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Would increasing federal transportation investment be enough to solve our problems?
Two mayors from very different cities penned a joint op-ed in the New York Times highlighting the need for Congress to pass a long-term transportation bill and raise new revenues to increase the United States’ overall investment in transportation infrastructure. But their strong piece begs another question: Would raising the level of federal investment be enough to meet our pressing local needs without some major policy changes and reforms to the federal transportation program?
Will Congress reward the ambitious places that are seizing their future with both hands?
The three mid-sized regions participating in this week’s Transportation Innovation Academy in Indianapolis are a refreshing reminder that local communities – particularly a growing wave of mid-size cities — are seizing their future with both hands and planning to tax themselves to help make ambitious transportation plans a reality. Yet even the most ambitious cities can’t do it alone, and if Congress fails to find a way to put the nation’s transportation fund on stable footing, it will jeopardize even the most homegrown, can-do plans to stay economically competitive.
The USDOT listened, and we thanked them for it — 1,100 times
Last Friday, with help from many of you, we delivered almost 1,100 ‘thank you’ letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation for writing strong rules to hold states accountable for the condition of their roads and bridges.
Ongoing training academy brings together key leaders from three ambitious regions
Twenty-one local leaders representing three regions with ambitious plans to invest in public transportation will be reuniting in Indianapolis this week to continue the first yearlong Transportation Innovation Academy, sponsored by T4America and TransitCenter.
The Red & Purple transit lines in Maryland would position Maryland for long-term economic success
Drawing from experience across the nation, a new Transportation for America report attempts to assess the full range of potential economic benefits from the planned Red and Purple transit lines in Maryland. The key finding: With benefits that far outweigh the costs, these two lines would help position Maryland for economic success in ways that few other investments are likely to do.
New T4America report chronicles the prevalence of Minnesota’s structurally deficient bridges
As the state legislature debates legislation to increase transportation funding, T4America released a new report looking at the prevalence of structurally deficient bridges in the state of Minnesota. This report is a state-level version of “The Fix We’re In For”, a report we’ve issued several times since 2011, with 2015 statistics for Minnesota.
Helping metros respond to the booming demand for more transportation options
Building on the range of new ideas in planning, programming, technical analysis and community partnership outlined in our free report entitled The Innovative MPO, we’re hosting the second in a series of online discussions to help MPO staff, board members, and civic leaders find innovative ways to make their communities prosper.
‘Speak up for transportation’: Analyses show the devastating impact of federal cuts
Congress has seen various proposals floated to scale back federal investment in transportation, from cutting out transit funding to ending the federal gasoline tax and shifting full responsibility to the states. We decided to take a look at what that latter move would mean for taxpayers, who would have to make up the difference in each state or accept multi-million dollar decreases in funding and deteriorating conditions on an annual basis.
Could a national TIGER program co-exist along with a version in each state? Yes, says U.S. DOT
As momentum builds for a proposal to give local communities of all sizes direct access to a share of federal transportation dollars via statewide competitive grant programs, a USDOT official affirmed that it would complement the existing national grant program and help meet more of the pressing needs in these communities.
Senators and reps respond to locals’ pleas, introduce bill to steer more money to local transportation needs
Yesterday afternoon, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives released a bill that will give local communities more access to, and control over, a share of the federal transportation dollars that flow into their states.
State Farm is moving to concentrate thousands of employees in locations near transit
State Farm, one of the country’s largest insurance companies, is betting big on transit in three cities by building or expanding regional hubs on sites with good access to public transportation, reflecting a clear strategy to attract and retain talent who increasingly want to live and work in locations connected by transit.
If you see nothing else this spring, you’ve got to watch the trailer for ‘Infrastructure!’
On his late night HBO show, the British comic John Oliver took up the cause of our nation’s infrastructure — with help from some Hollywood A-listers (and a couple suggestions from us).
New training academy brings together key leaders from three ambitious regions
Twenty-one local leaders representing three regions with ambitious plans to invest in public transportation gathered today in Raleigh, NC, to kick off the first yearlong Transportation Innovation Academy, sponsored by T4America and TransitCenter.
Local chambers from every state urge Congress to save transportation fund, improve it with smart policies
Adding a strong business voice to the call for a robust transportation program that helps build local economies, more than 260 regional chambers of commerce today sent a message to Congress to pass a long-term bill with smart reforms.
New T4A report out today: Measuring What We Value
With pressure mounting to ensure our limited transportation dollars go as far as possible, a new report out today from Transportation for America takes a close look at the growing trend of using performance measures to establish clear priorities and measure the success of our transportation investments.
Updated House passenger rail bill is identical to last year’s promising compromise bill
It’s back! After the encouraging release of a compromise bill to govern the nation’s passenger rail policy in the last Congress, a nearly identical bill was introduced and passed out of committee this month and could be debated on the House floor as early as next week.
Update on 17 states moving to raise money for transportation
From Washington to South Carolina, 17 state legislatures (and counting) are debating plans to raise new revenue for transportation after a decade in which their primary funding sources shrank and federal support became increasingly uncertain. See the current state of play in our freshly updated national roundup.
Voters overwhelmingly re-elect candidates who raise transportation revenue, analysis of general election results shows
Continuing a trend observed in the primaries, an updated T4America analysis of November’s election data shows that, since 2012 in ten states that passed legislation to raise new transportation revenue, 90 percent of the supportive legislators retained their seats — knowledge that should be instructive for the legislators in 17 states now considering similar plans to raise state transportation revenue in 2015.
UPDATE: Better bang for the buck — learn more about performance measurement
Developing a better system to measure the performance of our transportation spending is an idea that’s gaining momentum, and we want to help you be on the cutting edge.
15 issues to watch in ’15, Part III: People
The members of Congress who will rewrite the nation’s transportation policies and attempt to raise funding to keep the program afloat is just one important discussion taking place this year. More states will continue efforts to raise transportation revenue and mayors in communities of all sizes will move forward key transportation initiatives; among others on a long list of people with an important role to play in 2015. Here are five that rose to the top, but tell us who you think we missed.
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