Breaking Down the Blueprint: Economic Competitiveness, Efficiency, and Opportunity, Pt. 2
June 17, 2009By Andrew Bielak
| The T4 America Blueprint has six overarching national objectives to provide a new vision and guide our federal transportation policy. If our transportation system is in need of a clear purpose, these six objectives are like the rudder that will steer the ship. To ensure that we can meet these objectives and measure our progress, we created 10 performance targets — clear, quantifiable goals for the next 20 years that are tied directly to the six national objectives. |
How can the proposals in our Blueprint help strengthen the economy and create jobs? As we noted in the last post in this series, making our economy more competitive, increasing workforce development opportunities, and improving the efficiency of our transportation system represents one of our six national objectives that must guide our national transportation program.
As a quick refresher: while many of our 10 performances targets line up with this objective, there are two that we believe are particularly important:
- Reduce delay per capita by 10 percent by 2030
- Lower congestion costs by reducing traffic crashes by 50 percent by 2030.
Meeting these goals won’t be easy — it requires us to rethink how we approach our transportation investments, to create an integrated system that balances investments in highways, public transportation, rail, and walking and biking, and to use state-of-the art technology to manage our existing transportation infrastructure.
To see what programs and policies in our Blueprint will help us reach this objectives, keep on reading below the fold.
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A smarter transportation system begins with smarter technology
May 7, 2009By Andrew Bielak
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| Singapore’s congestion pricing system |
When filmmakers envision the future of our transportation system, they often seem to come up with one enduring image — millions of layers of flying cars breezing effortlessly through impossibly dense cities, surrounded by mile-high skyscrapers.
There’s a good chance the future may not look quite so, well, futuristic. But that doesn’t mean that advanced computer technology — namely, wireless networks known as Intelligent Transportation Systems that feed through our transportation infrastructure — won’t have a huge role to play in helping move people and goods safer, more efficiently, and with less pollution in the 21st Century.
As this recent article from the New York Times makes clear, Intelligent Transportation Systems, or ITS, are becoming increasingly valuable tools for governments looking to better manage transportation networks without increasing capacity, and important investment opportunities for private companies who help develop these systems.
We can’t just pave our way out of congestion, but better technology can help us better utilize the system that we have now and maximize capacity — without always having to resort to costly new infrastructure.
When applied to our roads, bridges, transit systems, and rails, ITS can be as simple as the tolling booths that photograph license plates to allow drivers to pass straight through tolls and pay at a later date, or as complex as computer sensors installed on railroad tracks to better monitor and navigate the movement of freight.
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- Transit grants out the federal door, but what about the cuts?
March 8, 2010 - Transit riders in Atlanta face massive cuts, “wholesale restructuring” of service
March 5, 2010 - Opposition to Senate extension results in looming shutdown of federal transportation programs
February 26, 2010 - T4 jobs proposal would create nearly half a million jobs, according to Economic Policy Institute
February 17, 2010 - Obama’s 2011 budget gives a lift to livability and transportation
February 2, 2010
- Transit grants out the federal door, but what about the cuts?
The United States of Transit Cutbacks
Driving is down and transit ridership is at record highs. Yet transit agencies across the country are considering layoffs, service cuts and fare hikes. Find out more and learn what you can do to help at t4america.org/transitcuts
Transportation: In your eyes
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