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New to the world of creative placemaking? Catch up with our recent work

At T4America, we’ve stepped up our work in the arena of creative placemaking, traveling the country to learn from what others are doing and sharing the experience of our growing staff when it comes to this emerging approach for transportation planning.

National examination of the practice of creative placemaking. Late last month we announced that Transportation for America has been commissioned by ArtPlace America to undertake a rigorous national examination of creative placemaking in transportation to better understand how and where artists, designers, and cultural workers are collaborating with local governments and community partners to solve transportation challenges. T4America was chosen to lead this transportation field scan research and subsequent working group convening because of our “strong institutional commitment to creative placemaking, comprehensive knowledge of the transportation sector and recent commitment to the creation of an arts & culture program with Ben Stone at the helm,” according to Jamie Hand, ArtPlace’s Director of Research Strategies.

Portland, OR

Kicking off Portland’s new community creative placemaking grants. Our creative placemaking work also recently took us to Portland, Oregon where our arts & culture team met with key stakeholders and toured the creative placemaking projects we support through a grant from the Kresge Foundation.

In east Portland, the Jade and Midway Districts — led by our partners at APANO — are building public support and awareness to ensure that a new bus rapid transit project best serves the needs of the local community. Our team also presented at the launch of Metro’s new Community Placemaking grants, which have been inspired by the implementation of the APANO’s Jade-Midway District Arts Plan.

A creative city going deeper with a creative approach to engaging the public. The Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is deepening its commitment to engaging the community in creative ways, and integrating artists into community development and transportation projects. The Nashville Area MPO recently launched its creative placemaking efforts with the adoption of its most recent regional transportation plan and has a long-term goal of emboldening and equipping their members to facilitate more valuable public engagement and further community outreach in local planning efforts.

Nashville, TN, Creative Placemaking Symposium

In March, the Nashville MPO convened their first Creative Placemaking Symposium, bringing together area elected officials, transportation planners and engineers from local and state governments to learn how and why creative placemaking works. Rochelle Carpenter, T4A Program Manager and Nashville MPO Senior Policy Analyst, was a key organizer for the symposium, and brought in our Director of Arts & Culture, Ben Stone, to share his insights on how to build effect creative placemaking projects.

How are artists and municipal officials learning to work together? The integration of arts and culture as new tools to help solve civic challenges is an exciting new development in the field. We’ve seen these tools better involve community members, and help to create places that are more meaningful to and reflective of the people that live, work and play there. The artists and cultural workers bridging the conversation between local communities and civic/transportation professionals are now serving an important role as co-problem solvers. But how are the municipal officials and artists being equipped and trained to work together and build these valuable partnerships?

Hear more by catching up with the recording of our most recent webinar on creative placemaking, Training for Artists and Civic/Transportation Collaboration, where we learned about these programs from the perspective of a national practitioner, local training organizer, and an alumna of a training program who also happens to be one of our newest staff members, Mallory Nezam.

Through this webinar we learned how these practitioners are being equipped to work in multiple sectors, communicate with diverse stakeholders, and harmonize the goals of different players. These programs train artists in both practical skills — like writing contracts — and community organizing skills–like how to work with diverse populations. As a result, these training programs are preparing artists to think outside of their traditional role and work with local communities, civic professionals, and local governments. When artists understand the benefits they can bring to the civic sector, we are able to work together to create thriving places that work for everyone.

Lastly, if you haven’t yet, please do check out our guide to creative placemaking, The Scenic Route, intended for a lay audience of elected officials, planners, or other local leaders.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of April 14th

Stories You May Have Missed

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.

“Seven major players in Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure push.” (The Hill)
President Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan faces numerous obstacles. (Politico)
President Trump has nominated Lyft’s general manager to be U.S. DOT’s undersecretary of transportation for policy, which is U.S. DOT’s #3 position. (The Hill)
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved Jeffrey Rosen to be deputy secretary of U.S. DOT on a vote of 15-12 with only Republican members of the committee voting in favor. (The Hill)
The Federal Highways Administration has awarded more than $9 million in transportation safety funding for Tribal Transportation safety improvements. (FHWA)
“Apple Gets Permit to Test Self-Driving Cars in California.” (NY Times)
The Tennessee State Senate Committee on Finance voted to advance Governor Bill Haslem’s proposal to raise transportation funding on a vote of 10-1. The proposal would raise the gas tax by six cents over three years and give local governments the option to raise taxes to pay for mass transit projects through a voter referendum. (Memphis Daily News)
Idaho Governor Butch Otter allowed a $320 million transportation-funding plan to become law without his signature. (The Spokesman Review)

Bolstering creative community engagement in the Nashville region

Considering the enduring creative energy in Tennessee’s principal city, it’s no surprise that Nashville is deepening its commitment to engaging the community in creative ways, and integrating artists into community development and transportation projects.

We believe that incorporating the arts into the process of planning and building transportation projects results in projects that better serve local communities, are championed by locals, and more fully reflect the community’s culture and values.

There’s been a surge of interest around the country in this approach; in developing strategies to be more responsive to a community’s transportation needs and the unique cultural components of place. Nashville, Tennessee is no exception. Through the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) leadership, the region is deepening its commitment to creative community engagement and integrating artists into community development and transportation projects.

The Nashville Area MPO recently launched its creative placemaking efforts with the adoption of its most recent regional transportation plan. The MPO’s long-term goal is to embolden and equip their members to facilitate more valuable public engagement and further community outreach in local planning efforts.

On March 1st, the MPO convened area elected officials, transportation planners and engineers from local and state governments for a Creative Placemaking Symposium to learn how and why it works, and begin thinking through how this approach could address the challenges and opportunities in their own cities.

Through the symposium, the MPO educated attendees about the difference between creative placemaking — a method to engage the community in planning transportation projects — and simply plopping public art at a bus stop that is out of context and not reflective of the neighborhood.

But where should planners or local officials get started, especially when it seems like a new, perhaps unfamiliar approach? Symposium speakers inspired those in attendance to start by getting to know artists in their communities and work with them to identify and document transportation challenges and solutions.

El Paso Councilman Peter Svarzbein delivered a the keynote address on his successful arts-based campaign to bring back a historic streetcar between El Paso and Mexico. T4A’s own Director of Arts and Culture, Ben Stone, offered examples of creative placemaking projects across the country. Additionally, local leaders Caroline Vincent, director of public art for Metro Nashville Arts, Gary Gaston, executive director of the Nashville Civic Design Center and Renata Soto, executive director with Conexión Américas provided examples of their work in the Middle Tennessee region.

From left, Rochelle Carpenter with T4America/Nashville MPO, Renata Soto with Conexión Américas, Caroline Vincent with Metro Arts, Ben Stone with T4A/Smart Growth America, Gary Gaston with the Nashville Civic Design Center and El Paso Councilman Peter Svarzbein.

The symposium served as a forum for planners to think through how and why creative placemaking might benefit projects in their own towns and cities.

“Creative placemaking is first and foremost about public engagement,” said Rochelle Carpenter, who works for the MPO and T4America. “By facilitating community discussions that inspire people to express their feedback, we hope it will lead to greater participation in the transportation planning process, better transportation projects and more public support for those projects.”

To learn more about creative placemaking in Nashville, read about:

Profiled in our Scenic Route guidebook, the story of creating the region’s first-ever bilingual crosswalk along Nolensville Pike, in partnership with the MPO and Conexión Américas.
Envision Nolensville Pike: a community-led plan to improve walking, bicycling and transit use along Nashville’s most diverse corridor
Tactical urbanism initiated by the Nashville Civic Design Center and its program, TURBO
The Learning Lab, a professional development program for artists in civic, social and placemaking practices by the Metro Nashville Arts Commission and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of April 7th

Stories You May Have Missed

The NY Times covers how President Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan promise does not align with his proposed budget, which actually cuts vital transportation programs like TIGER. (NY Times)
U.S. President Donald Trump is “considering packaging a $1 trillion infrastructure plan with either health care or tax reform legislation as an incentive to get support from lawmakers, especially Democrats.” (Fortune Magazine)
Bipartisan support for President Trump’s infrastructure plan is at risk as Democrats object to focus of the President’s plan on enticing private investment and reducing regulations (CNBC)
The California State Legislature votes to approve a transportation-funding bill that will raise an additional $5.2 billion a year. (LA Times)
NBC examines how one public-private partnership infrastructure project in Texas did not go well. (NBC News)
162 organizations and local business and elected leaders from 30 states joined a T4America letter that urges Congress to fund the TIGER & New Starts/Small Starts programs. (T4America) Thank you to those who signed our letter!

[VIDEO] Training artists to collaborate with civic and municipal officials

In cities across the country, artists are helping to solve civic problems. We recently held a great discussion about how some artists and cultural workers are being trained to collaborate effectively with cities to improve transportation planning and community development.

Cities and artists are coming together, integrating arts and culture to help solve civic challenges and create places that are more meaningful to and reflective of the people that live, work, and play there. Did you miss our recent discussion on the topic? Click here or below to view a recording of the full session.

Artists and cultural workers serve an important role as co-problem solvers by bridging the conversation between local communities and civic/transportation professionals. But to do this work effectively, they must be equipped to work across sectors, communicate with diverse stakeholders, and harmonize the goals of different players. The training programs we discussed are a crucial component of working together to create places that work for everyone.

We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation about creative placemaking and the arts in transportation, so stay tuned. Sign up for email to be notified of opportunities like this in the future.

Sign Me Up

T4AMERICA SELECTED TO LEAD ARTPLACE AMERICA’S TRANSPORTATION FIELD SCAN

We also recently announced that Transportation for America has been commissioned by ArtPlace America to undertake a rigorous national examination of creative placemaking in transportation to better understand how and where artists, designers, and cultural workers are collaborating with local governments and community partners to solve transportation challenges. Learn more about this work.

[VIDEO] The future of federal passenger rail funding

After months of talk about investing in infrastructure, one of President Trump’s first acts on infrastructure was to propose eliminating funding for several crucial transportation programs, including long-distance passenger rail. We convened a small panel of experts to explain about the impacts on passenger rail and what interested advocates and local leaders need to know.

Did you miss the session? You can catch up with the full discussion here:

When the current short-term appropriations bill runs out near the end of April 2017, Congress will be debating passenger rail funding levels for next year as well as the remainder of FY 2017. Here are few things that interested advocates should know and do:

FIND STATIONS IN YOUR AREA THAT WOULD BE AFFECTED

We’ve posted a detailed table online that lists all the stations that would be immediately affected by eliminating long-distance passenger rail service, crosswalked with House districts. Find the station(s) in your district and include that information in any letters or phone calls to your representatives.

GET UP TO SPEED ON THE ISSUE

Equip yourself with these short talking points on passenger rail and the threats posed to it in the federal budget.

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

Beyond just cuts to passenger rail, the Administration’s proposed budget falls short of prioritizing investment in the local communities that are the basic building block of the national economy, and we need you to help stand up and send that message loud and clear to Congress.

Take Action

WATCH OUR GULF COAST VIDEO

As mentioned on the webinar, we produced a short video about the amazing groundswell of bottom-up, grassroots support in cities and towns all along the Gulf Coast for restoring passenger rail service from Louisiana to Florida. Watch that and share it here.

California prioritizing repair, transit investments, and walking & biking with new gas tax increase

California could be the next state to raise new revenues to invest in transportation, and unlike most states doing so since 2012, CA lawmakers are prioritizing repair and pledging billions toward transit, safe streets for walking and biking, and an overall multimodal approach to solving the state’s transportation challenges.

Updated (4/7/16): The Senate voted 27-11 and the Assembly voted 54-26 to approve the measure on Thursday night. It is expected to be signed soon by Gov. Brown.

A bill (SB 1) currently before the California legislature would raise $52 billion in new transportation revenue by raising the gasoline tax — unchanged in 23 years — by 12 cents (to 30 cents per gallon), increasing diesel taxes by 20 cents (to 36 cents per gallon) and creating a new annual fee on almost all vehicles based on value. The bill has the strong backing of Gov. Jerry Brown (D). It is being considered by the Senate on Thursday and could be approved in a matter of days. The bill requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass and, though Republicans have uniformly opposed the bill, Democrats hold this majority in both chambers, but only barely.

The bill is projected to raise $52 billion in total over the next decade, directing $7.5 billion to transit capital and operations, putting $1 billion into the state’s Active Transportation Fund and reserving $4 billion expressly for bridge repair. (Interesting fact: if you sort a list of the entire country’s 60,000-plus deficient bridges by traffic volume carried, California claims more than the first 100 spots.)

The multimodal approach to solving the state’s mobility challenges, a heavy focus on prioritizing repair and maintenance, the commitment to supporting public transit and local priority projects, and dedicating about two percent of all new revenues to making it safer and more convenient to walk or bike set California’s approach apart from other states that have advanced legislative packages over the last few years.

It’s worth noting that numerous environmental groups are opposing the bill because of a provision, added late in the process with little debate, which would make it difficult for air quality regulators to create stiffer rules down the road to require cleaner trucks. Others support the overall package while urgently pressing legislators to remove this truck-related provision. (This Streetsblog CA piece fleshes out more of the details about the opposition.)

On the flip side of this equation, part of the tax increase on diesel trucks would be directed into a multimodal freight program, creating a mechanism to tax a negative externality (diesel emissions) and steer a portion of those revenues into cleaner, multimodal projects to move freight.

The bill is currently before the state Senate, and could be considered by the full Assembly in the days ahead. Read about other states that have raised new transportation revenues in the past few years, and find out more about our network for state advocates and elected leaders interested in doing the same.

162 organizations and local business and elected leaders from 30 states urge Congress to support TIGER & public transit funding

162 organizations, including elected state/local officials and chambers of commerce, sent a letter to House and Senate appropriators today urging Congress to continue investing in smart projects to move goods, move people and support the local economies that our nation’s prosperity is built on.

The letter, signed by 19 local elected officials, 9 state legislators, 9 chambers of commerce and over 120 other organizations, urges those currently assembling the federal transportation budget for the rest of 2017 and 2018 to prioritize funding for both TIGER competitive grants and Transit Capital Investment Grants — programs that have been targeted for outright elimination in President Trump’s budget requests for 2017 and beyond.

The majority of all federal transportation dollars are awarded to states and metro areas by relatively simple formulas that ensure everyone gets a share, regardless of how they’re going to spend those dollars or how well-conceived their projects are. Yet, through the TIGER grant program, the federal government has found a smart way to use a small amount of money (about $500 million annually since 2009) to incentivize the best projects possible. This fiercely competitive program is one of the few ways that local communities of almost any size can directly receive federal dollars for their priority transportation projects. Projects vying for funding compete against each other on their merits to ensure that each dollar is spent in the most effective way possible and through the first seven rounds, each TIGER dollar has brought 3.5 non-federal dollars to the table.

The Transit Capital Investment Grants program supports metro areas of all sizes investing their own money in building or expanding transit service. While making the case for eliminating the program, the Trump Administration recently stated that “localities should fund these localized projects,” but local voters and leaders are doing that already, putting their own skin in the game to meet the growing demand for well-connected locations served by transit. At the ballot box last November alone, voters approved more than $200 billion dollars in tax increases to invest in these projects. But they’re counting on the federal government to continue supporting these bottom-up efforts, as they’ve done for decades.

Indianapolis, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Seattle, Kansas City, Minneapolis and a plethora of other towns and cities have already raised their own money to invest in building new transit service. Eliminating this program will threaten their economic prospects and their ability to satisfy the booming demand from residents and employers alike for well-connected locations served by transit.

Here’s the full text of the letter:

Dear Chairmen Cochran, Frelinghuysen, Collins, and Diaz-Balart and Ranking Members Leahy, Lowey, Reed, and Price:

As you prepare the omnibus Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 appropriations bill and the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill for FY2018, we write to respectfully request that you fund the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program at or above FY16 level of $500 million and that you fully fund the Transit Capital Investment Grants program at the FAST Act authorization level of $2.3 billion.

Local and regional governments generate nearly three quarters of U.S. gross domestic product, represent two- thirds of the nation’s population, and account for 95 percent of all public transportation passenger miles traveled. Yet, our local jurisdictions receive less than 10% of the federal highway program’s funding.

The incredibly popular TIGER grant program is one of the only ways that local communities can apply for and secure funds from the federal government for priority transportation projects. The TIGER competition spurs innovation, leverages federal funding far greater than what’s available through formula programs, and awards funding to projects that provide a high-return on investment.

Year after year, the demand for TIGER far exceeds the amount of funding available. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) received 627 applications requesting more than $10.1 billion in funding, which was 20 times the amount available. Since its creation in 2009, TIGER has made critical investments in multimodal projects in every state in the nation, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Likewise, the transit Capital Investment Grants program (i.e. New Starts, Small Starts, Core Capacity) is the federal government’s primary resource for supporting locally-planned, major transit capital investments. The program has facilitated the creation of new or extended public transportation systems across the country.

Under this program, FTA awards grants on a competitive basis for large projects that cannot traditionally be funded from a transit agency’s annual formula funds, such as new fixed guideway systems, including heavy rail (subway), light rail, streetcars, or bus rapid transit. Projects are encouraged to leverage public-private-partnerships (P3) to participate in a streamlined grant process. Recognizing the importance of this program, Congress increased its authorization by $400 million in the FAST Act.

Both the TIGER and Capital Investment Grants programs complement DOT’s traditional formula-based programs. Both programs provide unique, cost-effective, and innovative solutions that leverage private, state, and local investment to solve complex transportation opportunities and spur economic development.

While we are writing today about the TIGER and CIG programs in particular, we also want to make clear that these programs should not be paid for by significant cuts in other essential discretionary domestic programs. The Trump administration’s budget proposal falls short in prioritizing investment in the local communities that are the basic building block of our national economy. We urge Congress to uphold its promise to the American people and reinvest in our nation’s communities.

Thank you for considering these critical programs, which invest in our nation’s infrastructure, create jobs for American workers, and boost our regional economies.

Sincerely,

See the full letter (pdf) for the full list of organizations and officials that signed the letter.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of March 31st

Stories You May Have Missed

The Trump administration is looking at driving tax reform and infrastructure concurrently. (Axios)
Elaine Chao provides more details about Trump’s Infrastructure plan – $1 trillion over 10 years, and it will cover more than transportation infrastructure. She did not provide any details about funding. (Reuters)
“Trump’s infrastructure plan is caught in a White House turf war.” (McClatchy DC)
White House sources tell Time Magazine about their deliberations and plan for their infrastructure package. (Time)
Part of Interstate 85 in Atlanta collapses after massive fire – cause unclear. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
U.S. pedestrian deaths rose sharply in 2016 for the second year in a row per the Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA). Most coverage has focused on the statistics on distracted or drunk pedestrians and not on the impact of poor or dangerous road design. (Washington Post; GHSA Report)
California State Legislature and the Governor reach a deal to raise an additional $5.2 billion a year for transportation. (LA Times)
“Study: Uber and Lyft Add Traffic, Reduce Efficiency on Denver and Boulder Roads.” (Streetsblog Denver)

Trump admin moving to end transit construction program and TIGER immediately

New documents released this week by the Trump administration make it clear that 2018 won’t be soon enough to eliminate funding for future transit construction and TIGER competitive grants — they want them gone now, in 2017.

After months of promises to invest a trillion dollars in infrastructure, President Trump’s 2018 budget request proposed eliminating the popular TIGER competitive grant program and ending the support for helping cities of all sizes build new transit lines, among other cuts.

This week, it’s become clear that the 2018 fiscal year (which begins this October) isn’t soon enough for the administration — they are now asking Congress to make most of the same cuts and changes in (the rest of) this year’s budget for 2017.

“The Administration proposes to suspend additional projects from entering the [transit capital grants] program, and believes localities should fund these localized projects.”

That’s what the Office of Management and Budget is requesting for the federal transit capital construction program, according to Jeff Davis’ Eno Transportation Weekly. That’s paired with a request to cut funding for transit construction by about $400 million for the rest of this fiscal year. Unlike the President’s recent proposal for the next fiscal year (2018), these cuts are proposed for the budget that Congress is negotiating now to keep the government operating through October.

You can help save these vital programs
We’re looking for national, state and local organizations to demonstrate their support for fully funded TIGER and transit Capital Investment Programs. Sign onto T4America’s nationwide support letter by Friday, March 31st.

Budget background: The government is operating under a continuing budget resolution (CR) because Congress failed to pass individual spending bills in late 2016 for this fiscal year. They instead passed a single bill to keep the government functioning at 2016 funding levels for most programs. Congress must produce budgetary legislation of some kind before the current CR expires on April 28, or run the risk of once again shutting down the government.

What does this mean for transit?

For one, it means $400 million less available this year to distribute to the ready-to-go transit projects that the federal government has already promised to fund by signing a full-funding grant agreement (FFGA). That means some unknown number of transit projects that were initially recommended to receive funding from FTA this year would be left out.

Secondly, suspending the pipeline means that transit projects in cities like Indianapolis, Tempe, Albuquerque, Ft. Lauderdale and dozens of others would be at the front of a line that would not move again under President Trump. Some of these cities expected to move ahead this year and were even recommended for funding by the Federal Transit Administration. Many have already pledged millions of their own dollars or have started development, engineering or construction work on projects that are on the cusp of receiving a federal grant to help complete it. And despite the administration’s belief that “localities should fund these localized projects,” the federal government funds interstate interchanges, highway widenings and road construction projects that are inherently local in nature almost every single day. There’s nothing more “local” about a transit project at all.

The administration is not satisfied to see the pipeline of transit projects shut down in 2018 — they want it shut down as soon as possible, in whatever budget Congress produces to carry us through the rest of this year.

What’s the news for TIGER?

It could mean the end of TIGER grants this year, with no grants awarded in 2017 at all.

CQ Roll Call reports that congressional housing/transportation appropriators are being asked to cut $2.7 billion from their budget for the rest of this year and eliminate $500 million from the TIGER program for this year — the entirety of this year’s funding. In years past, spring had been the time of year when USDOT would typically open the application period for this year’s batch of awards, with the aim to award TIGER grants sometime this fall. Though TIGER is technically funded for this year, with no certainty about a budget for the second half of the year from April to October, USDOT won’t make funding available that could be rescinded by Congress. And this is exactly why.

If you represent an organization of some kind, sign onto T4America’s nationwide support letter for these programs by Friday, March 31st.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of March 24th

Stories You May Have Missed

An infrastructure package could be rolled into a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that is expected to pass in the fall according to T&I Chairman Bill Shuster. (The Hill)
Bipartisan group of lawmakers reintroduce bill to fund infrastructure package through tax reform/repatriation. (The Hill)
USA Today does an exclusive interview with Elaine Chao-some proposed transportation budgets cuts could be restored. (USA Today)
More high-ranking executives leave Uber. (NY Times)
“Self-driving cars can’t cure traffic, but economics can.” (NY Times The Upshot)
Could Kansas City’s Bridj service be the future of transit even though it hasn’t attracted much ridership? (Wired Magazine)

T4America selected to lead national examination of creative placemaking in transportation

We’re proud to announce that Transportation for America has been commissioned by ArtPlace America to undertake a rigorous national examination of creative placemaking in transportation to better understand how and where artists, designers, and cultural workers are collaborating with local governments and community partners to solve transportation challenges.

Flickr photo by John Henderson. View on Flickr

T4America was chosen to lead ArtPlace America’s transportation field scan research and subsequent working group convening because of our “strong institutional commitment to creative placemaking, comprehensive knowledge of the transportation sector and recent commitment to the creation of an arts & culture program with Ben Stone at the helm,” according to Jamie Hand, ArtPlace’s Director of Research Strategies.

ArtPlace America is a ten-year collaboration among a number of foundations, federal agencies, and financial institutions that works to position arts and culture as a core sector of comprehensive community planning and development in order to help strengthen the social, physical, and economic fabric of communities.

For several years T4America has been committed to helping communities across the country better integrate arts, culture and creative placemaking into neighborhood revitalization, equitable development and transportation planning efforts. Creative placemaking in particular is one approach to planning and building transportation projects that taps local arts and culture to produce better projects through a better process.

While best known for grantmaking through their National Creative Placemaking Fund, ArtPlace also runs a research program through which they dive deep into the intersections between arts and cultural practice and various community development sectors like health, housing, public safety, agriculture and food, economic development, education and youth, environment and energy, immigration, and workforce development. A “field scan” is the first step in each sector-specific inquiry.

What goes into a field scan?

Through in-depth interviews and research on relevant projects and literature, Ben Stone and Mallory Nezam, T4A’s arts & culture team, will produce the field scan this spring to help educate the transportation sector on the opportunities presented by working with artists, designers, and cultural workers. This will give us a chance to drill down and better learn how (and where) artists, designers, and cultural workers are collaborating with local governments and other community partners to solve transportation challenges.

Our work with ArtPlace will culminate in July 2017 with a convening of a working group comprised of transportation and arts professionals who will provide feedback on the field scan and make recommendations for future research that demonstrates the value of creative placemaking strategies within the transportation sector.

The field scan will build on our Scenic Route resource, in which we aimed to explain an emerging topic (creative placemaking) to potentially skeptical planners & municipal local officials through case studies, identification of approaches to creative placemaking, and other resources.

In all of this work, we’re aiming to make a tangible case that the arts have a positive, measurable impact on transportation projects, and to inspire transportation professionals to take on this new approach.

With our experience producing a primer on creative placemaking, our history of managing creative placemaking projects across the country, and with both transportation and arts experts on staff, no one is better positioned in the transportation sector to integrate transportation practitioners into the creative placemaking dialogue.

Additionally, T4A has been providing subgrants and technical assistance to directly integrate arts and culture into transportation projects in San Diego, CA, Nashville, TN, and Portland, OR, with support from the Kresge Foundation.

Interested in learning more about how we might be help your community integrate arts and culture into transportation projects? We’d love to discuss the possibilities with you — get in touch with us.

New Amtrak president supports the return of Gulf Coast passenger rail

Though overshadowed by the President’s budget proposal to make deep cuts to passenger rail, there’s encouraging momentum for the opposite, including a commitment by Amtrak to restore long-distance service to the Gulf Coast, and the broader freight-dominated rail industry speaking out for the expansion of passenger rail service.

All aboard? The future of federal passenger rail funding. Between the President’s budget proposal & Congress’ appropriations process, what possibilities are on the table, and what do local advocates need to know and do in the days ahead? Join us Tuesday, March 28 at 2 p.m. Eastern as T4America experts and guests discuss the scenarios, the potential impacts for passenger rail and steps you can take to support the important projects in your community.

Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on all aspects of the Gulf Coast’s transportation network in 20o5. After months and years of rebuilding, including a five-month rebuilding effort of the CSX-owned freight rail line (also previously used by passenger trains) to reconnect the region, every one of the region’s transportation modes was eventually restored, except for the passenger rail service from New Orleans to Florida along those same CSX tracks.

There’s been an incredible grassroots movement afoot to bring this service back, which we got to see firsthand on a special inspection train about a year ago, where we were greeted by thousands of residents eager to bring passenger rail back as a viable transportation option. It’s due in part to the work of the Southern Rail Commission, a Congressionally established tri-state rail compact with members appointed by the governors of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

Amtrak’s new president has taken notice:

New @Amtrak CEO letting Gulf Coast states know he’s on board w/relaunching NOLA-Florida route. https://t.co/NtahOlcK8m

— Lauren Gardner (@Gardner_LM) March 3, 2017

In this letter sent to the Southern Rail Commission a few weeks ago, Amtrak President Wick Moorman — a freight rail veteran as the former CEO of Norfolk Southern — outlined the railroad’s commitment to restoring passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast corridor, connecting New Orleans to Orlando.

It is thanks to the Southern Rail Commission that the Gulf Coast project is now approaching realization. Amtrak has supported the project throughout, and will continue to do so as we move through the process to inaugurate the service together. We are committed to operating both the long-distance and corridor services on the Gulf Coast route as soon as the necessary funding can be arranged, and the necessary agreements are in place to implement the service.

While the President’s budget proposed to chip away at the idea of a national system by terminating funding for long-distance passenger rail service and preserving funding for the Northeast Corridor — bifurcating rail funding — there’s a lot of momentum for making new investments in rail overall, including passenger rail.

Just a few days after the above Amtrak letter, the CEO of the Association of American Railroads, an industry group largely dominated by freight railroads, sent a letter to President Trump about their big-picture priorities when it comes to any big infrastructure package, and what’s one of their priorities?

A key focus of any infrastructure package will include adequate support for underfunded commuter and passenger railroads. Freight railroads back this, particularly if done correctly, infusing direct and indirect support, including streamlined permitting and public-private partnerships where the project provides significant public benefits or meets public needs. With the population steadily increasing, there is a unique opportunity to realize the power of intercity passenger service and moving people via train generally. As Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman stated on Capitol Hill in February, this means upgrading assets such as cars, locomotives, bridges and tunnels. Boosted support for Amtrak and other passenger services means greater economic opportunities for workers, including professional service personnel that use these rail networks to conduct business, as well as those that construct and manufacture related equipment and infrastructure.

The Southern Rail Commission agreed:

Thank you @AAR_FreightRail Infrastructure should include support for underfunded commuter & passenger railroads https://t.co/Wm9NHxLcOd pic.twitter.com/0xVOFRg0DZ

— Southern Rail Cmsn (@SouthernRailCms) March 6, 2017

Seven things to know about President Trump’s budget proposal

There is no good news for transportation in President Trump’s first budget request to Congress. We take a look beyond the headlines and unpack seven things you need to know about this first salvo in the annual budget-making process.

[member_content]T4A MEMBERS: You can read and download your full members-only analysis of the budget here.[/member_content]

The short version is that President Trump’s first budget request for Congress is a direct assault on smart infrastructure investment that will do damage to cities and towns of all sizes. After months of promises to invest a trillion dollars in infrastructure, the first official action taken by the Trump administration on the issue is a proposal to eliminate the popular TIGER competitive grant program, cut the funding that helps cities of all sizes build new transit lines, and terminate funding for the long-distance passenger rail lines that rural areas depend on.

Tell your representatives that this proposal is a non-starter and appropriators in Congress should start from scratch.

TAKE ACTION

That’s the short version. Here’s a longer one with seven things worth knowing more about:

1) It ends the program for building new transit lines or service, putting the screws to local communities that have raised their own dollars to build vital projects.

Indianapolis would be facing the loss of more than $70 million in anticipated federal grants for their Red Line bus rapid transit project under this budget. Graphic courtesy of Indy Connect

This budget eliminates future funding for building new public transportation lines and service, threatening the ability of local communities of all sizes to satisfy the booming demand for well-connected locations served by transit. While the handful of projects with full federal funding grant agreements (FFGAs) already in hand would (theoretically) be allowed to proceed, all other future transit projects would be out of luck. The budget proposes to phase out future funding for what’s called the transit capital investment grants program — more informally referred to as New Starts, Small Starts and Core Capacity grants. As we said in our statement, it’s a “slap in face to the millions of local residents who have raised their own taxes, with the full expectation that [their funds] would be combined with the limited pool of federal grants, to complete their priority transportation projects.”

For example, here’s a list of eight transit projects we quickly identified that have already raised or set aside a share of the local dollars required and were recommended by the Federal Transit Administration for funding in 2017 — though they were just short of the last step of receiving a federal grant agreement.

Sacramento, CA — Streetcar extension
Expecting $74.9 million Small Starts grant to match $65 million in various city and county funding.
Kansas City, MO — Bus rapid transit
Expecting $30 million Small Starts grant to match to match $12 million in city and $3 million in regional sales tax funds.
Tempe, AZ — Streetcar
Expecting $74.9 million Small Starts grant in FY17 which would match $76 million in local sales tax funds approved by Maricopa voters in 2004. (Local voters have been paying local sales tax for 13 years in expectation of federal funding to build this project.)
Ft. Lauderdale, FL — Streetcar extension
Expecting $61 million Small Starts grant in FY17. Would match $48 million in combined city and county financing, including local gas tax, special district property assessment, and county general funds.
Indianapolis, IN — Red Line bus rapid transit project
Expecting $74.9 million Small Starts grant to pair with the income tax increase that voters just approved in November 2016 at the ballot box
Minneapolis, MN — SW Light Rail Line
Expecting $887 million New Starts grant in FY17 to cover 50 percent of the project. The other 50 percent would be covered locally. Local and regional entities (Counties Transit Improvement Board and Met Council) already stepped up in September 2016 and increased their commitment after the state backed out of their funding commitment to the project.
Albuquerque, NM — Bus rapid transit
Expecting $69 million Small Starts grant to match $25 million in various local (city and county) funds
Lynwood, WA — Sound Transit light rail extension
Expecting $1.172 billion New Starts grant, matched by the same amount of voter-approved, local sales and motor vehicle taxes. Local funds were approved by the Sound Transit 2 referendum in Nov 2008; voters just expressed their continued commitment by approving additional transit funding in the successful Sound Transit 3 referendum in Nov 2016.

Aside from these eight, there are at least 40 other transit projects in other various stages of development — engineering, planning, etc. — that will be left completely on their own with no future federal dollars for transit construction. (Yonah Freemark has a good list of them in this post from The Transport Politic.)

Practically speaking, it’s unclear how the administration would even go about phasing out the program. It would require several years of keeping spending level just to honor the federal government’s current obligations. Right now, there’s about $6 billion committed to the projects that have federal grant agreements. With over $2 billion budgeted annually for this program over the last few years, it would take almost three years of continuing current funding for the program just to clear those projects and end the program.

2) It eliminates the TIGER program, and then recommends unsuitable alternatives to fund those sorts of local projects

The proposal completely eliminates the fiercely competitive TIGER program, which is one of the few ways that local communities of almost any size can directly receive federal dollars for their priority transportation projects and one of the most fiscally responsible transportation programs administered by USDOT.

View our interactive map of winners through all rounds of TIGER

The federal government has found a smart way to use a small amount of money to incentivize the best projects possible through TIGER, as well as encourage local investment —TIGER projects brought 3.5 other dollars to the table for each federal dollar awarded through the first five rounds. And the competition for funds is in stark contrast to the majority of all federal transportation dollars that are awarded via formulas to ensure that all states or metro areas get a share, regardless of how they’re going to spend those dollars. Unlike the old system of congressional earmarks, the projects vying for funding compete against each other on their merits to ensure that each dollar is spent in the most effective way possible.

In response to the elimination of the TIGER program, the administration blithely suggested in their proposal that local communities instead turn to other programs…that are explicitly designed not to meet same needs as TIGER. “DOT’s Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects grant program, authorized by the FAST Act of 2015, supports larger highway and multimodal freight projects with demonstrable national or regional benefits. This grant program is authorized at an annual average of $900 million through 2020.”

Well, sure, but only $100 million of that $900 million in any year can be used on projects that aren’t on the national freight highway network, so if your project is multimodal or otherwise not on a key national highway, you’re probably out of luck. And the FASTLANE competitive grant program is wholly limited to freight projects.

There’s a reason that TIGER remains so popular with local communities even though around 95 percent of applicants lose out on funding — it’s one of the only ways to fund the multimodal projects that are difficult to fund through conventional, narrowly-focused federal programs. The replacements suggested by the administration aren’t appropriate and don’t come close to funding the same sort of projects or meeting the needs as TIGER.

3) It terminates the funding for long-distance passenger rail that keeps rural communities connected.

While preserving funds for the northeast rail corridor, it ‘terminates’ funding for long-distance passenger rail service. One of the things we were nervous about in the FAST Act was the way it started to separate out the northeast passenger rail corridor from the rest of the system. Bifurcating the funding for our rail network starts to chip away at the idea of a national system and will hit rural communities especially hard.

It’s jarring to read in the administration proposal that the intent of reducing Amtrak funding is to “focus resources on the parts of the passenger rail system that provide meaningful transportation options within regions,” especially when you consider that “providing meaningful transportation options” is precisely what the Gulf Coast communities trying to restore passenger rail service wiped out by Hurricane Katrina are trying to do.

Combined with the proposal to end the Essential Air Service program, rural communities could be more disconnected than ever before.

During last year’s Gulf Coast Inspection Train, hundreds of Gulfport, MS residents came out to voice their support for bringing passenger rail service back to the coast to provide them with “meaningful transportation options.”

4) This budget indicates that the much-discussed infrastructure package — if it ever even materializes — would be hostile to the approach taken by the above programs.

Are you one of the people who are still optimistic that a big infrastructure package from the President would provide robust funding for the types of projects that were just slashed in the budget? Let Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, disabuse you of that notion. When asked about the transportation programs that were cut or eliminated, Mulvaney said, “we believe those programs to be less effective than the package we’re currently working on.”

I.e., they don’t think that the approach taken by TIGER, New Starts, etc. is an effective one, and they’re going to go in a different direction in any big infrastructure package, and these cuts reflect the transportation priorities of the administration.

5) It suggests a performance-based approach while delaying the rules on new performance measures

This is a smaller point, but the administration’s rhetoric on better-performing federal agencies doesn’t sync up with their actions thus far. From the proposal:

The Administration will take an evidence-based approach to improving programs and services—using real, hard data to identify poorly performing organizations and programs. We will hold program managers accountable for improving performance and delivering high-quality and timely services to the American people and businesses.

Meanwhile, new performance measures (like the new congestion rule) that could actually improve the effectiveness of federal transportation spending were put on hold as the new administration took office, to say nothing of the fact that competitive programs like TIGER are far more performance-driven than the simple formula grants that are handed out like blank checks to states regardless of how they’ve spent that money in the past.

6) It cuts scores of other programs that help support strong local economies.

As our parent org Smart Growth America said last week, the transportation-related cuts are just one aspect of a budget that is “a broadside against the things that make communities work.” It takes the axe to HUD’s Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), stormwater grant programs, USDA’s Rural Development Program, and scores of other programs that support redevelopment and strong local economies.

7) It’s important, but this is only the starting point for the budget process

Presidents make their request, but appropriators in Congress determine the budget and House appropriators will soon go to work on producing their own. From a Capitol Hill transportation reporter:

General Congressional GOP reaction to Trump’s budget: Thanks big guy but we’ll take it from here. Congress makes the budget.

— Tanya Snyder (@TSnyderDC) March 16, 2017

That said, appropriators in the House or Senate could propose some of the same cuts. After all, it was Congress in 2012 that tried to eliminate all federal mass transit funding, so it’s crucial to let them know what your priorities are.

Our nation’s infrastructure serves as the backbone for economic growth and prosperity, and we need a budget that prioritizes investment in the local communities that are the basic building block of the national economy.

Stand up and send that message loud and clear to Congress.

TAKE ACTION

Trump’s budget will hurt local communities

President Trump’s first budget request for Congress is a direct assault on smart infrastructure investment that will do damage to cities and towns of all sizes — from the biggest coastal cities down to small rural towns.

After months of promises to invest a trillion dollars in infrastructure, the first official action taken by the Trump administration on the issue is a proposal to eliminate the popular TIGER competitive grant program, cut the funding that helps cities of all sizes build new transit lines, and terminate funding for the long-distance passenger rail lines that rural areas depend on.

Tell your representatives that this proposal is a non-starter and appropriators in Congress should start from scratch.

The competitive TIGER grant program is one of the only ways that local communities of all sizes can directly access federal funds. And unlike the old outdated practice of earmarking, to win this funding, project sponsors have to bring significant local funding to the table and provide evidence of how their project will accomplish numerous goals. The TIGER grant program has brought more than three non-federal dollars to the table for each federal dollar awarded.

Eliminating the funding to support the construction of new public transportation lines and service is a slap in face of the millions of local residents who have raised their own taxes to pay their share. Like the voters in Tempe, AZ, who approved a sales tax 13 years ago that’s been set aside to pair with a future federal grant to build a streetcar. Or the voters last November in Indianapolis, IN, who approved an income tax increase to pay their share of a new bus rapid transit project, and in Atlanta, GA, who approved a sales tax increase in part to add transit to their one-of-a-kind Beltline project.

These local communities and scores of others who are generating their own funds to invest in transit will be left high and dry by this proposal, threatening their ability to satisfy the booming demand from residents and employers alike for well-connected locations served by transit.

Terminating funding for long-distance passenger rail service will hit rural communities especially hard, like the communities along the Gulf Coast who are even now demonstrating their commitment to restoring service wiped out by Hurricane Katrina by stepping up and pledging their own dollars to match or exceed any federal dollars to make it happen.

Our nation’s infrastructure serves as the backbone for economic growth and prosperity. The Administration’s proposed budget falls short of prioritizing investment in the local communities that are the basic building block of the national economy, and we need you to help stand up and send that message loud and clear to Congress.

Stories You May Have Missed – Week of March 17th

Stories You May Have Missed

President Trump’s proposed budget contains drastic cuts to transit, including the elimination of the TIGER program, long distance Amtrak train service and the essential air service program. (See T4A’s member summary of the budget and blog post about the budget)
“Trump has promised big spending on infrastructure. His budget cuts it”. (CNN)
The Trump White House continues to hold meetings on how to fund, and what projects should be included in President Trump’s $1 trillion dollar infrastructure proposal. (The Hill)
“Trump advisers see arbitration as way to speed infrastructure plans”. (Reuters)
Did Uber steal Google’s driverless car technology? That’s what Google is alleging. (Bloomberg)
The Tennessee State Senate Transportation Committee approved a modified version of Governor Haslem’s transportation proposal and Governor Haslem is okay with the changes. (Fox 17 Nashville)

Talking about transportation in the Trump administration with the “CodCast”

Beth Osborne, senior policy advisor for T4America, sat for an interview last week on one of the best-named podcasts around — The CodCast — to talk about the uncertainty of just what transportation means in the Trump administration.

As you may have seen on Twitter last week, a contingent of T4America staffers were in Boston last week to discuss transportation needs with state officials and policy advocates. While there, Beth sat down with Transit Matters board members Josh Fairchild and James Aloisi on Commonwealth Magazine’s Codcast (yes, the CodCast!) to talk about Trump’s ongoing promises for a $1 trillion infrastructure program, how his now-released budget reflects his true priorities and what advocates need to know going forward in an era with great uncertainty about federal transportation funding.

Listen to the full show below.

President Trump’s budget request severely undercuts stated commitment to investing in infrastructure

Earlier today, President Trump released his budget proposal for FY 2018 that cuts the U.S. Department of Transportation’s discretionary budget by 13 percent, ends the popular TIGER competitive grant program, eliminates the New & Small Starts transit construction program, and terminates funding for long-distance passenger rail funding, among other notable cuts.

In response, T4America Interim Director Beth Osborne offered this statement:

“This budget proposal severely undercuts the President’s stated commitment to infrastructure, and would leave behind many of the rural communities that supported him in November. After months of promises to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure, the first concrete action taken by the Trump administration on this issue is to propose drastic cuts to transportation programs that bring notable economic benefits to communities across the country, from small towns to large cities.

“Combined with the proposed elimination of the Community Development Block Grant program, this will put even more pressure on already overstretched local governments. This is a slap in face to the millions of local residents who have raised their own taxes — with the full expectation they would be combined with the limited pool of federal grants — to complete their priority transportation projects.

“The proposal completely eliminates the popular TIGER competitive grant program that has funded more than 400 transformational projects spanning all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The program leverages billions to accelerate key projects that drive local, regional and state economic development. Through the first five rounds of funding, TIGER projects brought 3.5 other dollars to the table for each federal dollar awarded. Despite the budget proposal’s recommendation for these communities to apply for funding from other freight programs, these programs are either not multimodal at all or have caps on the funding for non-highway projects.

“This budget also entirely eliminates funding for building new public transportation lines and service. While it will theoretically allow the small number of new transit construction projects with federal funding agreements already in hand to proceed, ending this program threatens the ability of local communities of all sizes to satisfy the booming demand for well-connected locations served by transit. Tempe, AZ, has set aside money from a voter-approved sales tax for 13 years to pair with a future federal grant to build a streetcar. In November, voters in Indianapolis, IN, approved an income tax increase in November to pay their share of a new bus rapid transit project and voters in Atlanta, GA, approved a sales tax increase to add transit to their one-of-a-kind Beltline project. These local communities and scores of others generating their own funds to invest in transit will be left high and dry by this proposal.”

“While preserving funds for the northeast rail corridor, it ‘terminates’ funding for long-distance passenger rail service. This will hit rural communities especially hard, like the Gulf Coast communities that have been working to restore passenger rail service between New Orleans and Orlando wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. These smaller communities are demonstrating their commitment to realizing the economic development that restored service will bring by stepping up and pledging their own dollars to match or exceed any federal dollars. Combined with the proposal to end the Essential Air Service program, rural communities could be more disconnected than ever before.

“Our nation’s infrastructure serves as the backbone for economic growth and prosperity. The Administration’s proposed budget falls short of prioritizing investment in the local communities that are the basic building block of the national economy. We urge leaders to uphold their promise to the American people and reinvest in our nation’s communities.

How are artists being trained to collaborate with civic leaders on transportation & planning projects?

In cities across the country, artists are helping to solve civic problems. But what sort of training is helping them and other cultural workers facilitate smoother collaborations and better projects? Our third webinar on creative placemaking will continue exploring how cities and artists are working together in transportation planning and community development.

Whether it’s bringing people to an empty plaza through performance, improving navigation options through better design, or connecting neighborhoods through interactive installations, artists bring a unique perspective to many municipal challenges.

But artists and civic professionals do not always speak the same language, however. These two groups often answer to different stakeholders and work along different timelines. With the proliferation of new programs integrating arts and culture into community development—like municipally sponsored artist-in-residence programs—artists and cultural producers need to be trained to work with government agencies and community members, and to inhabit interdisciplinary roles that extend beyond the traditional duties of an artist.

Recognizing this need, several organizations have launched programs to train artists and cultural workers to facilitate smoother collaborations and better projects. Projects like the Regional Arts Commission Community Arts Training Institute in St. Louis, Intermedia Arts’ Creative Community Leadership Institute in Minneapolis, Nashville Metro Arts Commission’s Learning Lab, Creative Capital’s Community Engagement Workshop, and the Center for Performance and Civic Projects are all designed to help better integrate arts into civic and transportation projects.

Learn more about these training programs during Training programs for artist and civic/transportation collaboration, a webinar on Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 2:30 PM EDT. This is the third webinar in our series exploring the role of arts and culture in transportation planning and community development.

Register for the event to hear from experts who have trained, taught or worked alongside alumni of these innovative and exciting programs. We’ll also be taking your questions about how you can use these programs in your own community. We hope you’ll join us for this conversation next week.

President Trump’s federal infrastructure priorities likely to be revealed this week

There’s no need to wait months for President Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure package to discover the transportation priorities of this president — they’ll be clearly telegraphed with the release of his first annual budget later this week.

For months there’s been endless discussion of the President’s $1 trillion pledge to “build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.” And while industry groups scramble to divvy up funding or financing from a package that may or may not materialize, President Trump’s first real infrastructure effort should be considered his annual budget request with top-line numbers for transportation spending, which will tell us much about his priorities.

When the first look at that budget comes later this week, we’ll likely face the dissonance of a President rallying support for a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure at the same time he’s proposing billions in cuts to transportation investment to accompany his plan to increase defense spending by $54 billion.

While trade groups, members of Congress and local advocates are discussing what projects they want to include in this dream of a huge infrastructure package that may or may not come up later this year, they could see devastating cuts proposed for crucial transportation programs that fund smart transportation projects all across the country in less than 48 hours.

Melanie Zanona wrote about this inconsistency in The Hill today, noting that “the optics of slashing federal transportation funds in his budget proposal while pushing for a separate financing package underscores Trump’s challenge of balancing his promises of massive infrastructure investment and dramatic cuts in government spending.”

While many people — even staffers or elected reps on Capitol Hill — tend to think transportation spending decisions are determined by the long-term transportation bill that gets passed every few years, the money for new transit and rail projects still has to be appropriated by Congress each year through the budget process.

This is an important point.

To get a big infrastructure package passed by Congress, the president will need the full coalition of transportation stakeholders, from those seeking funds for roads, to transit, rail and ports. But if there are cuts in the budget made to discretionary spending (i.e., programs not paid out of the highway trust fund), those cuts would fall disproportionately on funding for new transit construction (New and Small Starts) and multimodal and local priority projects (TIGER) — amongst other programs. Targeting parts of the infrastructure coalition with this budget now is a good way to make sure you have no coalition when you need it later.

President Trump had a meeting at the White House last week with some key transportation, real estate and infrastructure advisors about his priorities. Real estate developer Richard LeFrak talked to CNBC about what he heard in the meeting:

“One thing [Trump] said while we were in the meeting, he said ‘don’t bring me any projects that you want federal funding for that you can’t start and had completed the state approval processes,'” LeFrak said.

That’s because “‘most of these projects come from the state, in 90 to 100 days. If they’re not ready in 120 days, tell them to go back, get finished, and bring it back,’ [Trump said]. In other words, he’s not going to … devote the resources to things that he can’t implement immediately,” he added.

Of course, we’ve seen plenty of evidence that “shovel-ready” isn’t always the best qualifier to identify the best projects. Following 2009’s stimulus effort, we learned that many shovel-ready projects weren’t under construction for a reason, and many were just mothballed projects that had been sitting on a shelf for the last 20 years because they simply never merited moving forward.

Ed Mortimer from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce echoed that point while testifying alongside our Beth Osborne before a Senate Committee last week. Any new infrastructure package, he said, “should not be a replication of the Recovery Act [which focused entirely on shovel-ready projects.] Projects need to be selected to deliver long-term economic growth, not the speed at which they can be constructed.”

But not all shovel-ready projects are created equal, either.

Scores of local communities with well-conceived ready-to-go multimodal projects are eager to apply to the incredibly competitive TIGER grant program, and on average, winning TIGER projects brought at least three state or local dollars to the table for each federal dollar sought. There are transit projects all across the country that have already raised local or state funding and are literally just waiting on a check for capital dollars from the federal government to proceed, including “projects like Indianapolis’ Red Line bus rapid transit project which has already been promised more than $70 million in federal dollars to pair with nearly $20 million in local funds from an income tax increase that Indianapolis voters approved back in November at the ballot box,” as we noted last week.

USDOT has already promised over $6 billion to these shovel-ready transit construction projects that have local funding in hand and are ready to go. If this week’s budget does indeed cut (or even eliminate funding outright) for the New & Small Starts transit program which exists explicitly to help metro areas of all sizes build new transit systems, the projects in that pipeline could be immediately threatened, as will their promises of supporting economic development & improved mobility.

When any president starts talking about a big new investment in transportation, it’s natural for people to get excited — Congress has been begging, borrowing and dealing to keep federal transportation program solvent for the last decade.

But whether or not President Trump finds a way to successfully advance and pay for a massive investment in infrastructure, come hell or high water, there will be a budget for these crucial transportation programs this year. And it will tell us all we need to know about his priorities.

We’ll be breaking down the budget when it’s released and arm you with the information you’ll need to take action and weigh in with your members of Congress. Do you want to get this sort of information directly to your inbox? Sign up for email today.

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