Mayor John Robert Smith, T4 America co-chair and President of Reconnecting America, testified before a Senate committee today about the transportation challenges facing rural areas and small towns — and offered six practical suggestions for how the federal government can help them meet these challenges head-on.

Far from being left behind or left out of federal transportation policy, Mayor Smith’s recommendations provide a clear road map for boosting the economies of Main Streets across America and connecting small cities and towns to increased economic opportunity. As the former Mayor of Meridian, Miss., and the board chair of Amtrak, he has experience on almost all sides.

The word may have connotations of big cities and tall buildings, but our small towns are decidedly “urban” — at least in the sense that many residents live decently close to a town center or square, with a street grid that gives people the option to walk. Schools may still be within walking distance in the town’s core, kids ride their bikes around town, families walk when they can, and these historic downtowns are still magnets for business and community events.

But while major metro areas are battling gridlock and congestion, smaller towns are looking at issues of access, ensuring that residents have good connnections to economic opportunities — and that they can get where they need to go quickly and affordably.

“Long commutes, volatile energy prices, and shifting demographics all impact the prosperity of these communities,” Mayor Smith testified this morning. ”Many small towns and rural areas lack the financial resources, planning capacity, or authority to implement solutions to their transportation needs. A bold new policy is needed at the federal level to meet those needs.”

He knows a thing or two about how transportation decisions can affect economic opportunity on Main Street after years as a mayor. “In my own hometown [Meridian, Miss.], through investment in our downtown and the creation of a transportation hub, we bolstered the local economy and reversed the decline of our historic buildings and city center. Other communities like ours can experience that same revitalization if our country will commit the resources needed to enhance the economic competitiveness of existing communities,” he said.

Download this Brief (pdf)

Mayor Smith, T4 America and our many partners in rural areas that developed these recommendations are seeking to provide a framework for residents of our small towns and rural areas to have the transportation options they need so they’re not stranded without options.

Residents of these areas are demanding good transit networks, safe streets, bridges that don’t fall down and highways that aren’t cracked and potholed.

Mayor Smith’s testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee coincided with the release of a whitepaper on rural transportation entitled “Principles for Improving Transportation Options in Rural and Small Town Communities,” which describes T4 America’s recommendations in much greater detail.

You can read his full testimony here.

And read the official campaign press release.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Senate continues to develop a revitalized, long-term federal transportation program, Transportation for America (T4America) called on senators to support a bold new agenda for rural transportation that would spur economic development in small towns and cities across the United States.

In testimony today before the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, T4America Co-Chair John Robert Smith — former Mayor of Meridian, Mississippi and past chair of the Amtrak Board — issued a series of forward-looking recommendations to invigorate Main Streets across rural America and connect small cities and towns to increased economic opportunity.

The testimony is part of T4America’s Rural Transportation Initiative to gather policy recommendations from key transportation practitioners, nonprofit advocates, service providers, and elected officials who serve small town and rural America. The working group’s recommendations are summed up in the white paper released today along with Mayor Smith’s testimony entitled, “Principles for Improving Transportation Options in Rural and Small Town Communities.”

“Transportation challenges facing small town America are not of congestion but of access,” Mayor Smith testified. “Long commutes, volatile energy prices, and shifting demographics all impact the prosperity of these communities. Many small towns and rural areas lack the financial resources, planning capacity, or authority to implement solutions to their transportation needs. A bold new policy is needed at the federal level to meet those needs.”

The recommendations presented by T4America highlight the importance of six key areas of policy reform necessary to meet the transportation challenges facing rural America:

• Invest in Main Street to link public transit, passenger rail, high-speed rail, commercial air service and intercity buses. These intercity transportation networks will create local hubs and generate millions of dollars in private economic development to preserve and revitalize small town main streets across the country.
• Empower Local Communities through institutional reforms to ensure residents and leaders of small towns and rural communities are part of the decision-making process in finding solutions.
• Improve the Conditions and Safety of our Transportation System by fixing our rural infrastructure and finding highway design solutions to correct dangerous conditions that threaten the safety of our people.
• Invest in Public Transportation to meet the growing demand and need of an aging rural population that is increasingly reliant on local transit service.
• Preserve and Create Livable Communities to enhance the economic competitiveness, historic character and heritage of small town America.
• Move Goods Through Rural America with increased flexibility and investment in infrastructure such as rail, intermodal transfer points, and inland waterways to ensure that rural economies continue to be competitive in the 21st century global economy.

“Rural America is not what’s missing between the cities. It’s what connects us,” said Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, KY, one of T4America’s partners in developing rural-oriented proposals for the transportation bill. “It makes a real difference having a chance to join the conversation about a more thoughtful, strategic way to invest transportation dollars. We thank the Senators for taking the time to listen to rural concerns, and look forward to a new bill that serves us all.”

Mayor Smith knows firsthand about the transformative power of thoughtful transportation investment. “In my own hometown, through investment in our downtown and the creation of a transportation hub, we bolstered the local economy and reversed the decline of our historic buildings and city center,” he said. “Other communities like ours can experience that same revitalization if our country will commit the resources needed to enhance the economic competitiveness of existing communities.”

Full EPW Testimony: http://t4america.org/resources/jrs-testimony-epw/
“Principles for Improving Transportation Options in Rural and Small Town Communities”: http://t4america.org/policy-papers/#rural1

When we launched our campaign platform in late February, we were fortunate to have Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Mississippi here in Washington, D.C. to deliver the keynote address.

Perhaps better than anyone, mayors understand the impact that Washington’s decisions on transportation spending can have locally. From big cities to small, they see the crumbling infrastructure, congestion, and lack of transportation choices that hamstrings their cities’ ability to compete economically.

Six four mayors have already joined Transportation for America, but we’re looking for more.

Just a few weeks ago, these mayors wrote a letter to President Obama and Congress explaining why they support the campaign. It urged our national leaders to take the opportunity presented by this year’s transportation bill to write something truly transformative — keeping America competitive and keeping all Americans moving.

For a generation, the United States has invested trillions of dollars in a world-class highway system. Today, we need to protect that investment by prioritizing maintenance over expansion while we build out the rest of the system — so that all of America has access to the transportation options needed to compete and thrive in the 21st Century global economy.

Urge your mayor to join the campaign and be one of the first to sign the letter! Download the mayors’ letter, take it to your mayor and tell them to sign it and join Transportation for America as a partner.

The letter was signed by Mayors John Engen of Missoula, MT, Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis, MN, Mayor Patrick McCrory of Charlotte, NC, and Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, MS. (Since then, Mayor Don Ness of Duluth, MN, and Mayor John DeStefano of New Haven, CT have added their names.)

Your mayor can add their name to the letter by filling out the form and returning it to us. Continue reading to see the full text of the letter.

Dear President Obama and United States Congress:

In recent months, we have faced a storm of economic uncertainty and financial instability.  The news that our economy shed over half a million jobs in January testifies to the magnitude of this crisis.  As we work to protect our citizens from the worst symptoms of this economic downturn, we as elected leaders must be forward thinking.  We need to ensure that our states remain competitive in the national economy and that our country remains competitive in the global economy.

It is widely recognized that transportation investment drives the economic engine of a region.  When gasoline prices hit $4.00/gallon across the country last year, people looked for alternatives to driving. The increases in walking, bicycling, and ridership on buses and trains accelerated a trend that local leaders and real estate developers were already seeing—a growing demand for transit-oriented developments, and walkable communities. This increase in demand presents a rare opportunity where consumer preference supports the smart development that will create jobs and stimulate economic growth.

Ignoring the warnings of last summer’s dramatic rise in gasoline prices and our current recession is not an option. We need to champion a national transportation vision that embraces the intermodal solutions demanded by the shifting needs of America. For these reasons, I have chosen to support Transportation for America and their campaign to reform federal transportation policy.

For a generation, the United States has invested trillions of dollars in a world-class highway system.  Today, we need to protect that investment by prioritizing maintenance over expansion while we build out the rest of the system — so that all of America has access to the transportation options needed to compete and thrive in the 21st Century global economy.

This is why I am joining the Transportation for America campaign to advocate for:

• Providing funding and decision-making authority to local regions;
• Creating a special program to restore and maintain our existing highways, bridges, and transit systems, and maximize their efficiency;
• Establishing national transportation objectives and holding agencies accountable;
• Supporting safe walking and biking, reduced exposure to vehicle injuries and dirty air;
• Rewarding communities for plans and investments that pay off for people, the environment, and the economy; and,
• Broadening the capital and operating funding base for transportation.

We need your help. Not since the creation of the Interstate Highway System has there been a moment like this to invest strategically in our communities. Please support our efforts to work towards a clean, healthy, and prosperous future.

Sincerely,

Mayor Patrick McCrory, Charlotte, NC
Mayor John Robert Smith, Meridian, MS
Mayor R. T. Rybak, Minneapolis, MN
Mayor John Engen, Missoula, MT

As we mentioned last week, Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Mississippi came to Washington, DC last week to help Transportation For America officially launch our full platform with a special event in the Cannon House Office Building.

Mayor Smith provided a stirring keynote address, evoking Eisenhower’s vision of a connected America — a vision realized over the last 50 years through our interstate system that was once the envy of the world.

But times have changed, and while investing in maintenance of what we’ve already built, we now need to kick start an ambitious effort to build the second half of our transportation system: The robust intercity rail, the streets safe for walking and biking, the public transportation that provides congestion relief and transportation choices for Americans far and wide, and the rest of an interconnected 21st Century network that can keep us moving into a prosperous American future.

We were honored and delighted to have him speak at our launch event.

Continue below to read his full speech from last Thursday. Our thanks to Mayor Smith and his office for supplying us with the full text.

Transportation for America Platform Launch Event
Remarks by Meridian, Mississippi Mayor John Robert Smith
February 26, 2009

I want to thank Transportation for America for bringing together more than 200 member organizations throughout the nation to advocate for a new and sustainable transportation system.

It’s a privilege to be among you as we roll out this major bi-partisan effort to help rebuild America’s fractured and dysfunctional transportation system.

The campaign we launch today is the product of so much work by a diverse and representative body of Americans — across the political spectrum — who nevertheless share commitment to this nation.

That commitment mandates that we bring to bear all resources we can muster — federal, state and regional — and drawing on human and financial capital… beginning immediately to reconstruct the nation’s transportation system, especially the long-neglected railroad system we have allowed to atrophy.

To build a system that is indeed a system; an interconnected, functioning whole that can move both people and goods quickly, safely and cost-effectively. So that Americans can once again compete head-to-head with the rest of the developed world and regain the place of leadership we have allowed to slip from our grasp.

In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower understood the critical importance of connectivity in our vast land. And while his vision was limited to the interstate highway system, his words still ring true:

“Our unity as a nation is sustained by communication of thought and by easy transportation of people and goods. Together, the unifying forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear — United States. Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts.”

While the federal interstate system was boldly conceived and executed, we have been reminded time and again that highways are only one component of a true transportation network. Yet time and time again we have failed to act on those lessons.

Remember the energy crisis of 1979? Following the Iranian revolution, oil production decreased and widespread panic surged through our nation of motorists. Remember the long lines at gas stations? Proposals to have drivers fill up on odd or even days depending on their tag numbers?

We needed transportation choices.

We did not act.

On September 11, 2001 we experienced the most chilling transportation failure in our nation’s history. Who can forget the photos — with the twin towers burning in the background — of New Yorkers walking across Brooklyn Bridge because that was the only way they could get away from danger.

Streets and roads were in complete gridlock and our air travel system was grounded for the first time in our nation’s history. The sudden grounding of flights reverberated across the nation. Nearly 2 million people had to cancel travel plans. Overnight mail delivery was halted. And 460 usually bustling airports were eerily empty or plunged into chaos. Our nation’s trains were the only public transportation moving in or out of our country’s largest city and our nation’s capitol. Ironically, as the Washington Post reported that day, “Officials urged Americans to consider other modes of transportation.”

We desperately needed to invest in other modes of transportation…but we did not act.

The Madrid bombings of 2004 wreaked havoc on that city’s rail system, killing nearly 200 and injuring more than 1,000 others. This transportation crisis is widely blamed for the political fallout that resulted in the defeat of the incumbent president just three days later.

Once again we saw transportation issues being inextricably linked to a nation’s political and economic stability.

The Amtrak board called for heightened rail security.

We did not act.

In the past year back in our own country…we saw gasoline prices spiral upward to hover at or spike over $4 a gallon. Amtrak ridership soared. Cities with light rail systems reported record ridership.

But for my constituents in Meridian, Mississippi and in countless small and mid-sized cities and rural areas around our country options to $4-a-gallon gas were few or nonexistent. The options were to cut back on groceries and other necessities…or stay home.

We needed transportation options for all our people.

We did not act.

Our transportation atrophy is a result of highways that are overcrowded and highway trust funds in jeopardy, airlines in meltdown, and a passenger rail system that has been shamefully neglected. This atrophy is exacerbated by all the added layers of homeland security, an energy crisis, and urgent calls for sane environmental choices in the face of a deteriorating planet. But out of crisis comes great opportunity.

With reauthorization for rail, air and a new transportation bill occurring concurrently — and an engaged public concerned over increasing gas prices, global warming and threatened choices for transportation — I believe the confluence of these events provides unique timing for a new transportation vision.

Last summer, the National Corridors Initiative convened by CEO Jim RePass in St. Louis to raise the national profile on the subject of infrastructure, and to challenge the Presidential candidates to pay attention to the deepening economic crisis being brought on in part by our failure to build America in the very fundamental way that the word “infrastructure” implies.

Very few people at that time were talking about infrastructure because it seemed an arcane and obscure concept…best left to economists or academics. The public wouldn’t get it. But we gathered to make the point we make here again today—infrastructure is destiny.

“The St. Louis Statement” that came out of that gathering says in essence:

“The silence of those now running for the office of President on the growing crisis in our nation’s transportation infrastructure is deafening. We have all heard about the crisis in the economy, and changes in the earth’s climate brought on by global warming, but we have heard nothing about one key element that underlies both of those issues: the movement of goods and people, our very freedom of mobility. Yet few national issues offer a greater opportunity for imaginative change.”

And we asked the candidates three questions:

1. Do you understand that transportation must be treated as a system, not merely a collection of competing modes, when setting and executing policy?
2. How do you propose to restore our transportation system to health?
3. And what are you going to do, specifically, to obtain the funding needed to do that?

As the campaign progressed, Barack Obama began to hammer on the theme of infrastructure and its importance to our future. Since his election, the President has continued in that vein and just last week in signing the stimulus bill he committed himself and this nation to rebuilding our crumbling highways, investing in our overtaxed air system, and building a true high-speed rail network that will allow America to once again take its place in the leadership of world economies.

To reach that laudable goal, those of us who advocate for transportation and the business community must work together to get thousands of people back to work now — and build a transportation system for today and tomorrow that will lower the cost of doing business in America, ease the transportation congestion crisis and the wear-and-tear punishment of highways, integrate with major airports across America and help restore our nation to health. And we need the support of a Congress whose members reach out not only across the aisles separating their parties but across the geography separating their states.

It is time once again to reach across the figurative aisle — from south to north and from east to west — and get this country moving again.

And I see great promise. My fellow mayors are the most effective voice for our American cities on Capitol Hill. They understand that transportation is about connecting from city center to city center. I see mayors of cities large and small energized and committed to addressing these issues.

On the state level, I see states like Wisconsin, Illinois, California and North Carolina investing in all modes of transportation.

I see the chairman of the House Transportation Appropriations Committee of the Mississippi Legislature passing a bill appropriating state funds to match federal dollars for high-speed rail development in my state.

I see this body convening the best minds in the transportation world in open discussion and debate about our shared transportation future and crafting recommendations for our leaders.

All of these things give me great hope that we will finally see modes of transportation as feeding one another, not competing, as interconnected partners, not isolated silos unto themselves.

To cement those connections and ensure that the modes of transportation can and will support and sustain each other, we must establish clear national transportation objectives that will lead to the attainment of critical goals: Like energy security, climate protection, access to transportation opportunities, and the safety and health of our people.

Consider this simple possibility: A citizen in Newton, Mississippi buys a ticket and boards a bus, his bag with him, and a small container of La-Z-Boy recliners, made in his hometown, on the back of the same bus.

Both passenger and freight travel to Meridian’s multi-modal station where, still using the same ticket, that passenger and his bag board a higher-speed Amtrak Crescent bound for the international airports in either Atlanta or New Orleans, with the container of La-Z-Boys on the same train. At either airport he boards a jet bound for Orly Airport in Paris — still with the same ticket and with the La-Z-Boys in the cargo hold — and when he arrives his bag is with him. What a novel concept.

With the serious and sobering issues facing our country today, the timing is right for this gathering. But if this campaign is merely another convocation to puzzle over transportation’s navel and not act, then we have wasted time and energy.

These issues are complex and daunting… but we must act and act now. Our children and grandchildren will hold us accountable.

To fail them is to leave our great nation… as President Eisenhower warned… “a mere alliance of many separate parts.”

This we cannot do.