might have missed was the fact that Washington, D.C. also managed to quadruple the number of people who travel into the city on a typical day — from 400,000 to 1.8 million — without breaking out into total chaos. And that number was quadrupled at on the same day that they closed all Potomac River bridges and banned private vehicles from a large area around the Mall and parade route.

The star performer of the day? What the Washington Post‘s Dr. Gridlock calls “the Washington region’s biggest transportation asset: The Metrorail system.”

By many accounts, it was the largest public gathering in city’s history. And for certain, it was the highest rail ridership day that Metro has ever had in its history. It wasn’t even close. The previous record, actually set just the day before at 866,681 trips, was completely obliterated with a total of 1,120,000 riders on Inauguration Day. There were problems with stations getting closed at times due to crowding, and definitely some packed platforms, but on the whole, Metro stood up to numbers far higher than anyone had ever seen before.

Even President Obama got there on public transportation

The Post’s Dr. Gridlock wrote a four part post-mortem on “How It Worked,” and his general conclusion? Thousands biked, even more walked, roads and bridges were closed to cars, and embraced the superior carrying capacity of Metro.

Local blog Greater Greater Washington points to last Tuesday’s success as a blueprint for the future of a growing Washington, DC region:

If our region is to grow, we need to help more people reach their jobs. One approach is to add traffic lanes and parking garages at enormous cost, both financial and in lost urban vitality. The other solution is to move people as we did on Tuesday. More people rode the trains. Each vehicle coming into the downtown core carried far more people. Over 2,000 people used WABA’s bike valet. And many more people started their days within walking distance of downtown. Those houseguests raised our population density enormously, enriching our neighborhood businesses besides.

To follow that up, read what Ryan Avent points out about Metro’s ridership these days, especially in light of the city’s population continuing to grow.

And now, of the top 20 ridership days, one was in 2004 (Reagan’s funeral), one in 2007, 16 were last year, and two have already happened this year. And the metropolitan population continues to grow. One might think that WMATA and the District would work to enhance core service, by planning a new core line and by adding streetcar capacity to help with the intracity load.

So what’s the status of expanding and building upon “the region’s greatest transportation asset?” If you’ve seen the transit cuts map, you might already know the answer: Cutting nearly 900 jobs and cutting $73 million in service. That operating assistance sure would have been useful to keeping the economic backbone of the region functioning.

Call your representative today and urge them to support Rep. Nadler’s amendment to increase transit funding in the stimulus. (1/28/09)

Photos by Steve Davis

Poll Finds Americans Favor Smarter Transportation Spending in Stimulus Bill


	Download this Release (.pdf)
	Contact: David Goldberg, 202/412-7930 david.goldberg@T4america.org

WASHINGTON – Eighty percent of Americans want transportation and other infrastructure spending included in the economic stimulus bill to target projects that achieve multiple goals and create new jobs, according to a survey sponsored by the National Association of Realtors® and Transportation for America.

The 2009 Growth and Transportation Survey describes what Americans think about how development affects their immediate community. An overwhelming 80 percent believe it’s more important that a stimulus plan include efforts to repair existing highways and build public transit rather than build new highways. Forty-five percent of those polled said construction of new highways should “definitely” or “probably” not be included in the plan.

“Realtors® build communities and believe smarter transportation and infrastructure development will help create more livable and vibrant neighborhoods,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth.

The survey shows that Americans want Congress and the incoming administration to factor plans for reducing dependence on foreign oil, improving the environment, and increasing transportation choices into the stimulus package currently in development, even if it temporarily delays job creation.

Americans are also very interested in energy conservation. Eighty-nine percent agreed that transportation investments should support the goals of reducing energy use, with 58 percent agreeing strongly. Three in four of those polled also want the stimulus plan to support the reduction of carbon emissions that lead to global warming and climate change.

The 2009 Growth and Transportation Survey was conducted by Hart Research Associates, January 5-7. Hart Research Associates telephoned 1,005 adults living in the U.S. The study has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Transportation for America is a broad coalition of housing, environmental, public health, urban planning, transportation and other organizations, seeking to align national, state, and local transportation policies with an array of issues like economic opportunity, climate change, energy security, health, housing and community development. NAR is a member of Transportation For America.

The National Association of Realtors® “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

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Are we building new roads to crumbling bridges?

Would you like to avoid another one of these? Tell Congress

When Minnesota’s I-35W bridge collapsed in 2007, many Americans were shocked to learn that thousands of bridges across the country were rated “structurally deficient.” The last major survey in 2007 found that more than 72,000 bridges were structurally deficient — or about 12.1% of all our nation’s bridges.

With billions of dollars about to be spent on an economic recovery package, you’d think Congress would prioritize fixing dangerous bridges and repairing unsafe highways — as well as investing in ready-to-go transit or rail projects that can help meet our pressing national goals of reducing oil dependence and lowering dangerous emissions.

But the powerful highway lobby is pressing hard for nearly all the money to be spent constructing new roads and bridges. This makes no sense.

Urge Congress to fix what’s broken before committing billions to expanding roads and highways.

Sign this petition to show Congress your support for fixing and maintaining the network we have with the stimulus rather than throwing our money into new highway capacity and 1950’s-style highway projects.

Before we add capacity to a highway system that is already too big to maintain in good condition, we should focus on life-saving maintenance and repair projects.

These are the projects that can get going now in communities large and small, creating millions of jobs, while making roads safer and preventing another tragic bridge collapse.

Congress simply can’t afford to write a blank check for new roads — and Americans can’t afford to have billions thrown away on projects we don’t need.

We need smart transportation spending that’s responsive to taxpayers, not the highway lobby. A fix-it-first transportation agenda is the solution we need to help create jobs in the short term, protect jobs in the long term, and help reduce our dangerous dependency on foreign oil.

Crumbling Bridges