Transportation for America Co-Chair Geoff Anderson participated in a round-table discussion on transportation access facilitated by the Latino-oriented Destination Casa Blanca program. Journalist Ray Suarez hosted the panel, which also included Deron Lovaas of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Joshua Schank of the Bipartisan Policy Center. Anderson told Suarez and viewers that the absence [...]

Failure to keep up with regular maintenance and repair in many of our country’s public transportation systems due to tightened budgets is literally slowing us down, through longer commutes, unreliable service and reduced access, exacerbating the effects of a down economy and high unemployment. A study prepared by the Federal Transit Administration reveals chronic underinvestment in the nation’s transit systems and estimates $77.7 billion is needed just to rehabilitate what we already have.

William Lind, a respected figure in right-wing circles, is adamant that public transportation shouldn’t be politically divisive, explaining why in “Rail Against the Machine,” featured in this month’s American Conservative magazine — part of a special package on public transportation with contributions from a host of special authors.

A new bill that would provide $2 billion in emergency funding for public transportation agencies was introduced in the Senate today by a group of 7 Senators. Congress has taken a step, but the bill still needs lots of support to make it through the Senate in the coming weeks. Tell your senators: support emergency funding for transit systems!

Transportation for America today hailed the introduction of emergency legislation to prevent disastrous service cuts and fare hikes that are threatening public transportation riders across America. The Public Transportation Preservation Act would provide $2 billion in emergency assistance for operating expenses necessary to restore a major reduction in transit service and to hold off future fare increases due to decreased state or local funding that occurred on or after January 1, 2009. Funding would be distributed through existing formulas.

A new study by Duke University illuminates the fact that thousands of green jobs are waiting to be tapped in transit bus manufacturing — if the federal government will make a sustained commitment to investing in public transportation. Jobs in and related to public transportation are some of the lowest hanging fruit in the push for green jobs, so what’s keeping the domestic manufacturing industry from ramping up?

A new analysis of federal stimulus spending, co-authored by Smart Growth America, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and U.S. PIRG, reveals that during the first ten months of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), investments in public transportation produced twice the jobs per billion dollars as did highway projects.

Monday’s online debate on conservatives and public transportation was billed as a back-and-forth on why the ideological right should embrace public transportation. While differences persisted between our conservative and libertarian panelists about the impact of transit investments, another schism developed over how big a role buses should play.

What is the conservative rationale for providing efficient public transportation? Some conservatives would likely suggest that the entire concept is an oxymoron. Conservatives William Lind and the late Paul Weyrich believe otherwise. This is the final post in a three-part series on Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation, the subject of an online debate later today (at 3 p.m. Eastern, register now!)

Critics of public transportation say government should not subsidize a transportation option that cannot pay for itself. A new study conducted by SubsidyScope, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, reveals that not only are roads and highways not self-sustaining, but the amount covered by gas taxes is declining.