A top priority in the transportation debate is addressing the mobility needs of the 56 million residents of rural areas and small towns in America – about 20 percent of the population of the United States. Rural areas and small towns often fall through the cracks of federal transportation policy, which focuses on statewide priorities for building new highways and often overlooks local needs and preferences. Transportation for America has been working closely with our coalition partners on this important issue for some time. Now, it looks like Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is also getting on board.

When the stimulus passed in February, $8 billion for high-speed rail was added at the 25th hour, at the behest of the Obama administration. In the days since, states have scrambled to prepare their proposals to receive a share of the money, which will be distributed via a process of competitive grants. With states competing for their share of the $8 billion to start developing and building high-speed corridors, competition was sure to be tough. But did anyone expect this many applications for the funds?

When DOT Secretary LaHood was on Capitol Hill a few weeks ago discussing the Obama Administration’s plan for a transitional transportation bill, he mentioned that their plan for an 18-month extension would “enact critical reforms” while stopping short of a fundamental overhaul of the program — leaving that for the full six-year bill. A lot of transportation advocates were left wondering what sort of reforms the administration would propose. Today we got a first look at their general proposal.

In a bid to ensure that environmental policy helps, and does not hinder, efforts to make our communities more livable, affordable and convenient, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has joined an unusual partnership with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

We said yesterday that “we need a federal transportation system that works, not the same broken thing at twice the price.” It appears that the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the administration agrees pretty strongly with that sentiment. During a hearing today in front of the transportation panel of U.S. House Appropriations Committee, LaHood made a clear, concise point on linking more funding to accountability and performance measures.

We noticed an encouraging announcement from Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on his blog this morning, following on the heels of yesterday’s post (highlighted on the Streetsblog Network). Yesterday, he said “we are absolutely committed to more livable, sustainable communities by reducing congestion, by building housing near transit, by supporting all modes of transportation.”

U.S. DOT Secretary Ray Lahood released his statement on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and he’s saying many of the right things. Of course, the true test will come when the states start deciding where to spend the flexible transportation dollars in the stimulus package. Will states choose to make a dent in the severely backlogged repair and maintenance needs before building new highways?

Release: President Obama’s choice of retiring Congressman Ray LaHood (R-IL) for Secretary of Transportation shows his commitment to working across the aisle to make government work again. We agree with Secretary-designate LaHood that, “our transportation system and the development it enables must be sustainable” and welcome the opportunity to work with him during the important days ahead.

New numbers from the U.S DOT show a continued drop in vehicle miles traveled — Americans drove 3.6 percent less in July 2008 than they did in July 2007, and public transportation ridership has increased by 11 percent.

Federal money dedicated to transportation is quickly drying up, and states are facing tough choices on which projects they should focus their resources on — and which ones they should drop. (New York Times — David Stout and Matthew Wald, and Washington Post — Eric Weiss)