T4America Blog

Become part of the movement with T4America membership

All types of local public agencies and organizations join T4America’s membership program to gain access to information and expertise, but because the benefits are numerous, they also often get things they weren’t expecting.

T4America’s offices are inside the beltway, but we have always been rooted in our connections to local organizations and places. What good is your work on national policy if you don’t understand how it will impact people where they live? We started our membership program in 2015 to become more deeply connected with the local agencies and organizations that share our vision for communities where people of all means can reach jobs, services and opportunities safely and affordably through multiple modes of travel.

People sometimes ask how T4America’s membership program is different from associations like the American Public Transit Association (APTA), American Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AAMPO), the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), or the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), etc. Associations are great at representing a specific sector’s interests. That’s not our role. As a cross-sector organization (with cities, MPOs, transit agencies, chambers of commerce and civic organizations) that can connect and lift the voices of diverse local players, we are in a position to advance a transformational vision that many, but not all communities share. 

If you’re on board with moving your community beyond outdated transportation paradigms and developing more and better transportation options, here’s how joining T4America will get you there.

“I benefit from hearing about transportation policy from a different slant and hearing what other areas are doing through member updates and newsletters. T4A has been on top of the infrastructure law and we appreciate their analysis.” —Todd Ashby, Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, Iowa

Learn about the role T4America plays in key transportation issues and discover why members believe membership was a benefit to them. Click here to learn more about T4America membership.

Know how federal and state policy will affect your work

From funding and financing for public transportation, to passenger rail, to governance, to creating transparency and support; Transportation for America analyzes legislative and regulatory information to create understandable and actionable summaries of information. Our analysis is specifically curated through the lens of creating vibrant walkable communities with plenty of transportation options. T4America’s members benefit from this exclusive analysis, which makes it easy to know when to call your federal delegation and how national policy will affect their local community on the issues you care about.

Learn new approaches

T4America has worked with the leading edge of state DOTs, MPOs, cities, transit agencies and others who are eager for new ways to measure performance that go beyond outdated measures like congestion and level of service. For example, we’ve helped many agencies develop and utilize measures like access to jobs and essential services that take land use into account and can be used to compare across all modes of travel. In addition, our Smart Cities Collaborative is on the cutting edge of emerging transportation issues and developing policies that get the best outcomes, from new mobility to curb management to integrating electric vehicle charging.

Engage the public and get them on board

Change is often frightening. Communities need to engage stakeholders and the public in inclusive ways to develop better projects that can win broad support by serving everyone well. T4America brings expertise in inclusive public engagement like creative placemaking, engaging historically underserved communities, and communicating the value of transportation options to get your constituents engaged and on board.

Win transportation funding to implement your priorities

For years, T4America has been effectively leading the fight for funding that supports transportation options and walkable vibrant places. We’ve been at the forefront of fighting for transit funding programs like the Capital Improvement Grant programs and have helped several members win grants from the very competitive RAISE (formerly TIGER / BUILD) program. AND we are often the only national organization nimble enough to quickly stand up to save public transportation when it’s threatened. We did this in 2012 when the House tried to eliminate all funding for transit, in 2018 when the Trump administration deliberately slowed down dozens of transit projects, and in 2020 when the pandemic threatened transit agencies with bankruptcy.

But our work goes far beyond a few specific programs. The federal program has hobbled along without a guiding purpose for decades since completing the original interstate system, doing more damage as it has continued dividing communities and prioritized “solving” congestion at the expense of actually connecting more people to jobs and services. That’s why, unlike many of the trade groups out there, we are fighting for more than just more money for “our” part of the federal program, but to fundamentally change and broaden its overall priorities. That’s why we made a clear stand in 2018: No new money for transportation until we adopt three simple, clear principles. Our cross-sector coalition focused on a transformational vision is the only platform that can win a long-term transportation bill that makes this kind of change. (Which we won in the House in 2020 before the Senate jettisoned it in favor of passing what became the IIJA.)

Conclusion

The organizations and communities that join T4America and use our support to re-tool transportation for people and places will be the successful places of tomorrow, and will be on the leading edge of the movement to remake transportation to better serve Americans nationwide. Go here to learn more about how your organization or local agency can join Transportation for America.