T4America Blog

News, press releases and other updates

Its National Walking Day, but too many people will have to walk unsafe streets

You may not have known it — its not the most publicized special day on the books — but today is National Walking Day. Some of you may have traded part or all of your drive or transit trip today for a walk to work. But for many, every day is walking day, and it happens on streets with dangerous or inconvenient conditions that no one should have to endure just to walk to school, their job, or the grocery store.

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Full T4 America summary of Senate bill

27 Mar 2012 | Posted by | 0 Comments | ,

While the House considers whether or not to approve some sort of short-term extension or the House version of the Senate MAP-21 transportation bill, we’ve finalized this detailed summary of what’s contained in the Senate bill. It details most everything we know about the provisions in MAP-21, what the funding levels would be, and what […]

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Graphic: A closer look at the Senate MAP-21 vote by state

As this map and graphic below amply demonstrates, the Senate’s transportation bill not only was developed with bipartisan input and adopted with votes from both parties, but it garnered support from every region of the country and from the reddest of “red” states, the bluest of blue, as well many others that trend purple. This is a noteworthy accomplishment in this Congress, and one that House leaders should take note of before dismissing HR 14 out of hand.

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Senate MAP-21 transportation bill amendment tracker

13 Mar 2012 | Posted by | 5 Comments | , , ,

UPDATED 3/14/12 2:00 p.m. The Senate has approved MAP-21 by a strong bipartisan vote of 74-22. All of the amendments below have been voted on, incorporated into the bill through a manager’s amendment, or withdrawn by their sponsors. Read our full statement on the Senate bill. Last week the Senate struck a deal to begin debating […]

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Senate reaches agreement on amendments, will begin debating transportation bill today

8 Mar 2012 | Posted by | 5 Comments | , , ,

Just one day after a procedural vote failed, the Senate reached an agreement that will allow them to begin debating the MAP-21 transportation bill and start voting on amendments today (Thursday). A total of 30 amendments were agreed upon for debate and will be considered by the Senate. Learn more about the amendments and follow along with our handy amendment tracker.

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Updated: Senate improves their bill with three key amendments, but crucial vote looms

5 Mar 2012 | Posted by | 4 Comments | , , ,

Senator Boxer Discusses Transportation with L.A. OfficialsThanks in part to the drumbeat of tweets and messages and letters and phone calls from many of you, the Senate made some important changes last week to strengthen their two-year transportation bill. But with a March 31 deadline still looming for shutdown of all transportation programs without a new bill and a crucial vote scheduled for tomorrow (3/6) at noon, your Senators need to hear now that they must move this bill without delay.

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Senate responds to massive support, adopts several important amendments into overall bill

After getting thousands of phone calls, letters and messages from constituents, mayors, city councilmembers, health and business groups and others spanning the spectrum, the Senate moved three key amendments into the overall Senate bill yesterday, including one that will give local communities more control over their transportation dollars. While there are other amendments that our coalition will continue to work on in the Senate, this is a huge victory and a terrific step forward for strengthening the MAP-21 bill.

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Senate debate beginning; amendment tracker

15 Feb 2012 | Posted by | 6 Comments | , ,

The Senate is scheduled to begin debating their transportation bill (MAP-21) today. We’re going to be keeping a close eye on a handful of amendments that could improve or make damaging changes to the bill as they’re offered, debated and voted on. Save or bookmark this page to keep tabs on these amendments that we’re […]

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Crucial amendment could improve Senate bill, restore local control and help make streets safer

The Senate’s transportation bill, MAP-21, goes farther than any recent transportation measure to devolve responsibility and funds down to the state level. An amendment to be debated this week would push that devolution even further – down to the local level — for a small pot of money that could make a big difference.

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Massive letter opposing House leadership attack on transit sent to Capitol Hill

As we mentioned yesterday, House Leadership and the Ways and Means Committee this week proposed an unprecedented attack on public transportation funding.

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House leadership making unprecedented assault on public transit

A key House Committee is threatening to kill three decades of successful investments in mass transit — originally started under President Ronald Reagan — by ending the guarantee for dedicated funding for public transportation, leaving millions of riders already faced with service cuts and fare increases out in the cold.

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Sec. Ray LaHood answers a few of your questions

31 Jan 2012 | Posted by | 2 Comments | ,

We asked you to submit questions for Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, and here is the resulting segment of “On the Go”, his regular web video series where he answers a handful of transportation questions. This time, he asked us at T4 America to gather supporters from our thousands of supporters across the country. In […]

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Smart questions submitted for Secretary LaHood to answer

18 Jan 2012 | Posted by | 1 Comment | ,

Last week we asked you for questions for U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and you came through with some great questions and topics that he’ll hopefully consider for his next edition of “On The Go,” his recurring video segment where he answers questions and discusses transportation topics at a little more length than he can […]

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Do you have a burning question for Secretary Ray Lahood?

10 Jan 2012 | Posted by | 20 Comments | , ,

I hope so, because the U.S. Secretary of Transportation wants to answer yours! Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has asked Transportation for America’s many partners and supporters to submit questions for him that he’ll answer in his next edition of “On the Go,” a monthly video segment with the Secretary where he answers a few […]

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Supercommittee failure to reach agreement could lead to deeper transportation cuts

The so-called deficit supercommittee, a bipartisan group of 12 lawmakers tasked with agreeing to $1.2 trillion in spending cuts, was supposed to unveil its recommendations this week for an up-or-down vote in Congress. But the group, established in a down-to-the-wire debt ceiling deal between President Obama and Congressional Republicans this past summer, looks like it […]

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Visionary group in Montana tells us their rural transit success story

This group we visited with last week in Montana, Opportunity Link, received a welcome shot in the arm, announced just this morning: they received a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the 2011 Sustainable Communities regional planning grant program. 468 applications requesting more than $500 million in funding […]

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Transit and TIGER funding preserved in compromise spending bill

Leading negotiators in the House and Senate released a compromise spending bill to fund the U.S. Department of Transportation, alongside several other departments, through the end of the current fiscal year in September 2012. The measure is known as a “minibus” because it collapses several appropriations bills into one package, The conference agreement between the […]

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EPW Committee approves transportation bill by voice vote, moves it out of committee

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved its two-year highway reauthorization bill this morning and moved it out of committee by a bipartisan, unanimous 18-0 vote. (Read our statement here.) The committee markup was short, as compared to a typical markup of such a large bill, but that was a testament to the work […]

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Transportation for America Response to Senate EPW Reauthorization Bill

After the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee moved their draft transportation bill (MAP-21) out of committee with a successful bipartisan vote this morning, T4 America Director James Corless offered this statement: “The bipartisan passage of the MAP-21 bill in the Senate EPW Committee this morning provides a significant opportunity to move forward on a […]

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