On the website of Transportation for America, a group advocating clean transportation and smart-growth planning, there is a ticker that has been counting up since the expiration of the last surface transportation reauthorization bill. Today, the counter hits 365 days — marking a year since states had a long-term funding plan for their transportation projects.

That timeline has not been lost on anyone, as calls for a new reauthorization bill have grown stronger and the Obama administration has begun generating its plans.

The trepidation and delays surrounding the reauthorization are nothing new — the massive, six-year bills have typically been late and slow to form. But to TFA President James Corless, it is important that Congress start moving on the bill soon.

“I think everyone still believes the next authorization bill remains one of the best opportunities we have to reimagine the nation’s transportation policy,” Corless said. “This meets a multiple set of really urgent imperatives that country has to take. … We want to put people back to work and transition into a clean energy economy and we think this is one of the best vehicles to do that.”

It’s not just groups like T4 America or industry groups pushing for a long-term bill from Congress. He also pointed out that most transportation officials at the state and local levels would prefer a comprehensive reauthorization to the quick-fixes Congress has continued to pass over the last year.

Congress is almost sure to pass a shorter extension after the elections, but states say they need a full reauthorization to provide the financial security and assurance that allow them to embark on larger projects.

President Obama brought long overdue attention to the nation’s infrastructure during his speech in Milwaukee on Labor Day, calling for a $50 billion down payment to fix roads, bridges, highways and transit systems. More recently, administration officials have signaled their intention to move on reauthorization in early 2011.

There is the potential for real bipartisanship. Ohio Senator George Voinovich, a Republican, has indicated a sense of urgency toward moving on infrastructure and a willingness to look at a number of revenue sources. Previous transportation bills that, while imperfect, made important strides toward investing in multimodal transportation were passed during a Republican Congress, and the last bill was signed by President George W. Bush.

Under the leadership of Secretary Ray LaHood, USDOT has already led the way in identifying a transformative change in direction for the nation’s transportation priorities as we climb out of the 1950′s mindset that guided the last half century of spending. Plautz writes:

LaHood has promised a “sea change” in transportation planning, including offering alternatives to driving like bike lanes and public transit. The administration has also been investing in high-speed rail.

USDOT officials have also been forward-looking in articulating the crucial link between transportation and land-use policies, especially with the transportation sector accounting for nearly 70 percent of the nation’s oil use. “We’re in the climate change business whether we like it or not, so we should probably be in that discussion,” Roy Kienitz, USDOT undersecretary for policy, said in a recent town hall.

“The administration really prioritizes more options and building in more performance measures that include environmental equity and economic indicators,” Plautz quoted T4 America Director James Corless as saying. “It’s a great opportunity to begin to move in a direction that reduces the reliance on oil.”

Help us get moving on a transformation reauthorization bill today.

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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 facilitate the creation of good-paying jobs.  The center will serve Amtrak, city and interstate buses and taxis and will be open for business within two years. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and Normal Mayor Chris Koons were among the participants in the first ceremonial shoveling of dirt.

The project will put 300 people to work building Amtrak’s railroad cars, and create immediate construction jobs. Ronn Moorehead, the president of the Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor Assembly told the Bloomington Pantagraph that 70 to 80 percent of construction worker’s pay is spent in his or her community.

Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff was also on hand for the festivities, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood blogged about it today, pointing out that the hub is being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Obama in early 2009.

Debbie Halvorson and Tim Johnson, both members of Congress representing Illinois, and State Rep. Dan Brady also played a crucial role in getting the project off the ground.

Congratulations to Normal on moving forward with a great project to improve transit access, create jobs and grow the local economy.

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. Listen to the full audio of the discussion here at InfrastructureUSA, conveniently broken up into shorter bits.

James cited some of the challenges facing transportation advocates in trying to catch the spotlight.

…everybody depends on transportation every single day. In many ways it’s in front of our face, but it’s hidden in plain sight. I don’t think that there is yet enough resonance with the public compared to things like the economy, national security, jobs, the environment, health care, there just hasn’t been enough resonance. At the end of the day, it’s often a very local issue; it’s not seen necessarily as something that rises to the level of national policy. That’s the challenge.

Another factor may be the message itself. James said transportation advocates have “gotten very wonky over the years. We tend to talk in terms of acronyms and funding programs and very arcane and outdated and scientific and very unimaginative language.”

James also discussed the need for high-level leadership, similar to the leadership President Eisenhower deployed in the 1950s to push through an enormous and unprecedented interstate highway system. James praised President Obama for making a signature issue out of high-speed rail, which will do a lot at the state and local level to spur economic development and travel access.

Citing the need for a broader vision, James called on advocates and policymakers alike to stop just asking for more money and start talking about what transportation is going to look like in the coming decades.

I think we actually have to reestablish trust with the American people and give them a new vision for the future, and tell them that this is not merely spending, this is an investment. We won’t do that simply by saying, “boy we’re really short on money and we need $120 billion just to keep pace.” That’s not going to excite people, especially with the kind of fiscal anxieties that exist out there. Asking simply for more money for transportation is putting the cart before the horse. We’ve got to sell people on a vision and we’ve got to reestablish their trust.

Click here for a complete transcript of James’ responses. (PDF)

Last week, Transportation for America Director James Corless (right) 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.

The TIGER grant program, created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, doled out merit-based federal funding for projects that merge transportation with economic development, the environment and other criteria. This new multimodal transportation center in Normal received a $22 million grant from the first round of TIGER grants earlier this year, helping to bring Amtrak trains, city buses, regional buses and taxis all in one centrally located building.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos said making uptown accessible for walking, biking and public transit was a key goal of the redevelopment effort, allowing more residents a place where they could live, eat and shop. The project also played a crucial role in attracting the Marriott Hotel and conference center, both walking distance from the site.

Other elected officials were just as effusive, with State Representative Dan Brady, a Bloomington Republican, calling the project a “shot in the arm for the economy.”

James joined 25 local stakeholders, including Representative Brady and Mayor Koos, at a press conference last week to demonstrate local support for the transportation hub. Attendees included local labor leaders and representatives from the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Amtrak and the Bloomington Normal Economic Development Council. Staff members for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and local Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson were also on hand.

“We think the transportation bill needs momentum and vision,” Corless told the participants. ”The reason we are here today is because we think that what Normal is doing is exactly that type of vision and kind of momentum that will give the transportation bill the kick in the pants it really needs.”

Normal should be the new “norm” for smaller cities, a example of livable and sustainable development resulting in real job creation and investment from businesses both large and small. Mayor Koos himself has been owner and operator of Vitesse Cycle Shop/Often Running in Uptown Normal since 1979. Normal’s leadership demonstrates to smaller cities that focusing on increased transportation options, investing in their town and city cores and expanding biking and walking can improve quality of life.

“We celebrate this type of spending,” said Brian Imus, state director of Illinois PIRG. “The multimodal center is an example of how to invest in a smart way.”

He added, “the next federal (transportation reauthorization) bill should encourage similar projects.” Transportation for America agrees, and is working toward a new bill that makes these types of transit hubs more easily funded and ready to move.

If projects like Normal’s can truly become the norm, that would be progress indeed.

A number of local media covered this event, including the Bloomington Pantagraph, WMBD and TV10 at Illinois State University.

UPDATED: We have some photos from the event on our Flickr page, and you can watch this short video of James Corless’ remarks at the event. Apologies for the quality of the audio, which is fairly quiet.

• Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asks for an 18-month extension on the current transportation bill, as Rep. James Oberstar releases an outline of a new one. (Wall Street Journal)

• Streetsblog breaks down Oberstar’s outline.

• A new study shows that sidewalks encourage walking and make us healthier.