Author Archive
Sec. Ray LaHood answers a few of your questions
We asked you to submit questions for Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, and here is the resulting segment of “On the Go”, his regular web video series where he answers a handful of transportation questions. This time, he asked us at T4 America to gather supporters from our thousands of supporters across the country. In […]
Smart questions submitted for Secretary LaHood to answer
Last week we asked you for questions for U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and you came through with some great questions and topics that he’ll hopefully consider for his next edition of “On The Go,” his recurring video segment where he answers questions and discusses transportation topics at a little more length than he can […]
Do you have a burning question for Secretary Ray Lahood?
I hope so, because the U.S. Secretary of Transportation wants to answer yours! Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has asked Transportation for America’s many partners and supporters to submit questions for him that he’ll answer in his next edition of “On the Go,” a monthly video segment with the Secretary where he answers a few […]
EPW Committee approves transportation bill by voice vote, moves it out of committee
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved its two-year highway reauthorization bill this morning and moved it out of committee by a bipartisan, unanimous 18-0 vote. (Read our statement here.) The committee markup was short, as compared to a typical markup of such a large bill, but that was a testament to the work […]
T4 co-chair John Robert Smith talking transportation at the White House
The White House film crew talked to T4 America co-chair and President of Reconnecting America John Robert Smith last week about the need to invest in transportation, following our recent meeting with the President and other groups. Check out the short video below.
Summary of the Senate MAP-21 transportation bill proposal
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released a draft of the transportation bill late last Friday. We’ve prepared a few pages on what this draft bill propose to do to the federal transportation program. This is a bit on the wonky side, but hopefully you will find it helpful if you’re trying to summarize the 600 pages of bill text. One of the most visible changes MAP-21 makes is to restructure seven core highway programs and 13 formula programs into just five core programs.
Senate EPW Committee releases their bill text
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released text of their portion of the transportation bill late last Friday evening. Our staff is still chewing through the details of the 600 pages and we hope to have some sort of analysis and statement ready later today. It’s a good time to remember that this committee […]
T4 partners meet President Obama, talk about transportation and infrastructure
Three T4 America partners were invited to join us at the White House Monday to meet the President of the United States and talk about transportation funding, specifically the infrastructure portion of the President’s American Jobs Act. The President’s plan, which failed to make it to a final vote yesterday in the Senate, would have invested $60 […]
A real plan to fix bridges, or a reprise of attacks on pedestrian safety?
Our reports calling attention to our nation’s deficient bridges have gained enormous traction in recent weeks, to the point that members of Congress and the White House are citing our data in demonstrating the need for infrastructure investment. Unfortunately, some are using them to make disingenuous attempts to eliminate a small program they’ve been trying […]
Update on Raquel Nelson: petition delivered to Cobb County
UPDATE below. More than 5,200 of you signed our petition to push for freedom for the Atlanta mother who was charged in her son’s death when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing a street in front of their apartment complex. Raquel Nelson is due back in court next week, but we wanted […]
Oklahoma mayor stands up for investing in infrastructure
Oklahoma City mayor voices his support for the President’s efforts to bring the condition of U.S. infrastructure into the spotlight. John Robert Smith, our T4 America co-chair and former Mayor of Meridian, Miss., is fond of saying that there are no Republican or Democrat potholes or bridges or roads. Fixing and updating our country’s transportation […]
In wake of Ohio River bridge closure, NBC Nightly News examines the sorry state of U.S. bridges
At least one person somewhere in the U.S. is driving over a structurally deficient bridge every minute, according to T4 America director James Corless in a report on the woeful condition of our nation’s bridges on NBC Nightly News Sunday evening. Watch the segment and learn more about our country’s bridges.
Correcting some misinformation on bicycle and pedestrian spending
Bike and pedestrian projects get less than 1.5 percent of federal transportation funding — despite recent misinformation to the contrary. There’s some misinformation percolating about the size of the transportation enhancements program — the small dedicated program that has funded projects to make biking and walking safer and more convenient for 20 years. Some misleading […]
Structurally deficient bridges and President Obama’s jobs bill
Last night after President Obama’s speech to Congress, attention turned to analysis of the speech and the President’s plan to take it on the road to the districts of key Representatives and Senators. Chris Matthews of MSNBC referenced Transportation for America and our data on structurally deficient bridges as an important part of making the […]
House appropriators make deep cuts to transportation for 2012
The House Appropriations Committee released their draft bill for 2012 spending in the transportation program, and the cuts are severe, with some key programs facing more of a reduction than others. The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development spending bill, or THUD, as its called, contained similar cuts for transit and road/bridge spending that we saw […]
700 days since expiration of last transportation bill, Congress urged to pass an extension
President Obama gave a short speech in the Rose Garden Wednesday calling on Congress to come together quickly to pass a “clean” extension of the federal transportation bill to ensure that there’s no interruption in federal funding for transportation projects while they debate a longer-term reauthorization. The clock starts ticking after Labor Day.
Photos of dangerous streets have been streaming in
After putting out the call far and wide for pictures of streets designed for speeding traffic at the expense of safe travel by people on foot or bike, we’ve been getting some great — and by great, we mean frightening and terrible — photos of inconvenient, poorly-planned, dangerous and downright hostile conditions for pedestrians. Here […]
Raquel Nelson’s story may be rare, but the dangerous conditions are not — show us
Many of you were shocked by the story of Raquel Nelson, the single mom in Atlanta charged with vehicular homicide when her son was killed while crossing an unsafe street with her. While shocking, head-scratching stories like hers are thankfully rare, it’s emblematic of the road design in many places that we live, and we want to make sure that Congress gets that picture loud and clear. We want to show them that roads like Austell Road by Raquel Nelson’s apartment — 4 lane speedways with few considerations for pedestrians — are far too common. So send us your photos of dangerous, unsafe and poorly planned streets out there across America.
Ensuring economic prosperity for the future by investing in transportation
We’ve fallen behind the world on investing in transportation and our physical infrastructure, but Building America’s Future lays out a clear path forward to help restore America’s prominence and lay a strong foundation for our economic future. Falling Apart and Falling Behind lays out the economic challenges posed by our ailing infrastructure, provides a comparative […]
What does the debt ceiling deal mean for transportation?
With just hours to spare before the deadline, the House, Senate and President Obama have agreed (in principle) on an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. While the details of that agreement are circulating in the media, the implications for the ongoing efforts to reauthorize the transportation bill — as well as funding for current […]
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