T4 America co-chair John Robert Smith tells key House subcommittee to repair infrastructure and invest in transit options
T4 America co-chair John Robert Smith encouraged members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to enact “bold new policy” to repair our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, increase transit options and demand accountability for results, in testimony delivered on Capitol Hill today. Smith, the former 16-year Republican mayor of Meridian, Mississippi and President and CEO of […]
New report highlights mounting challenge of aging bridges
One in nine of the bridges and overpasses American drivers cross each day is rated in poor enough condition that they could become dangerous or be closed without near-term repair, according to a report released today by Transportation for America. Nearly 70,000 bridges nationwide are rated “structurally deficient” and are in need of substantial repair or replacement, according to federal data. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates that the backlog of potentially dangerous bridges would cost $70.9 billion to eliminate, while the federal outlay for bridges amounts to slightly more than $5 billion per year.
National report and interactive map shows the state of our nation’s bridges
69,223 bridges, more than 11 percent of all U.S. highway bridges, are rated “structurally deficient,” requiring significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement, according to a T4 America report released today, The Fix We’re In: The State of Our Nation’s Bridges. 69,000 bridges sounds like a lot, but what does that really mean? Where are these bridges? A new interactive map from T4 America makes it much easier to answer those questions.
Kerry-Hutchison-Warner infrastructure bank would leverage private investment for revenue-generating projects
Last week, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators introduced a bill to create a variation of the national infrastructure bank touted by President Obama. The BUILD Act is sponsored by Senator John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee from Massachusetts, as well as Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison and Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, a former governor with a history of prioritizing transportation infrastructure.
New report assessing the condition of our nation’s bridges coming Wednesday
A new report being released Wednesday by T4 America chronicles the state of our nation’s bridges, with accompanying data and reports for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Our country is facing a backlog of deficient bridges that need repairs and maintenance to stay open and safe, with needs far greater than what we’re currently spending. So what’s the state of our nation’s bridges? Check back Wednesday for the answer.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden wants to relaunch popular Build America Bonds program
The Build America Bonds program, a popular infrastructure investment initiative in the 2009 Recovery Act, did not make it into the bipartisan tax deal struck by President Obama and Congressional Republicans late last year. But Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, is now attempting a rebrand and relaunch.
West Virginia’s Nick Rahall says we have a “great deficit in infrastructure,” warns against deep budget cuts
Saying we have a “great deficit in infrastructure in this country,” the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee warned this week that ill-considered cuts to domestic spending would hinder the economy recovery and put important projects at risk. Nick Rahall, who represents West Virginia’s Third Congressional District in the state’s southern corner, […]
Mad Men actors go to bat for high-speed rail in new video
Two lead actors from Mad Men, the 1960s era advertising agency show, appear in a Funnyordie.com video endorsing high-speed rail posted earlier today. Attacks on high-speed rail in both Congress and state capitals prompted U.S. PIRG to tap actors Vincent Kartheiser and Rich Sommer for the segment, which was can be viewed below the fold.
New York’s Nassau County could cut bus service in half
Shrinking revenues resulting from the economic downturn has precipitated a crisis in transit funding all over the map. We’ve highlighted some of the painful service reductions at the local level, but also kept an eye on bright spots like St. Louis’ approval of a half-cent sales tax to restore and expand bus and light-rail. This […]
Compromise on two-week spending bill temporarily spares crucial transportation programs from deep cuts
The federal government will keep the lights on next week after the U.S. Senate easily approved a two-week stopgap measure containing $4 billion in spending cuts. The vote was 91-9. Only two budget items – $650 million from a one-time Federal Highway Administration program – and a handful of legislative earmarks are transportation related.
“Transportation 101” provides a primer on the federal transportation program
Understanding how current federal transportation policy works — much less how to go about changing the current system — requires a sometimes painful amount of context. So we put together this comprehensive report to provide some clarity and document where we’ve been, how the program works (or doesn’t work) the process of reauthorization and the new (and old) challenges facing us tomorrow and beyond as Congress debates a new transportation bill.
Transit advocates in Oregon and Montana take to the op-ed pages
A pair of op-ed pieces published in the past week illustrate a clamoring for action on a transportation bill that invests in the future and expands travel options for all Americans – and a resistance to the deep cuts some are championing in Washington. The head of a development firm specializing in green building and […]
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin to highlight threatened TIGER grants program in Moline this Monday
As the House continues debating a 2011 budget that threatens many of our nation’s core transportation needs, some leaders are stepping up to defend these programs as critical to the lives and livelihoods of regular Americans. This Monday, Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, will headline an event in the city of Moline, highlighting how the targeted transportation investments in TIGER have created jobs and revitalized communities.
House approves 2011 budget containing deep cuts to transportation
UPDATE, 2/19/11, 9am: The House voted 235-189 in favor of an FY2011 budget containing $60 billion in spending cuts, including $430 million in cuts to the New Starts program that funds new transit construction, $152 million in cuts to Amtrak and a zeroing out of both high-speed rail and the innovative TIGER program. No Democrats supported the continuing resolution and three Republicans opposed it.
House transportation leaders kick-off nationwide tour in West Virginia
West Virginia’s Beckley (right) and Charleston were the first two stops on a multi-state tour that House transportation leaders hope will result in a bipartisan bill to fund the nation’s infrastructure. The current law, known as SAFETEA-LU, expired in September 2009 and has continued under a series of short-term extensions, the latest expiring in March. […]
Americans want Congress to ‘fix it first’, invest in and improve our transportation system
In the midst of the fervor about the House’s budget resolution for 2011 released Friday, and the President’s budget proposal for 2012 dominating the news this week, a new bipartisan poll from the Rockefeller Foundation contains compelling arguments from a majority of Americans in favor of more investment in transportation.
President Obama proposes $556 billion, six-year federal transportation program
President Obama released a budget for fiscal year 2012 this morning that includes a significant boost to our nation’s infrastructure and a long-overdue emphasis on options and accountability. The $556 billion, six-year proposal is an ambitious standout in a largely sober blueprint.
House budget for the rest of 2011 has deep cuts for transportation
On the Friday before the President releases his budget for 2012 (forthcoming sometime this morning), the House Appropriations Committee, led by Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) released their funding proposal to carry the government through the rest of 2011. Quick refresher: The government is currently operating under what’s known as a Continuing Resolution (CR) that expires […]
More infrastructure investment will create jobs, boost economy, according to Treasury Sec. Geithner
U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hammered on the job-creation and economy-boosting effects of the Obama administration’s plan for infrastructure investment in a blog post on the department’s website. Writing the same day Vice President Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood were in Philadelphia promoting a $53 billion, 6-year passenger rail package, Geithner argued that investing in our nation’s roads, bridges, rail and transit systems creates “both immediate and long-term economic benefits.”
Vice President Biden makes the case for rail, cites T4 America co-chair’s hometown as an example
Vice President Joe Biden made an emphatic case for high-speed rail in Philadelphia today as the Obama administration kicks off series of events to highlight the need for infrastructure investment. The Vice President singled out Meridian, Mississippi mayor and T4 America campaign co-chair John Robert Smith, who served his hometown for four terms.
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