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.

President Obama delivered a speech just a few minutes ago at the Brookings Institution here in Washington, D.C., on his plan for creating jobs and putting America back to work. We’ll add some details later and a link to the full speech, but here is the excerpt on infrastructure spending: Second, we’re proposing a boost [...]

How could a new transportation bill revitalize rural and small-town America? That was the focus of a Senate Democratic Steering Committee briefing on “Issues and Innovations for Small Towns and Rural Communities” in the Capitol Visitors Center last Friday. Transportation for America co-chair and former Meridian, Mississippi Mayor John Robert Smith shared his perspective as [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the implications of the indefinite closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge sunk in Friday, Americans nationwide were reminded of the urgent need to pass a new transportation law that emphasizes the rehabilitation of America’s crumbling roads, bridges and transit systems.

President Obama gave an interview to five columnists aboard Air Force One last week, talking at length about infrastructure, transportation, and the need to make serious reforms in transportation spending — hinting at how proper investments in transportation can help boost the economy while making the downpayment on a 21st Century transportation system we’re all hoping for.

With President-elect Barack Obama pledging tens of billions of dollars for infrastructure in the upcoming economic recovery package and Congress preparing for the expiration of the current federal transportation bill next October, there can be little doubt that 2009 is going to be a big year for our roads, bridges, and mass transit systems. To [...]

In an interview last month, President-elect Barack Obama described America’s addiction to oil as a ‘shock and trance‘ cycle, in which increasing oil consumption creates skyrocketing energy prices, leading to calls to for bold solutions and energy independence — that is, until prices temporarily drop and our political leaders conveniently avoid tough issues like energy [...]

With the ripple effects of our economic downturn putting state departments of transportation and local transit agencies in serious financial trouble, our federal government needs to make a firm commitment to investing in our crumbling infrastructure and providing Americans with affordable, efficient transportation options. In an excellent article in this week’s New York Times, writer [...]

Before the last presidential debate, we asked our supporters to sign a petition urging Sen. McCain and then Sen. Obama to tell us their plans for keeping America moving with smart transportation investments. President-elect Barack Obama responded to you and the campaign with a two-page thank-you letter we would like to share with you.

Communications Director David Goldberg responds to David Brooks’ op-ed called “A National Mobility Project,” praising his support of investing in infrastructure, but also pointing out the shortcomings of his 1950′s thinking on transportation.