City leaders from Indy, Raleigh and Nashville get inspired by the secrets to Denver’s transit success
Delegations of city leaders from Nashville, Raleigh and Indianapolis wrapped up the latest two-day Transportation Innovation Academy workshop in Denver last week, where they learned firsthand about the years of hard work that went into Denver’s economic development plan to vastly expand the city’s transportation options, including new buses, light rail and commuter rail.
How can MPOs and citizens better engage with each other?
Building on the range of new ideas for metropolitan planning organizations outlined in our Innovative MPO Guidebook, join us on September 30, 2015, at 3 p.m. EDT for the fourth webinar in our series as we address a common complaint from both metropolitan planning organization (MPO) staff and citizen activists: how to best engage one another to shape the regional planning process.
Pilot program to support smart planning around new transit lines will benefit 21 different cities
How can communities make the best use of land around transit lines and stops, efficiently locate jobs and housing near new transit stations, and boost ridership (increasing the amount of money gained back at the farebox along the way)? 21 communities today received a total of $19.5 million in federal grants from a new pilot program intended to do exactly that.
Finding inspiration in another city’s successful expansion of public transportation
This week, 21 local leaders from three different regions with ambitious plans to invest in public transportation will be traveling to Denver to hear about how that region built an economic development strategy around investing in new public transportation.
Surgeon General: building walkable communities is essential to our health
Yesterday the Surgeon General issued a powerful call-to-action that focuses on improving public health by encouraging walking and the creation of more walkable places.
Looking into the crystal ball on shared-use mobility at a three-day conference
The Shared-Use Mobility Center and the North American Bike Share Association are hosting a three-day conference September 28th-30th in Chicago focusing on the crossroads of technology and the emerging use of shared mobility services like bikeshare systems, car share networks and ride-hailing apps, and we’ve got a special promotional rate for T4America supporters interested in […]
What if we labeled unwalkable neighborhoods like we do cigarettes?
The Surgeon General of the United States will unveil a bold new initiative today, aiming to help Americans lead healthier lives—by making walking and physical activity built-in features of more of our neighborhoods.
“How Do We Become the Department of Yes?”
A new T4America member is hoping to successfully leverage the exploding landscape of new mobility options to meet more of their goals for encouraging smart development, reduce the amount of required single-occupant car trips and create a better city for tomorrow along the way.
U.S. Surgeon General issuing a rare call-to-action to make walking safer & more convenient
The Surgeon General will issue a new call-to-action next Wednesday that focuses on encouraging cities and towns to design and build their roads and public places to make walking easier, safer and more pleasant.
Indy’s “more is better” approach to transportation leads to new all-electric carsharing service
BlueIndy, a new all-electric carsharing service in Indianapolis launching today, is evidence of Mayor Greg Ballard’s open-minded approach to transportation innovations to improve options in the city for residents.
Join T4A’s Beth Osborne in Portland and Seattle next week for talks on transportation and economic development
Beth Osborne, Transportation for America’s senior policy advisor, is making three stops in the Pacific Northwest soon to discuss how investing in transportation can help drive economic development. The three sessions will focus on how we can plan and develop our roads, transit systems and freight networks to bring the best possible economic returns. You will learn how […]
Urban bike trails in cities like Indianapolis, Dallas and Atlanta are proving to have rich economic benefits to city neighborhoods
Affirming a trend seen in other cities, Indianapolis’s eight-mile Cultural Trail has been a boon to the neighborhoods adjacent to it — as well as the city as a whole — increasing property values of homes and businesses and giving residents and tourists an efficient, unbroken path to walk, bike and move around the city.
New traffic congestion report raises more questions than it answers
Most people sitting behind the wheel each day won’t be surprised by the findings of the latest edition of the Texas Transportation Institute’s report on urban congestion that shows, once again, that (surprise!) the roads in most major American cities are very congested during rush hour each day. The report’s methodology is flawed, but what really matters most is what policymakers and citizens decide to do about congestion in their communities.
Phoenix voters approve a plan to raise money for transportation; vastly expand the city’s light rail and bus networks
On Tuesday night, voters in Phoenix, AZ, approved a slight increase in the sales tax to help fund a 35-year, $31.5 billion package to greatly improve and expand Phoenix’s light rail and bus systems, as well as other transportation improvements. The vote is further evidence that voters are willing to tax themselves for transportation — especially when they know what they’re getting.
Utah makes a bipartisan move to increase state and local transportation funding to help meet the demands of high population growth
Earlier this spring Utah became the third state in 2015 to pass a comprehensive transportation funding bill, raising the state’s gas tax and tying it to inflation. Unlike most other states acting this year, Utah raised revenues to invest in a variety of modes and also provided individual counties with the ability to go to the ballot to seek a voter-approved sales tax to fund additional local transportation priorities.
The Senate’s multi-year transportation bill misses the mark on multimodal freight
Below is an in-depth explanation of one of the 10 things you need to know about the Senate’s DRIVE Act. The Senate’s multi-year transportation bill recognizes that efficient freight movement is important, but the bill prioritizes freight moving on highways over that moving by rail, air, ports and pipelines. The DRIVE Act (HR 22) is unique from […]
A proposal in the U.S. House could send more transportation funding to local communities
Last week, the Senate passed their multi-year transportation bill, the DRIVE Act, which authorizes funding for six years but with only enough funding for the first three years. The House left for August recess before taking up the Senate’s long-term bill, so Congress passed a three-month extension of MAP-21 that extends the program until the […]
10 things you need to know about the Senate’s DRIVE Act
Though the Senate finally moved beyond repeated short-term extensions to the nation’s transportation program with a multi-year bill, their DRIVE Act is also major missed opportunity to give cities, towns and local communities of all sizes more control over and access to federal transportation dollars. Here are nine other things that you need to know about the Senate’s bill.
Senate’s DRIVE Act Bypasses America’s Cities and Towns
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON, DC — Following the Senate’s successful vote to approve the DRIVE Act, a six-year transportation reauthorization bill with three years of funding, the Honorable John Robert Smith, former mayor of Meridian, MS, and the Chairman of Transportation for America, issued the following statement: “While the Senate is to be commended for […]
Amendment to provide stable funding for TIGER program has a long list of Senate co-sponsors
In the week before tomorrow’s final vote on the Senate’s three-year transportation bill, Senator Patty Murray’s (D-WA) amendment to enshrine the TIGER program’s funding into law picked up at least 27 co-sponsors. The TIGER program represents one of the few ways local communities can directly access federal funds for their local priority projects.
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