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Pilot program to support smart planning around new transit lines will benefit 21 different cities
How can communities make the best use of land around transit lines and stops, efficiently locate jobs and housing near new transit stations, and boost ridership (increasing the amount of money gained back at the farebox along the way)? 21 communities today received a total of $19.5 million in federal grants from a new pilot program intended to do exactly that.
Finding inspiration in another city’s successful expansion of public transportation
This week, 21 local leaders from three different regions with ambitious plans to invest in public transportation will be traveling to Denver to hear about how that region built an economic development strategy around investing in new public transportation.
What if we labeled unwalkable neighborhoods like we do cigarettes?
The Surgeon General of the United States will unveil a bold new initiative today, aiming to help Americans lead healthier lives—by making walking and physical activity built-in features of more of our neighborhoods.
Indy’s “more is better” approach to transportation leads to new all-electric carsharing service
BlueIndy, a new all-electric carsharing service in Indianapolis launching today, is evidence of Mayor Greg Ballard’s open-minded approach to transportation innovations to improve options in the city for residents.
New traffic congestion report raises more questions than it answers
Most people sitting behind the wheel each day won’t be surprised by the findings of the latest edition of the Texas Transportation Institute’s report on urban congestion that shows, once again, that (surprise!) the roads in most major American cities are very congested during rush hour each day. The report’s methodology is flawed, but what really matters most is what policymakers and citizens decide to do about congestion in their communities.
10 things you need to know about the Senate’s DRIVE Act
Though the Senate finally moved beyond repeated short-term extensions to the nation’s transportation program with a multi-year bill, their DRIVE Act is also major missed opportunity to give cities, towns and local communities of all sizes more control over and access to federal transportation dollars. Here are nine other things that you need to know about the Senate’s bill.
Senate on the verge of passing a multi-year transportation bill
After several contentious procedural votes to keep the bill moving forward over the past week, the Senate is likely to be taking a final vote on their three-year transportation bill at some point before the end of the week. Here’s a short update on where things currently stand.
Support the new plan from a bipartisan duo of senators to send more transportation dollars to local communities
Two Senators championing the cause of giving local communities more control over their transportation dollars have introduced a modified plan to steer more federal transportation dollars directly to local communities of all sizes — reaching a compromise that they want to incorporate into the Senate’s transportation bill as it heads to the floor.
Transportation for America takes a look at the options for funding transit in St. Louis
St. Louis’s economic prospects are directly related to the quality of access to transportation for their residents — making new investments in public transportation essential. A new T4America report analyzes the possible ways that the St. Louis region could fund an expansion of their public transportation network
UPDATED: Senate reaches preliminary agreement on a long-term transportation bill
A group of key Senate leaders announced just a few moments ago that they’d reached agreement on a bipartisan six-year transportation bill with three years of guaranteed funding. While it’s encouraging to see this agreement ten days before MAP-21 expires on July 31, forthcoming negotiations over the actual details of the bill will be crucial as most Senators have not yet seen the policy or funding language.
Senate committee responds to outcry, restores competitive TIGER grant program in final bill
Just a few hours after receiving a letter with 150 signatories from across the country in support of the TIGER program, late yesterday the Senate Commerce Committee removed the language from their bill that would have essentially ended that popular program of competitive transportation grants.
Cities and towns could lose one of their best options for funding smart local projects
The Senate Commerce Committee is marking up a version of a long-term transportation funding bill Wednesday morning with no authorization for the popular TIGER program , thus limiting the money available to local communities.
Join us for the third online discussion of the Innovative MPO on July 8th
Building on the range of new ideas for metropolitan planning organizations outlined in our Innovative MPO report, we’re hosting the third in a series of online discussions to help MPO staff, board members, and civic leaders find smart ways to use their funding and planning authority get better outcomes for their regions.
Congress kicks into high gear on transportation — let’s summarize the action
During an extremely busy week in the Senate in several key committees, a long-term transportation bill was introduced and approved, a bill to invest in and begin upgrading our nation’s passenger rail system was approved, Senate financiers continued discussing possible ways to keep our nation’s transportation fund afloat, and appropriators restored one cut to key transportation program made by the House — though not all, unfortunately.
Senate Committee rolls forward with speedy markup of six-year transportation bill
In a committee markup where the phrase “doing the Lord’s work” was invoked by numerous members sides of the aisle, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sped through a markup of their draft six-year transportation bill in less than an hour this morning, approving it by a unanimous vote with no amendments, save for a manager’s package of amendments agreed to in advance.
Senate’s new transportation bill is a good start, but more should be done for local communities
At long last, there’s finally some progress to report on a new long-term federal transportation bill. Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released their draft six-year transportation bill. While we think it’s a good starting point, there are some promising proposals to improve it dramatically during a planned markup tomorrow.
New Smart Growth America report details why so many companies are moving downtown
Launched at a terrific event at Washington, DC’s Newseum just this morning, Core Values, this first-of-its-kind report is stuffed with useful data on nearly 500 companies that have decided to either move from the suburbs to a downtown location, or that have decided to expand or open a new branch in a downtown core.
House takes first step in process to keep the nation’s transportation fund solvent
For the first time since 2012, the House of Representatives held a hearing focused on funding the nation’s transportation system. Today’s hearing focused on the elephant in the room: how to adequately fund a transportation bill that’s longer than just a few months. While it’s a relief to see the funding issue finally getting airtime in the House, keeping the nation’s transportation fund solvent is only half of the problem — we also need to update the broken federal program that isn’t meeting our country’s needs.
US House approves bill by a thin margin that makes cuts to TIGER, transit construction and passenger rail
Late Tuesday night, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass their yearly transportation spending bill with just 6 votes separating the bill from defeat. While the cuts to TIGER, Amtrak and New Starts transit capital programs were unfortunately approved by the House, it’s unlikely this bill will become law any time soon. That’s because of the Senate’s likely inability to pass any annual spending bills this summer due to the parties’ lack of agreement on overall funding for the government this year.
Louisiana legislature makes a paradigm shift to better prioritize transportation dollars and restore public confidence
Raising new state funds for transportation can be a tough sell, especially if taxpayers don’t have any faith in the process for spending the money already available. Making that process more transparent, accountable and understandable can be a smart first step to increase public support for raising new transportation funding — one hope behind a bill in Louisiana that cleared the state House and Senate by unanimous votes last week.
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