President Obama’s visit to the Brent Spence Bridge bordering Ohio and Kentucky today calls much-needed attention to the urgency of bridge repair and rehabilitation throughout the country. Those needs are clearly visible in these detailed state-by-state reports and county level bridge data — including an interactive, searchable map of every deficient bridge in America.

WASHINGTON, DC — James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued this statement in response to President Obama’s speech on his proposed American Jobs Act: “From the perspective of infrastructure investments, the President’s proposal is both ambitious and pragmatic. He called for immediate investments in the kind of transportation projects that create near-term jobs while [...]

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, President Obama stood with representatives of labor and business to call for a “clean” extension of the existing transportation funding measures, and a long-term transportation authorization. James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued this statement in response: “Extending the gas tax and the current law that allocates transportation funds ought [...]

By 2015, more than 15.5 million Americans 65 and older will live in communities where public transportation service is poor or non-existent. That number will grow rapidly as the baby boom generation “ages in place” in suburbs and exurbs with few mobility options for those who do not drive. This new report ranks metro areas by the percentage of seniors with poor access to public transportation, now and in the coming years, and presents other data on aging and transportation.

More than 47,700 pedestrians were killed in the U.S. between 2000 and 2009, and the majority of those deaths were preventable, according to Dangerous by Design 2011. This new report shows how roadway designs promoted by federal investment endanger people on foot and ranks major metropolitan areas to assess how safe pedestrians are while walking. The top four – Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, and Tampa – are all in Florida.

One in nine of the bridges and overpasses American drivers cross each day is rated in poor enough condition that they could become dangerous or be closed without near-term repair, according to a report released today by Transportation for America. Nearly 70,000 bridges nationwide are rated “structurally deficient” and are in need of substantial repair or replacement, according to federal data. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates that the backlog of potentially dangerous bridges would cost $70.9 billion to eliminate, while the federal outlay for bridges amounts to slightly more than $5 billion per year.

Editor’s Note: The Texas Transportation Institute released their Urban Mobility Report today, a report you might have read about in a local story about congestion in your metro area today. An example from the Washington Post. The Urban Mobility Report is an important reminder that too many Americans are stuck without good options for efficient, [...]

Proposal from co-chairmen Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles would raise federal gas tax by 15 cents and ensure existing funds are spent wisely. WASHINGTON, DC — In response to the proposal for a 15-cent gas tax increase and new transportation reforms endorsed by President Obama’s debt panel co-chairmen, Transportation for America director James [...]

In a program whose competitive and merit-based project selection should serve as a model for the next transportation authorization, the USDOT today announced 75 winners for $600 million in competitive grants for innovative transportation projects that address economic, environmental and travel issues at once.

President Obama was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today, Labor Day, talking up the White House’s brand new plan to create jobs through $50 billion in new transportation and infrastructure investment. “The President’s initiative, as we understand it based on the broad outlines issued today, will give much-needed help to the economy while kick-starting the long-delayed transformation of the nation’s outdated surface transportation program,” said T4 America Director James Corless.