Welcome to elected office: Transportation for America is here to help improve your transportation outcomes
Welcome to elected office! Maybe you’re new to transportation. Maybe you’re a seasoned transportation professional looking for ways to improve what you already know. Maybe you’re somewhere in between, but know that things need to change. Transportation for America (T4A) is here to help state and federal policymakers make decisions that fundamentally improve the transportation outcomes that people care about most.
A strong, modern transportation system supports prosperous communities where businesses thrive, and people of all incomes and ages can live healthy, productive lives. But that’s not what we’re getting from our investments. Despite spending billions of dollars on transportation, we’re not seeing measurable improvements in how the system performs because we’re not making spending decisions based on the results we want to achieve.
Safety, state of repair, and transportation choices are three outcomes that matter most to people who use our transportation system. Whether it’s concerns about traffic around your dinner table or complaints about potholes at your town hall, people are fundamentally unhappy with what they’re getting from our transportation investments. When you consider that we spend billions of dollars a year to maintain this poor performance, it’s clear something needs to change.
Transportation for America has tools to help state and federal policymakers address these essential dinner-table issues. The good news? Our comprehensive policy solutions get to the foundation of why our transportation investments fail to deliver on outcomes, and provide the tools to start making real change. The bad news? Fixing the foundation takes more than throwing money at the problem.
State policymakers can focus their DOT investments on outcomes that matter
Now is the essential time to refocus your DOT on achieving the outcomes you want, rather than throwing more money at the broken transportation system. It is time to stop asking “how much money should we spend?” and start asking “what are we getting from the money we’re investing?” to improve accountability and prioritize spending on the results promised to taxpayers—and the everyday experience of people across your state.
Where to start:
- Look into your state DOT’s ranking and see how their performance measures up (hint: it’s likely failing to meet outcomes).
- Download the book, review it, distribute it across state offices, and determine paths forward to reform your state DOT.
Federal policymakers can focus their energy on reforming reauthorization
The federal program is failing to deliver on its promises, even with deficit spending of more than $275 billion. Despite spending more than $1.5 trillion since 1991, roadway safety has worsened, infrastructure conditions have stayed about the same, congestion has worsened, and emissions have increased. It’s time to replace the failing, bankrupt federal transportation program with something new and make it more accountable to taxpayers by building a new federal transportation program from the ground up.
Where to start:
- Download the book, review it, send it to your newly elected officials, and start the conversation on better transportation outcomes before the new year.
Transportation for America is here to help
Transportation for America, a program of Smart Growth America, is a national non-profit working to create a transportation system that safely, affordably, and accessibly connects everyone to jobs, services, and opportunities. Subscribe to our emails, use our reports, and contact us to ask about our expertise or available support.