Transportation for America, Author at Transportation For America

About Transportation for America

For general inquiries about the campaign, email info [at] t4america [dot] org.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of December 1st

As a valued member, Transportation for America is dedicated to providing you pertinent information. This includes news articles to inform your work. Check out a list of stories you may have missed last week.

The U.S. Senate in the early hours of Saturday morning passed a sweeping tax reform bill. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Monday to go to conference to work out the differences between the Senate and House bills. (Politico)
Transportation for America released a statement on the Senate tax reform bill after passage. (T4America)
The House and Senate tax bills spell trouble for any infrastructure package. (The Hill)
Governing Magazine covers how the tax bills will negatively affect transportation projects. (Governing Magazine)
“Southern California transport agencies raise concerns about tax reform proposals.” (Southern California Association of Governments, American Shipper)
“Uncertainty mounts over timing of Trump’s infrastructure plan.” (The Hill)
House Republican leadership are pushing a two week short term continuing resolution until December 22^nd in order to avoid a government shutdown and create more time for negotiations over full year appropriations. (Fox Business)
“Uncertainty Surrounds Avoiding Shutdown Showdown.” (Roll Call)

Senate tax bill greenlights a torrent of cuts to transportation programs

After the United States Senate voted early Saturday morning to approve passage of their tax reform bill, T4America director Kevin F. Thompson released the following statement.

“The Senate’s action today on tax reform may be a cause for celebration for some, but it greenlights a torrent of cuts to vital transportation programs and infrastructure investments that will ultimately leave our cities and towns, large and small across the nation, less competitive. Whether cuts to the funding to improve or expand public transportation systems or the competitive grants that support the smartest projects, these cuts to transportation programs and investments are a blow to every community working hard to improve access to jobs and opportunity.

“This tax reform measure triggers ten years of annual automatic cuts to transportation programs unless Congress takes further action, and it may also signal the final demise of a national infrastructure package. After creating more than a trillion dollars in new debt, it is difficult to fathom where this Congress will find the resources to pay for another trillion-dollar program. Long-term, that means our country falls further behind, our economy suffers and the cost of any future infrastructure investments are even more prohibitive.”

Coming soon: A new report on how metro areas are building more and better bicycling and walking projects

Metro areas of all sizes across the country are strategizing, developing, and implementing new ways to improve bicycling and walking in their regions. Over the last year, T4America worked with metro areas across the country to collect and document these stories, ideas, and strategies into a guidebook that we’re releasing on December 11.

Join us on December 11th at 12 p.m. EST for a launch webinar where we’ll release Building Healthy and Prosperous Communities: How Metro Areas are Building More and Better Bicycling and Walking Projects and hear from three of the agencies featured in it.

Over the last two years, Transportation for America, in conjunction with the American Public Health Association, has worked with metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) across the country to collect and document stories about how they are planning, funding and building more and better walking and bicycling projects in communities. (Find our previous resources on this topic here and here.)

As the gatekeepers of billions of federal transportation dollars, MPOs have an influential role in expanding and improving options for walking and bicycling. They may establish policies, develop plans, direct funding, and help design transportation projects to allow more people to easily walk, bicycle, or ride in a wheelchair. Doing so can help people get the physical activity they need to be healthy — and healthier residents bring economic benefits for an entire region.

Places that have made biking and walking from place to place a safe, convenient, and enticing choice have produced positive impacts on businesses, jobs, and revenue. When it’s safer and more convenient for people to walk or bicycle as part of their regular routine, more people get the amount of physical activity that science proves they need to reduce their risk of certain chronic diseases.

The following MPOs and scores of others are excelling, but there’s much more that can be done to build the necessary infrastructure to keep people thriving, safe, active, and connected to the places they need to go. The examples in this guidebook can inspire and inform your efforts, help tailor them for your region, and improve upon them to give the residents of your region the bicycling and walking infrastructure they demand and deserve.

The guidebook has detailed profiles of the work of these metropolitan planning agencies:

Atlanta Regional Commission (Atlanta, Georgia)
Broward MPO (Broward County, Florida)
Chattanooga-Hamilton County/North Georgia Transportation Planning Organization (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
Corpus Christi MPO (Corpus Christi,Texas)
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Denver Regional Council of Governments (Denver, Colorado)
Mesilla Valley MPO (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
Metro (Portland, Oregon)
Metropolitan Transportation Commission (Bay Area, California)
Nashville Area MPO (Nashville, Tennessee)
Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (Columbus, Ohio)
Puget Sound Regional Council (Seattle, Washington)

During the webinar we’ll hear from three featured MPOs: The Chattanooga TPO will share how they created a new performance measures framework to prioritize multi-modal projects for funding. The Corpus Christi MPO will talk about how they customized a Bicycle Mobility Network through accessibility planning and community engagement. Finally, we’ll hear how Metro in Portland, Oregon encouraged higher rates of active transportation by changing the design of walking and bicycling projects.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of November 24th

“Trump’s missing infrastructure plan.” (Axios)
President Trump has promised to reveal his infrastructure package after tax reform is signed into law. (The Hill)
The White House does not know what policy item is next on the President’s agenda after tax reform. An infrastructure package could be next, but other items are under consideration like welfare reform and another attempt at healthcare reform. (Politico)
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “Says No to Gas Tax Hike, Complicating Trump’s Infrastructure Push.” (The Daily Beast)
Richard Florida argues that driverless cars will exacerbate inequality and not be the panacea everyone is expecting. (City Lab)
Wired magazine looks at how cities are rethinking what curbed spaces are used for, including drop-off spaces for ridesharing vehicles. (Wired)

Recent Federal Activity Summary – Week of November 17th

As a valued member, Transportation for America is dedicated to providing you the latest information and developments around federal policy.

Tax Reform

House: On Thursday November 16^th, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” also known as the Republican’s tax reform package. The bill passed by a vote of 227-205; 227 Republicans voted for the legislation, and 192 Democrats and 13 Republicans voted against the legislation.

What Does this Bill Mean for Transportation?

The bill proposes changes to commuter tax benefits for parking, van pooling, and riding transit and terminates private activity bonds (PAB’s). Employers will no longer be able to deduct or “write off” the subsidy they provide for fringe benefits, including commuting benefits. The bill maintains the ability for employers to provide either a pre-tax benefit or a subsidy. In the case of a subsidy, while the employer can no longer write off this expense, they will not have to pay payroll taxes on the fringe benefit. There is no change to the benefits associated with providing the pre-tax benefit.

Private activity bonds are tax-exempt bonds used to fund a whole range of infrastructure projects that have a “private” use of at least 10%. PAB’s have been used to finance a wide range of infrastructure projects around the country, including roads, highways, housing, hospitals and airports. Recently, PAB’s have been used to fund a lot of transportation projects that are using private public partnerships for financing, including the Purple line in Maryland and the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project in Pennsylvania.

The House’s elimination of PAB’s will greatly harm the ability for state and local governments and private entities to obtain financing and build infrastructure projects that use financing tools, such as toll roads and transit and rail stations. This step is directly at odds with President Donald Trump’s proposal to expand the use of PAB’s to help fulfill his promise to rebuild America’s infrastructure.

Senate: The Senate Finance Committee approved the Senate version of the tax reform package on Thursday November 16^th by a party line vote of 14-12. All Republicans voted in favor and all Democrats were opposed. The Senate bill keeps both the commuter benefits and private activity bonds intact, but does eliminate the $20 a month benefit for people who bike to and from work. The House bill also eliminates the bike benefit. T4America is joint signatory of a letter to members of Congress urging them to preserve the bike benefit because it promotes physical activity, reduces traffic congestion and air pollution and promotes walkable communities.

The Senate is scheduled to consider the Senate Republican tax bill when they get back from Thanksgiving recess. Congressional Republicans and the White House hope to have a tax bill on President Trump’s desk by Christmas. It is still unclear whether the Republicans have the votes to pass the tax bill in the Senate. All the Democrats are opposed to the bill so Republicans can only lose two votes and still pass their bill. Right now, Senator Ron Johnson (WI) says he is opposed to the bill in its current form and other senators like Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Bob Corker (TN) and Jeff Flake (AZ) continue to be undecided on if they will support the bill.

One final possible hiccup for the Republican tax reform bill is a congressional budget provision known as the “Pay As You Go” (paygo) rule”. Paygo requires immediate, across-the-board spending reductions to many mandatory programs like Medicare and Medicaid for any bill that reduces taxes and doesn’t fully offset them with revenue increases elsewhere. The GOP tax cut plan would add $1.5 trillion to the debt over the next decade. Under paygo rules, the government would have to make $150 billion in mandatory spending cuts every year for the next 10 years, unless that provision is waived with 60 votes in the Senate, which would require Democratic support. If the Paygo rule is not waived, not only will mandatory spending programs like Medicare take an automatic 4% spending cut, Congress will have to cut a lot of discretionary spending elsewhere to comply with the Paygo rules. Cuts to defense spending are a non political starter right now, so Congress would likely cut from the non-defense discretionary spending accounts. This fact means that funding for popular programs like TIGER, Capital Investment Grants and Amtrak are at risk to be severely cut back or even eliminated entirely if this tax reform bill passes.

The bottom line is that the Republican tax reform bill, especially the House version, will make it harder for state and local governments to make much needed infrastructure investments by stripping away financing tools that governments and private entities rely on. Additionally, the tax bill will potentially lead to devastating discretionary spending cuts that could eliminate programs like TIGER that we fight to fund every year because they are vital to our communities and economies. These two outcomes break the promises made by both the President and Congress to invest more in our infrastructure, not less.

U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Nominations Confirmed

During the week of November 13th, the U.S. Senate confirmed two U.S. DOT nominations. Derek Khan was confirmed to be Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy and Steven Bradbury was confirmed to be General Counsel for U.S. DOT. Mr. Kan’s nomination hearing was held in June and he had bipartisan support, but his nomination was held up by New York and New Jersey Senators concerned over the Trump’s administration’s withdrawal from a non-binding commitment with New York and New Jersey to fund half of the Gateway project. Mr. Kan was confirmed by a vote of 90-7.

Mr. Bradbury was confirmed by vote of 50-47. His nomination was more controversial because of his work at the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice under President George W. Bush. All Democratic Senators and Republican Senators John McCain (AZ) and Rand Paul (KY) opposed Mr. Bradbury’s nomination.

Nomination of Lynn Westmoreland

Additionally, the Senate Commerce and Transportation Committee on November 8^th, reported favorably via voice vote the nomination of former Congressman Lynn Westmoreland to the Amtrak Board of Directors. There is no timeline right now for when the full Senate may consider his nomination.

Westmoreland served in Congress for twelve years, including a six-year stint on the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. During Westmoreland’s tenure in Congress he voted twice to cut Amtrak’s funding, including a vote for a failed bill in 2009 that would have eliminated all federal funding for the passenger railroad.

At a confirmation hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee on October 31, Westmoreland said he does support Amtrak funding, but that “the Board should look at the long-distance routes” and “should shutter these ‘unprofitable’ routes.” In his response to written questions from Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), a member of the committee, about his votes to cut funding for Amtrak’s long distance routes, Westmoreland deflected and said his vote for the 2015 FAST Act demonstrates his support for Amtrak because it “reauthorized funding for Amtrak.”

Amtrak will only survive politically if it is a robust national system that serves as many states and communities as possible. Mr. Westmoreland has not adequately justified his prior votes to cut Amtrak funding and considering his Senate Commerce Committee testimony; we remain extremely concerned about Mr. Westmoreland’s commitment to funding long distance train routes. Given the vital importance of long distance Amtrak routes and Mr. Westmoreland’s record in opposition to those routes, we don’t think he is a good fit for the Amtrak board.

Sign-on letter to support transit capital funding

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN) are leading a sign-on letter calling for funding for the transit Capital Investment Grant program in the FY2018 federal funding bill. These champions are collecting signatures on this important letter, which they will then send the to senior appropriators and leadership. Please let your Representatives know how important transit funding is to your region and encourage them to sign on to this letter. We will keep you updated on the timing of the appropriations process and negotiations.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of November 17th

Stories You May Have Missed

Everyone, including President Trump, wants to build infrastructure projects faster. The NY Times highlights some case studies to explain why some infrastructure projects can get slowed down. (NY Times)
“How the House tax plan could kill Trump’s infrastructure plans.” (The Hill)
The NY Times published their first article from an 8^th month investigation into the factors that have contributed to the problems the New York City Subway is experiencing today. (NY Times)
The Florida Times-Union and Pro Publica have released an investigative report highlighting the racial disparity in pedestrian violations in Jacksonville. (Florida Times Union)
NY Times Op-Ed: “America Is Now an Outlier on Driving Deaths.” (NY Times)
San Francisco has procured its first fire truck that is designed specifically for vision zero streets. (Wired)

T4America releases set of four simple principles to inform and evaluate any potential plans for federal infrastructure investment

In anticipation of a potential infrastructure bill being produced by the President or Congress, Transportation for America released a set of four core principles to redirect the national debate on the issue. Kevin F. Thompson, director of Transportation for America, offered the following statement:

“For too long, any debate about infrastructure investment has been confined to a narrow discussion of size and expense, rather than an honest discussion of the hefty costs versus the limited benefits provided under the current program.

“Any potential federal infrastructure plan needs to do more than just pour money into the same old system for planning and building transportation projects, because that broken system fails to deliver the returns Americans deserve for the billions we invest nationally. It’s past time to redirect the conversation and focus on what we are building and why, and how we are measuring and evaluating success. If we want sustainable, long-term economic growth, we need a different plan for investing in infrastructure than just more money provided to the current system.”

“To that end, Transportation for America offers these four sensible guiding principles for consideration, aimed at influencing the national dialogue and encouraging members of Congress and White House officials to talk plainly and honestly about a smart approach to infrastructure planning and funding.

Increase real funding. We need real federal funding, not just new ways to borrow money or sell off public assets to support transportation investments.
Fix the existing system first. We must immediately fix the system we have and fund needed repairs to aging infrastructure.
Build smart new projects. Our current approach, largely driven by formula funding, is necessary to ensure baseline investments, but funding that flows automatically for specified purposes does not encourage innovation or flexible action.
Measure success. Infrastructure investments are a means to foster economic development and improve all Americans’ access to jobs and opportunity.

“To press members of Congress and the administration to shift their thinking on infrastructure planning and funding, Transportation for America will tap into a nationwide base of local mayors & civic leaders, elected officials, chambers of commerce and other coalition partners. If Congress or the administration are truly serious about a sizable investment in infrastructure, we can’t squander away a golden opportunity to craft something different that will truly help cities and towns of all sizes build the multimodal transportation networks they need to stay competitive,” concluded Thompson.

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Download these principles as a sharable one-page PDF here or by clicking below:

Transportation for America’s Principles for Infrastructure Investment

RE: T4America’s Principles for Infrastructure Investment

Dear Transportation for America Members:

Transportation for America shares the goal of the Trump Administration and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle for reinvesting in our nation’s infrastructure. Transportation systems have a profound impact on our lives and communities. All Americans understand that the deteriorating state of our transportation infrastructure limits economic opportunity. Expediting the critical rebuilding of infrastructure like roads, bridges, transit systems and other investments that improve shared mobility access and strengthen our diverse, multimodal transportation network will guarantee a prosperous future for all Americans.

Today, we are sharing the following principles essential to developing an infrastructure package with the Administration and members of the 115^thCongress. These principles will foster new opportunities by connecting communities, creating jobs and securing long-term economic growth. Our goal is to move the national conversation beyond the breadth and cost of an infrastructure program to include an examination of which projects we are investing in and why. Our principles are simple and sensible:

Increase real funding
Fix the infrastructure we’ve already built
Make sure that any new infrastructure is selected through competitive processes, is locally driven, and has clear and specific benefits.
Measure the performance of investments to ensure accountability.

These principles will not only serve to help guide investment, they will also help federal, state, and local agencies, as well as taxpayers, judge the success of these investments. Through accountability, we can ensure limited dollars are used wisely.

Please feel free to share these principles through your professional and social media networks. If you have questions, or would like to discuss these principles, please contact Alicia Orosco, our program manager for membership and outreach at alicia.orosco@t4america.org or at (202) 971-3907.

Sincerely,

Kevin F. Thompson
Director, Transportation for America

Provide real funding

We need real federal funding, not just new ways to borrow money or sell off existing assets, to rebuild our transportation systems. Historically, economic development and opportunity have depended on federal investments in transportation that connect communities and allow businesses to bring goods to market. Direct federal investment funded the construction of our highways, bridges, and transit systems, creating economic opportunities. Today, deteriorating transportation infrastructure—the result of years of reduced federal investment—is a roadblock to continued economic growth. Real funding, invested according to the principles outlined here, will rebuild the nation’s transportation infrastructure and restore economic opportunity.

Fix the existing system first

We must immediately fix the transportation system we have and fund needed repairs to aging infrastructure. If we have a house with a leaky roof, it’s only prudent to fix the roof before building a new addition. Our transportation systems are no different.

Congress should dedicate federal transportation formula dollars to maintenance to make sure the system is returned to a state of good repair, is resilient, and works for all users; before funding new projects that bring years of additional maintenance costs. The application of federal performance measures to both the state and metro area programs would help prioritize needs and ensure that the greatest of them are addressed first.

Build smart new projects

At a time when transportation resources are scarce, it is critical that funds go only to the best new projects. Competition, local control, and objective evaluation can ensure that federal funds flow to the projects that deliver the greatest benefit to communities. When communities are given the opportunity to compete for federal funds, they work harder to put forward projects that maximize return on investment, provide creative solutions, and involve a diverse range of stakeholders. Congress should direct new federal transportation dollars through competitive processes, such as the TIGER and transit Capital Investment Grant programs, which are accessible directly to city, county, regional, and state governments. Merely adding new funding into existing and outdated formula funding programs will not deliver the transformative projects that deliver long-term economic growth.

Measure success

Investments in transportation are not an end in and of themselves. They are a means to foster economic development and improve all Americans’ access to jobs and opportunity. Agencies should be held accountable by evaluating how well their investments help achieve their regions’ goals. Newly available data and tools allow agencies to measure—better than ever before—how well transportation networks connect people to jobs and other necessities. The federal government should harness these tools so that state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations can ensure that federally funded investments are effectively connecting people to economic opportunity.

Download these principles as a sharable one-page PDF here.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of November 10th

Stories You May Have Missed

Almost 50 members of Congress, led by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao asking her to keep the greenhouse gas emissions rule and not move ahead with plans to repeal it. (Senator Cardin’s Office)
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote to approve Derek Kan’s nomination today to be Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy. (Railway Age)
Representatives Randy Hultgren (R-IL) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) explain in an op-ed the importance of a tax reform bill keeping private activity bonds. (Northwest Herald)
“Self-Driving Taxi Service From Waymo Set To Begin Shortly” in Chandler, Arizona. (CleanTechnica)
Forbes Op-Ed: “Waymo Tests Its Self-Driving Cars In My Town. Here Are The Odd Things I’ve Seen.” (Forbes)
The American Transportation Research Institute, part of the American Trucking Association put out a report that concludes a “federal fuel tax increase is the ‘only meaningful mechanism’ to pay for President Donald Trump’s proposed infrastructure improvements.” (Talk Business and Politics, ATRI Report)
Reed Cornish, a White House Advisor, shed a little more light in an interview with Recode on the Trump’s administration’s infrastructure principles and reveals he encouraged Elon Musk to start building a tunnel between New York City and Washington D.C. (Recode)

Recent Federal Activity Summary – Week of November 6th

As a valued member, Transportation for America is dedicated to providing you the latest information and developments around federal policy. This dedication includes in-depth summaries of what is going on in Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). Check out what you may have missed these past two weeks in Congress and at U.S. DOT.

Amtrak opponent Rep. Lynn Westmoreland nominated to Amtrak board of directors

On October 6 President Trump nominated former congressman Lynn Westmoreland to the Amtrak Board of Directors.

During Westmoreland’s tenure in Congress he voted twice to cut Amtrak’s funding, including a vote for a failed bill in 2009 that would have eliminated all federal funding for the passenger railroad.

In response to a question from Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Westmoreland said he supported funding the Gateway tunnel project between New Jersey and New York.

In a questionnaire for the committee, Westmoreland said the biggest priorities for Amtrak were “encouraging individuals to choose its service over other competing methods of transportation”; maintaining safety and security; and “building out the high-speed rail plans it currently has.”

Westmoreland served in Congress for twelve years, including a six-year stint on the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Tax reform package

On November 2 the House Ways and Means Committee released the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” the Republican’s tax reform package.

The bill proposes changes to commuter tax benefits for parking, van pooling, and riding transit. The bill eliminates the ability of employers to deduct or “write off” the subsidy they provide for fringe benefits, including commuting benefits. The bill maintains the ability for employers to provide either a pre-tax benefit or a subsidy. In the case of a subsidy, while the employer can no longer write off this expense, they will not have to pay payroll taxes on the fringe benefit. There is no change to the benefits associated with providing the pre-tax benefit.

Sign-on letter to support transit capital funding

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN) are leading a sign-on letter calling for funding for the transit Capital Investment Grant program in the FY2018 federal funding bill. These champions are collecting signers until the November 9 deadline and then will send the request to senior appropriators and leadership. Please let your Representatives know how important transit funding is to your region and encourage them to sign on to this letter.

T4America opposing USDOT rollback of greenhouse gas rule

T4America has submitted a comment opposing USDOT’s proposal to rescind a federal requirement for states and MPOs to measure their carbon emissions as part of a larger system of accountability for federal transportation spending.

Our comment in opposition focuses on three issues:

FHWA had legal authority to adopt the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) measure;
The Proposed Rule fails to account for the overwhelming benefits of the GHG measure and is inconsistent with the approach taken in related executive orders and rulemakings and the public welfare; and
Establishing a performance measure for GHG emissions is good governance and smart transportation policy.

The 2012 transportation law MAP-21 required transportation agencies to begin using a new system of performance measures to govern how federal dollars are spent and hold them accountable for making progress on important goals, like congestion, traffic fatalities, reliability, road/bridge condition, mode share and carbon emissions. For two years, USDOT worked to establish this new system, soliciting reams of public feedback, and finalizing the measures in January of this year. T4America worked to ensure that new performance measures would account for all people using the transportation system and supported measuring carbon emissions from the transportation system. Climate impacts aside, tracking carbon emissions is one of the best ways to judge how efficiently the transportation network is moving people and goods. If USDOT drops this measure, we will lose an important metric for determining who is using their funding to most efficiently connect people with destinations and move goods to market.

The Trump administration first attempted to revoke the greenhouse gas performance measure without public input but was sued by environmental groups. USDOT has launched a new rulemaking to propose removing the rule. T4America’s comment opposes revoking the requirement that transportation agencies measure carbon emissions.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of November 3rd

Stories You May Have Missed

The House GOP tax bill has advocates scrambling because it eliminates important current provisions of the tax code like private activity bonds. (The Hill)
“Facing pockets of discontent in their own Republican ranks, tax negotiators in the U.S. House of Representatives will seek this week to brook differences over their far-reaching tax bill and stick to a self-imposed deadline of passage this month.” (Reuters)
“Private investors line up to support infrastructure projects without Trump” but say that “a commitment from the federal government is needed to provide long-term financing.” (Washington Examiner)
House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster will stay in Congress, even after he gives up the chairmanship next year due to term limit rules. (The Hill)
The NY Times covers some examples of the burgeoning highway removal movement. (NY Times)
The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released a guide at their conference last week to help planners and engineers determine what bike lanes should be protected. (Streetsblog)

A bipartisan move to give states and metro areas access to better data to shape their transportation planning decisions

Congress took a bipartisan step today to provide states and metro areas with powerful data and accessibility tools that will help them better measure the destinations that their residents can easily reach, equipping transportation agencies to plan smarter transportation investments to address those gaps.

Congresswoman Esty (D-CT) — along with cosponsors Congresswoman Comstock (R-VA), Congressman Davis (R-IL), and Congressman Lipinski (D-IL) — introduced a bill this morning (Friday) to provide communities with valuable tools that can help them understand how well their transportation networks provide access to jobs and daily needs.

The Transportation Access & System Connection (TASC) Act would create a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) pilot program to purchase new, precise data tools for 15 states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to calculate how many jobs and services (such as schools, medical facilities, banks and groceries) are accessible by all modes of travel. The bill ensures that at least six small communities are included in this pilot via their MPO.

Connecting people to work is arguably the most important goal for our transportation system, yet we generally do a pretty poor job of measuring how successfully our local roads and transit systems performs this base function. But as important as measuring jobs access is, only 20 percent of all trips and only 30 percent of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are to and from work. This means that 80 percent of trips (70 percent of VMT) are for our other daily essentials — going to the store, shopping, or dropping the kids off at school, etc.

Until recently, transportation agencies could only monitor incredibly blunt metrics, like overall traffic congestion and on-time performance for transit, and while important, these paint a grossly two-dimensional picture of the challenges people face while trying to reach their needs within a reasonable period of time. And these limited measures certainly don’t provide enough information to help these agencies make the hard decisions about what to build to best connect people to the places they need to go.

Too often, the use of simple metrics results in the consideration of simple “solutions,” like adding expensive additional lanes to existing highways and road networks —costly solutions that often don’t solve the problem, or make it worse.

But today, there are precise new tools available that allow communities to more accurately calculate accessibility to employment opportunities, daily errands, public services, and much more. (Similar tools were used to run this analysis of Baltimore’s new bus overhaul, for example.) They allow states and MPOs to analyze a metro area and produce detailed data to help them optimize their transportation networks and utilize all modes of transportation as well as understand the interaction between transportation investments and economic development.

States like Utah, Delaware and Virginia and the cities of Sacramento and Los Angeles are already utilizing this data and seeing results. But unfortunately, states and MPOs must pay for this more helpful accessibility data while the more limited congestion data is made readily available to them. This bill will start to change that by creating a pilot program that will 15 states and MPOs free access to the data, helping them make better use of their limited taxpayer dollars to bring the greatest benefits.

We recognize Representative Esty and her cosponsoring Reps. Barbara Comstock, Rodney Davis, and Dan Lipinski. Let your representatives know that you support this bill – urge them to cosponor the Transportation Access & System Connection (TASC) Act (HR 4241)

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of October 27th

Stories You May Have Missed

“White House eyes 7-cent gas tax hike for infrastructure plan.” (The Hill)
National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn discussed with the Bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus last week a potential timeline of an infrastructure package and the possibility of a gas tax raise. Mr. Cohn said that an infrastructure package could happen in the early part of 2018 and that a gas tax increase could be voted on as part of an infrastructure plan. (Politico Morning Transportation)
House Republicans are scheduled to release their tax reform plan on Wednesday. Details are scarce right now but many tax credits could be at risk including potentially the parking and transit benefit, to help pay for the expected reduction in corporate and individual tax rates. (CNN)
16 State DOT’s gave back their biking and walking money from the Federal Highways Administration rather than investing in bike and pedestrian projects. (Safe Routes To School)
A new report from MIT looks at the potential future effect of Automated Vehicles on real estate and how communities will develop. (The Drive)
The Utah Legislature and Salt Lake City are currently examining and debating potential governance reforms to the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) structure. (Deseret News)
A new business group, the Washington Partnership is pushing to overcome political differences and get Virginia, D.C. and Maryland to agree on how to reform Metro. The Washington Partnership is concerned that the problems at Metro will harm the Washington D.C. metro economy. (Washington Post)

Federal program that helps tackle health disparities threatened in ’18 budget

Congress is threatening to eliminate a small yet significant federal program housed within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that helps local communities take concrete steps to prevent someone’s zip code from being the most powerful determinant in their long-term health.

Walking, biking, and access to transit are part of a suite of healthy choices promoted by T4America and our colleagues at the National Complete Streets Coalition. People who walk or bicycle more for transportation are shown to have lower rates of heart disease, diabetes and other conditions that can complicate or shorten lives. And the demand for more opportunities to safely walk and bicycle is at an all-time high, in both heartland towns and urban centers alike.

Scores of communities are eager to find ways to improve the health of their most vulnerable residents — the people most likely to suffer from poor health outcomes — and those less likely to have access to safe streets for walking or biking. They want to know how to steer more of their transportation dollars into projects that will bring significant health benefits and reduce these disparities.

The Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health program (REACH), a small program within the CDC, has helped these communities meet the demand for more active transportation projects, address the wide disparities in health from zip code to zip code, increase access to opportunities, and create a foundation of shared and sustainable prosperity.

REACH is an evidence-based program that directly tackles these health disparities and is the only community health program currently funded at the CDC.

Both the House and Senate Appropriations bills for next year (FY 2018) eliminate funding for this critical program. Please take a moment to send a message to your representatives and urge them to keep it going.

A group of more than 200 diverse organizations — including The National Complete Streets Coalition and Transportation for America — signed a letter urging Congress to provide the program with another $50 million round of funding.

These funds are helping a plethora of communities make healthy living a reality. (We produced a series of case studies that includes some of these communities here.) It equips them to tackle the risk factors for some of the most expensive and burdensome health conditions impacting racial and ethnic groups. Without these funds communities across the country will have an even harder path to reduce disparities like these cited by the CDC:

Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest rate of obesity (44 percent), followed by Mexican Americans (39 percent).
The rate of diagnosed diabetes is 18 percent higher among Asian Americans, 66 percent higher among Hispanic/Latinos, and 77 percent higher among non-Hispanic blacks compared to non-Hispanic whites.
American Indians and Alaskan Natives are 60 percent more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic whites and have the highest prevalence of diabetes, with a rate more than double that of non-Hispanic whites
The incidence rate of cervical cancer is 41% higher among non-Hispanic black women and 44% higher among Hispanic/Latino women compared to non-Hispanic white women.

And as shown by the National Complete Streets Coalition in their last Dangerous by Design report, people of color are significantly overrepresented in pedestrian deaths.

Solving these kinds of pernicious issues doesn’t happen overnight.

But the REACH program is investing directly in local community coalitions with multiple years of awards, providing the time and resources necessary to address the many root causes of racial and ethnic disparities and reverse the upward trend of chronic disease.

Help protect REACH. Congress must continue to fund REACH in FY18 at the same level of investment ($50.95 million) as was provided in FY 2017.

A few of the groups leading the effort have set up an easy page for sending a message here.

Take Action

Catch up with the launch webinar for Arts, Culture and Transportation: A Creative Placemaking Field Scan

Catch up with the launch webinar for Arts, Culture and Transportation: A Creative Placemaking Field Scan, our recently released national examination of creative placemaking in the transportation planning process.

We spent the month of September talking about arts and culture and explaining how they can help contribute to producing better transportation projects that more fully serve communities. It all culminated with the launch of this new field scan that explores seven of the most pressing challenges facing the transportation sector today, identifies how arts and culture contribute to solutions, and offers case studies from diverse community contexts.

Last Friday, we held a terrific discussion about the report with a handful of experts, including some of the people behind the inspiring story of El Paso’s Transnational Trolley. Catch up with the full recording of last week’s session here:

Transportation systems can and should be a powerful tool to help people access opportunity, drive economic development, improve health and safety, and build the civic and social capital that bind communities together. And when artists team up with transportation professionals at a project’s outset, their collaboration can lead to new, creative, and more comprehensive solutions to today’s transportation challenges. This process known as creative placemaking is happening in communities across the country and transportation professionals are eager to know, what are the key trends and best practices?

Download the report

Proposed cuts to federal transit funding threaten thousands of manufacturing jobs in the supply chain from coast to coast

WASHINGTON, DC — A new Transportation for America paper illustrates how public dollars devoted to making capital improvements to public transportation systems support thousands of manufacturing jobs, in communities small and large, in nearly every state across the country.

These jobs are currently threatened by cuts to federal transit funding proposed by both the Trump Administration and Congress; cuts that would have a heavy impact on the more than 2,700 manufacturers of transit equipment located across 49 of 50 US states.

“Too many leaders in Congress seem to falsely believe that just because the majority of all transit rides take place in major metropolitan areas, that the benefits somehow stop at their borders,” said Kevin Thompson, Director of T4America. “Yet the benefits of these investments ripple out from coast to coast, supporting jobs in communities of nearly every size. As an example, recent capital upgrades made to just four major transit systems — San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and Portland — are supporting manufacturing jobs in 21 different states.”

The supply chain for public transportation is as deep as it is wide, touching every corner of the country and employing thousands of Americans who produce everything from tracks, to seats, windows, communications equipment, wheels and everything else in between. Heavy cuts to federal transit spending would have a devastating effect on these local businesses and the tens of thousands of jobs they support.

As just one example, Automated Railroad Maintenance Systems (ARMS) in Missouri, produces power, train control, signaling, communications systems and electronics for public transit, passenger, and freight railroads across the country. ARMS’s transit customers depend on federal funding for major new construction project to place orders with the company. “From what we understand there is about $6 billion in federal funding that goes into various transit programs. That’s the main life-blood of this industry,” said Mike Monaco, VP of passenger sales at ARMS. “Obviously, any kind of reduction of federal funding would be a big factor.”

Without continued federal support, transit projects underway could stall, new or planned projects would be postponed or canceled, and transit agencies would scale back or cancel orders of new railcars or buses. But it’s not just federal transit dollars that support these jobs — they’re almost always paired with local or state funds. Many of the communities awaiting federal grants have already raised their own funds via tax increases or ballot measures and are ready to place orders that would be filled by factories and suppliers tailored to serve this industry — employers that may have to downsize or shutter without a steady, predictable pipeline of transit projects.

To preserve these jobs and support main streets from coast to coast, Congress and the administration should support and fund the Transit Capital investment Grants (CIG) Program at or above the $2.3 billion level already agreed upon in the bipartisan 2015 federal reauthorization (The FAST Act).

Read the short paper here: https://t4america.org/maps-tools/transit-supply-chain

Recent Congressional Activity Summary-Week of October 23rd

Senate Approves FY18 Budget

On October 19th, after a series of amendments the Senate approved H. Con. Res. 71, a concurrent resolution establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2018 and setting budgetary levels for fiscal years 2019 through 2027. The proposed budget significantly reduces non-defense discretionary spending, which would likely require cuts to transit Capital Investment Grants, TIGER, and passenger rail programs. The Senate-passed budget must now be reconciled with the budget approved by the House on October 5th. Both chambers must pass identical budgets to utilize reconciliation (a process by which legislation only needs 51 votes in the Senate) to approve tax reform. T4America will provide updates as the House and Senate work to approve a final FY18 budget. It is important to note, however, that additional budget legislation will be necessary to raise the sequester caps set in the Budget Control Act, allowing Congress to complete its FY18 appropriations work.

Senate Environment and Public Works Reschedules Vote on FHWA Nominee

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee postponed an October 18th meeting during which it was planning to vote on Paul Trombino’s nomination to be FHWA Administrator. T4America has been informed that postponing the meeting was unrelated to Mr. Trombino’s nomination. This meeting has been rescheduled for this Wednesday, October 25^th and we expect his nomination to be approved.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Holds Infrastructure Hearing

On October 11th, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit held a hearing entitled: “Building a 21^st Century Infrastructure for America: Highway and Transit Stakeholders’ Perspectives”. You can watch the full hearing here. In a wide-ranging hearing, the panel of witnesses discussed a variety of issues important to the transportation community. Witnesses and Members agreed on the importance of a long-term solution to the solvency of the highway trust fund. Republicans on the Committee were focused on alternatives to funding the trust fund beside the gas tax. Democrats on the Committee expressed frustration that there have been several hearings about the importance of a long term solution to the trust fund but the Committee has not marked up, or held hearings on, legislation that would raise more funding for the highway trust fund.

Mr. Peter Rogoff, Chief Executive Officer, Sound Transit made a forceful case for transit investment and noted how the President’s budget and House appropriations package actually cuts transit funding, especially the Capital Investment Grant program, and would harm communities like Seattle that have raised billions in local funds for transit investments with the understanding that the Federal government would match the local commitment.

This hearing is part of an effort to prepare Congress to develop an infrastructure package. T4America will provide additional updates as the Administration and Congress work on this issue.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of October 20th

Stories You May Have Missed

“Trump officials assure Republicans an infrastructure plan is coming.” (The Hill)
The Senate Environmental and Public Works (EPW) Committee delayed a scheduled vote last Wednesday on Paul Trombino’s nomination to be the administrator of the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA). The vote has been rescheduled for this Wednesday. (Senate EPW Committee)
Intel and Mobileye have developed a system to determine fault in self-driving-car crashes.” (San Francisco Gate)
A new report from the Brookings Institute calculates that over $80 billion has been invested in autonomous vehicle technology. (Brookings Institute)
City Lab says there is a better way to pick infrastructure projects than the current process. (City Lab)
Nashville last week unveiled a bold $5.2 billion proposal to dramatically expand light rail and bus service in Nashville. The city will hold a vote on a ballot referendum to help fund proposal via new taxes in the spring of 2018. (The Tennessean)

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of October 13th

Stories You May Have Missed

“Rural America looks to Trump to help with crumbling infrastructure.” (Washington Examiner)
Democrats gathered last week to discuss ideas for President Trump’s promised infrastructure package and criticized the White House for the continued lack of a concrete proposal. (The Hill)
The Senate Environmental and Public Works (EPW) Committee will vote on Paul Trombino’s nomination to be the administrator of the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) on Wednesday. The nomination is expected to pass easily. (Senate EPW Committee)
The Chairman of the Senate Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee, Susan Collins (Republican-Maine), announced she will stay in the Senate rather than run for Governor of Maine. (Politico)
The Verge reports that “self-driving cars are coming, and US cities are totally unprepared for the radical changes that will accompany them.” (The Verge)
Brookings Institute Commentary: President Trump is undermining the chances of an infrastructure plan passing. (Real Clear Politics)
Streetsblog covers a protest over a bike lane in Minneapolis that rose to a whole new level. (Streetsblog)

Recent Federal Activity Summary – Week of October 9th

President and Congressional Leaders Release Tax Reform Proposal

On September 27th, the Trump Administration, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance released what they call the “Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code”. The full framework is available here, and a one-page overview is available here. The proposal would eliminate many tax benefits, including the commuter transit benefit. In 2016, federal law was changed to establish permanent parity between the transit benefit and parking benefit, raising the cap on transit and vanpool benefits to $255.

Tax reform efforts are focused on eliminating many provisions of the tax code, including transportation fringe benefits that cover parking, transit, and vanpools. T4America is concerned that, under the recently released framework, the commuter benefit is at risk of disappearing for good. Eliminating this benefit will end a critical incentive to take transit to and from work, taking money from transit systems already struggling to maintain a state of good repair. T4America will keep you updated as Congress moves forward with this process.

House and Senate Advance FY18 Budgets

The Process: The President submits the President’s Budget Request (PBR) to Congress in the spring. Soon thereafter, the House and Senate Budget Committee’s develop budgets that may or may not be informed by the PBR. Before Congress can consider the 12 appropriations bills that fund the entire federal government, it must first approve a budget. The Congressional budget sets the funding allocations for each of the 12 appropriations bills, allowing the appropriations committees to begin work on the bills. For FY18, the Congressional leadership has chosen to add “reconciliation instructions” to the budget. This is a special process, under which a bill can pass with without a filibuster, using only a majority vote in the Senate (as opposed to the traditional 60 votes). The FY18 budget will include instructions to approve comprehensive tax reform using this process. Passage of an FY18 budget allows Congress to complete its FY18 appropriations work.

The House: On October 5th, the House approved H. Con. Res. 71 — “Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2018 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2019 through 2027” by a vote of 219-206. H.Con.Res.71 cuts transportation funding, including cuts to Amtrak’s long distance routes, transit, TIGER, New and Small Starts, bike and pedestrian funding, and many other priorities.

The Senate: On September 29th, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Enzi (R-WY) released his FY18 budget. The proposed budget reduces non-defense discretionary spending by $632 billion. This would have a significant negative impact on our transportation programs. The Committee marked up and approved the budget on October 4th and 5th. The full Senate will now consider the budget in the coming weeks.

T4America will provide additional analysis of the House and Senate budgets in the coming weeks.

Senate Environment and Public Works hearing on FHWA nominee

On October 5th, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee held a Hearing on the Nomination of Paul Trombino III to be Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Mr. Trombino is the President of McClure Engineering and the former Director of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Mr. Trombino has a history of public comments suggesting an openness to new ways of thinking about our nation’s highway system. T4America submitted suggested questions to the Committee to help prepare for the hearing. Chairman Barasso (R-WY), Ranking Member Carper (D-DE), and Members of the Committee focused their questions on the proposed infrastructure bill, project review and approval process, resilience, and Public Private Partnerships. Mr. Trombino stated he is not aware of the status of the proposed infrastructure package but that he will become aware and brief Congress should he be confirmed. On other issues, Mr. Trombino pledged to work to address Senators concerns.

Absent any additional and disqualifying information, T4America expects the EPW Committee to favorably report Mr. Trombino’s nomination to the full Senate.

Senate Commerce Committee Approves Autonomous Vehicle Legislation

On Friday, September 8, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved held a markup to amend and vote on S. 1885, The American Vision for Safer Transportation through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV START) Act. The bill was approved by the Committee and will now be referred to the full Senate for further consideration. Despite some minor improvements, T4America remains concerned that this bill will preempt the ability of local governments to enforce their local traffic safety laws, potentially putting the public at risk. In addition, the bill does not provide the data-sharing framework necessary to ensure that local governments and law enforcement can adequately prepare for these vehicles.

Here’s the link to the statement T4America put out after the markup: https://t4america.org/2017/10/04/t4america-statement-senate-commerce-av-start-markup/.

What Happened at the Markup

There were 28 amendments offered during the Committee markup, a number of which were considered and approved en bloc, the result of an overnight deal. The full list of all approved amendments is available here: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BA5E2D29-2BF3-4FC7-A79D-58B9E186412C. T4America is analyzing the approved amendments and updated bill text and will continue to provide additional details.

For additional information, please see our previous policy update.

U.S. DOT Releases Proposal to Harmonize Environmental Reviews

At the end of September, US DOT released a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) that will harmonize to a much greater extent the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review for projects that need review from multiple U.S. DOT agencies. If you would like to submit comments to U.S. DOT about this regulation, comments are due to U.S. DOT on or before November 28th.

Under this SNPRM, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will be added to the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) existing rules and regulations for NEPA reviews under part 771 and part 774 of title 23 of the Code of Federal regulations. The SNPRM proposes to make some changes to part 771 and 774 to account for some of the unique characteristics of rail projects.

This proposed change will ensure that a project undergoing NEPA review through multiple U.S. DOT agencies has one set of rules and regulations to follow. Currently, FRA’s NEPA review regulations are different than FHWA’s or FTA’s. Additionally, the proposed rule change ensures that a record of decision related to NEPA from one U.S. DOT agency is accepted by another U.S. DOT agency. Finally, U.S. DOT is proposing to require that the lead U.S. DOT agency designated to conduct the NEPA review must explicitly include in their NEPA coordination plan “participating agencies that are responsible for providing input within their agency’s special expertise or jurisdiction” and reach an agreement between the two agencies on the timeline for that secondary agency to provide their input. This requirement will ensure that necessary agencies have a chance to give their input with respect to the NEPA review but that there is a concrete timeline for that review to take place.

The practical effect is that as a result of this rulemaking, there should be a “single NEPA document that can be used for all Federal permits and reviews for a project to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with Federal law.” That should speed up environmental reviews without harming the intent of NEPA, leading to faster timelines for the construction infrastructure projects without causing environmental harm.