Although unemployment turned out worse than some forecasters anticipated, there has been some consensus among economists that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed earlier this year prevented even higher job losses while channeling much-needed relief to states. But spending money quickly often relies on formulas and methods that are outdated, or — as evidenced in last month’s report by the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) and Good Jobs First — inequitable. Minority-owned businesses have received only 10.2 percent of stimulus funds toward federal contracts, while women-owned businesses received 5.9 percent.

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 [...]

Amidst today’s White House jobs summit, congressional Democrats have been working on ideas for a potential jobs bill in the House and Senate to put Americans to work with targeted investments. Transportation for America is pushing to make sure any spending boost is targeted at ready-to-go projects that can bring our transportation system into a state of good repair.

On the eve of the White House jobs summit, James L. Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR), chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit today sent President Obama a letter arguing for increased transportation funding. The two called for funding “ready-to-go” projects on the order of $48 billion for highways and $15 billion for public transportation.

In light of discussions in Congress about a potential bill focused specifically on creating jobs, and President Obama convening a jobs summit this week in Washington, Transportation for America recently sent this letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi that outlined 3 principles that should guide any potential infrastructure and transportation spending. If we’re going to fund infrastructure investments to put people back to work, it’s imperative that we get the most out of our precious dollars — and stay on track for passing the long-term transportation bill we so desperately need to get America moving again.

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, [...]

A successful transportation system ensures that we arrive to work on time, moves goods quickly and efficiently, and employs millions of Americans in well-paying jobs. With our nation facing some of the greatest challenges in recent history, it’s particularly important that we make the right investments now to promote long-term economic growth for the future. In our ongoing series Breaking Down the Blueprint, we’ll describe why one of our six national transportation objectives is to improve economic competitiveness, transportation system efficiency, and workforce development opportunities.