Last month, the citizens of Baton Rouge, LA, voted to raise their taxes to preserve and expand their struggling bus system. To pass it, churches, faith-based groups and local organizers teamed up with businesses and institutions. As we’ve seen in similar local measures, they won by explaining exactly what taxpayer money would buy, building a diverse coalition and getting out the vote.

The initial House bill proposed eliminating all dedicated funding for public transportation, ending a bipartisan agreement that’s been in place since 1982. Though the current rumor is that the House will restore that funding after massive opposition from across the country, there are other provisions still in place that will cut funds from larger transit agencies, create unneeded bureaucracy, and also result in a fragmented system of moving freight.

Hours after receiving over 5,000 letters and phone calls and a letter signed by more than 600 groups from an unbelievably broad spectrum, the House Ways and Means Committee ignored that broad, bipartisan opposition and went full speed ahead with their unprecedented plan to kill dedicated transit funding — ending the historic guarantee for dedicated funding for public transportation, leaving millions of riders already faced with service cuts and fare increases out in the cold.

This morning we sent this strong letter (below) to Capitol Hill in strong opposition to the House leadership plan to end a 30-year precedent of providing dedicated funding for public transportation from the federal fuel tax, kicking transit funding out of a trust fund and subjecting it to complete uncertainty year after year. In less than 12 hours, we gathered signatures from more than 600 groups, notable individuals and elected officials, including state DOTs, the US Chamber of Commerce, several Governors and hundreds of others.

A key House Committee is threatening to kill three decades of successful investments in mass transit by ending the guarantee for dedicated funding for public transportation, leaving millions of riders already faced with service cuts and fare increases out in the cold. They proposed putting every public transportation system in immediate peril by eliminating guaranteed funding for the Mass Transit Account and forcing transit to go begging before Congress for general funds each year — all while highway spending continues to be guaranteed with protected funds for half a decade at a time.

Reversing policy begun under President Ronald Reagan, House Ways and Means Committee – at the direction of House leadership — could move Friday to end guaranteed funding for public transportation, and leave even today’s inadequate funding levels in doubt. “We are deeply concerned that if this measure passes, Americans who use public transportation, or who would like that option in the future, will be thrown under the bus,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “This couldn’t come at a worse time for people who need an affordable, reliable way to get to work, or for employers who need workers.”

If Congress does nothing by the end of the year, if you take transit to get to work each day you could be paying more out of your own pocket when the tax benefit for transit is cut in half. Drivers will keep enjoying the same great parking benefit – nearly double what transit commuters will be eligible to receive. We don’t think that’s fair, and Congress needs to hear about it. How we choose to get to work each day shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

This group we visited with last week in Montana, Opportunity Link, received a welcome shot in the arm, announced just this morning: they received a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the 2011 Sustainable Communities regional planning grant program. 468 applications requesting more than $500 million in funding [...]

More state and local officials are coming to grips with the fact that they cannot wait for Washington to act on infrastructure investment and repair. After two years of short-term extensions, a new transportation bill may or may not happen in the next six months. From a vantage point closer to their constituents, local leaders [...]

WASHINGTON, DC — This week, Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) introduced the Local Flexibility for Transit Assistance Act, which would give local transit agencies more options in how they choose to allocate federal funding. Sarah Kline, Policy Director at Reconnecting America, released the following statement on Transportation for America’s behalf: “Representatives [...]