A few weeks ago, they introduced a bill that sets a bold new vision for federal transportation policy that’s in line with our goals for reform: building a cleaner, smarter, safer system that provides more travel choices for all Americans. But their bill — and real reform — needs the support of many more senators to become the law of the land. Ask yours to become cosponsors of the Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009 today.

In contrast to the transportation bills passed since 1991, this bold bill lays out clear guidelines for exactly what the next five-year federal transportation spending plan should accomplish, and several of Transportation for America’s proposals from our recently-released Blueprint were echoed clearly in the legislation.

• Reduce delay per capita by 10 percent,
• Reduce national motor vehicle-related fatalities by 50 percent, and
• Reduce national surface transportation-generated carbon dioxide levels by 40 percent, all by the year 2030.

If we’re going to get a truly transformative transportation bill in 2009, getting a large number of Senators to support this smart, principled bill would be a huge step in the right direction. As Sen. Frank Lautenberg told the Washington Post, “a national surface transportation policy for our country is long overdue. We need a transportation policy that reestablishes our leadership throughout the world when it comes to transportation — and meets our country’s transportation demands for generations to come.”

Write your Senator and tell them to cosponsor this important legislation today.

For Immediate Release:
May 14, 2009

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced legislation that lays out clear objectives for the upcoming national transportation bill, designed to meet the economic, energy, environmental, and social-demographic challenges of the future.

As Congress prepares to debate a six-year authorization bill — the current one expires Sep. 30 — the Rockefeller-Lautenberg measure highlights a growing consensus among legislators and the public that a continuation of the status quo will not do.  The bill articulates a bold new vision for our transportation policy that addresses the 21st century needs of our economy, energy, our climate and our health.  In introducing this bill before the debate over allocating transportation funds commences, the senators are acknowledging that Americans want to see a vision for what the transportation bill will achieve before they will be willing to spend more money.

Transportation for America applauds the measure’s aggressive performance targets, including goals to increase system safety, repair and maintain our existing networks, and reduce national surface transportation-generated carbon dioxide. Setting such concrete goals is a bold departure from current practice, whereby transportation agencies receive what amounts to a blank check, without being asked to account for achieving national objectives.

The bill, which is intended to offer a vision for the House and Senate as they look to draft their separate versions of a transportation bill in the coming months, included input from the T4 America coalition and contains some of the exact same performance measures that T4 America proposed in our Route to Reform Blueprint. These include our proposals to:

• Reduce delay per capita by 10 percent,
• Reduce national motor vehicle-related fatalities by 50 percent, and
• Reduce national surface transportation-generated carbon dioxide levels by 40 percent, all by the year 2030.

The Washington Post took a look at the legislation this morning, including a quote from David Goldberg, Transportation for America’s communicators director, and Senator Lautenberg, who shows that he’s not taking the future of America’s transportation system lightly:

“A national surface transportation policy for our country is long overdue,” Lautenberg said. “We need a transportation policy that reestablishes our leadership throughout the world when it comes to transportation — and meets our country’s transportation demands for generations to come.”

In recent weeks, Transportation for America has been actively promoting our vision on the Hill — including  publicly releasing our Blueprint on Monday and offering testimony by T4 America campaign director, James Corless — as well as holding town hall meetings across the country to hear what Americans want in the future of their transportation system.

We hope you’ll continue to work with us as we fight for a revitalized economy and a renewed transportation program, and help Senators Lautenberg and Rockefeller push their colleagues to stand for reform. You can start by signing our petition urging Congress to create meaningful goals and demand accountability in the next transportation bill, and calling your Senators and telling them to cosponsor this bill from Sens. Lautenberg and Rockefeller.