illinois Archives - Transportation For America

Want better engagement from your state DOT? Show them this.

A new report commissioned by the Illinois DOT offers lessons for other states on improving public engagement.

“Historically, state agencies have relied on a few big meetings to get feedback on projects,” says Dr. Robert Ginsburg, Research Assistant Professor at the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC UTC), a T4America member, offering one example of the status-quo (read: insufficient) methods used to engage the public. Few state departments of transportation use robust and sophisticated public involvement strategies.

Acknowledging the need for better strategies to reach affected communities, especially hard to reach or disadvantaged communities, IDOT commissioned a report about best practices and state-of-the-art research for improving their process from UTC and the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE) at UIC’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

In late July of this year, UTC released the report commissioned by IDOT. Recommendations to Enhance Quality Engagement contains eight suggestions and a handful of case studies illustrating how IDOT can improve relationships with stakeholders.

The report identified many challenges, such as reliance on consultants and uneven levels of staff expertise and high staff turnover that may leave the department at risk of engagement with the public just becoming a box-checking exercise. Or worse, appearing to “decide, announce, and defend,” a pejorative term for how highway planners of the 1950’s and 1960’s treated those who didn’t have the political or economic power to resist their projects. (As the report notes, that approach led to regulations to better incorporate public input into the planning process).

To IDOT’s credit, meaningful engagement is no easy task in a diverse state. “You have north and south, urban and rural, and generally lots of interests at play, plus the sheer size of the system,” says Jordan Jones, the report’s principal author and a Research Associate at the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE) at UIC’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

“There are no real shortcuts to achieving quality public engagement,” the report’s introduction outlines. “It takes time, resources, and commitment from management and frontline staff,” says Jones.

That’s a tall order for a state facing budget shortfalls. But lack of funding is the very reason to improve a process that the state admits it has not done effectively enough, says Ginsburg. “In an era of tight money, infrastructure investment and economic growth is welcome. They recognize that transportation spending is one of the largest economic development tools for most states, so how they relate to communities on that development is important.”

Jones also stressed the agency’s strengths, including a frank and accommodating staff. “I was heartened by their belief in public engagement as an important part of the process,” he says.

Residents map their commutes as part of the Washington DC DOT’s public engagement process. Photo by thisisbossi via Flickr.

Improvements are not unprecedented. The Minnesota DOT, for example, is expanding its suite of techniques, using nontraditional locations, developing new partnerships with community-based groups and businesses, and tapping new technology, among other strategies.

States can also learn from Minnesota’s lead in making data-driven adjustments to engagement activities. “What gets measured gets improved upon,” says Matt Sweeney, IPCE research specialist and another author on the report. “State DOTs should systematically collect data throughout the public engagement processes they are required to conduct,” he says.

That could include keeping a database of contacts, incorporating data collection into participatory activities, or just making note of what did and didn’t go well, he says. “Over time, this data can help determine what is and isn’t working, and allow for the development of quality resources for others to use. That institutional memory will make the engagement process easier and more effective for everyone” Sweeney says. “And, the data should be open in order to enhance transparency and enable greater public input and innovation.”

Another lesson derived from looking at best practices around the country: reduce reliance on those big meetings. Smaller and more frequent ones are more effective. “One thing that we learned from the report was that rather than conduct one meeting with one hundred people, five meetings with twenty people is cheaper and easier to organize and will get you better information, better connections, better input, and better support” says Ginsburg.

The report also recommends tapping technological tools, though it is no panacea.

“The biggest surprise for me is that you have all these burgeoning institutions and cutting-edge technologies, but at the end of the day, it’s all about having an open and ongoing conversation,” Jones says. “If practitioners can keep that in mind, they’re halfway there.”

At heart, says Jones, the point is building better, more durable relationships with the public. “You simply cannot do that over night,” he says. “It’s not a behavioral shift, it’s about a cultural shift.” Noting that the recommendations in the report are intended to be implemented over the long haul, he adds, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

View the report here.

T4A Advisory Board Member testifies before Congress on the power of passenger rail as an economic catalyst

The success of Uptown Normal’s (IL) multimodal station as a catalyst for redevelopment was center stage as Normal Mayor Chris Koos testified before the House Oversight Committee last week.

The Town of Normal is located on the 284-mile Chicago-to-St. Louis passenger rail corridor, which received federal support to increase service, reliability and speed (up to 110 miles per hour). Additional federal support was paired with state and local resources to build a brand new multimodal station to replace an old, dilapidated Amtrak station in downtown (they call it “Uptown”) Normal, Illinois.

That new multimodal station has been the anchor of a new economic boom in Uptown Normal. (Read T4America’s more detailed profile of Normal’s can-do aspirations and the multimodal station here.)

While years of tireless work by local officials to make the station a reality were fundamental for success, it wouldn’t have happened without support from federal transportation programs.

That support primarily came through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER grant program. The House Committee on Oversight’s Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, in its role as overseer of the federal government, held a hearing on July 14th titled Lagging Behind: the State of High Speed Rail in the United States to cover the success and failures of the federal high-speed passenger rail program.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos is seated at the far right of the dais. Photo courtesy of Brad Tucker, CHG & Associates.

Mayor Koos joined the witness bench alongside Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg, and others. While there were a range of opinions about the overall success of the federal government’s high-speed rail program, everyone in the room made it clear that our nation’s passenger rail system is an important asset for this country and we should do more to improve and expand the network where appropriate.

The “only Normal mayor in America” was greeted with friendly introductions led by his hometown Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) and the ranking member of the subcommittee, Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). Rep. Davis has firsthand knowledge of the success of Uptown Normal station and its surrounding development, as his congressional district office is located in the Uptown Normal government building.

T4America advisory board member Mayor Chris Koos with Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) at last week’s hearing.

Transportation-oriented development has been integral for Normal as the city “has experienced growth, but a lot of that growth has been centered around the infrastructure,” cited Rep. Davis.

None of this would have been possible without a $22 million TIGER grant received in 2010. The previous station was inadequate and ill-equipped for the ridership demand, leading to the station’s unfortunate moniker of “Amshack” that was bestowed upon it by many residents over the years.

This all changed with the completion of Normal Illinois’ Uptown multimodal station in 2012. All told, the $49.5 million project received $22 million from TIGER, $10.6 million in additional federal funding and more than $13 million in state and local contributions.

The public funding has spurred significant private investment in the Uptown Station area.

“Thus far, public investment of approximately $85 million in federal, state, and local monies in the transportation arena has generated over $150 million in private investment in the Uptown district,” Mayor Koos told the subcommittee last week. An additional $45 million in private investment is planned.

“Uptown Normal is now a vibrant neighborhood with residential, commercial, and entertainment opportunities. Local transit ridership is up 34 percent and transit oriented development continues to abound,” Mayor Koos said.

Normal’s success doesn’t have to be so rare.

Predictable funding for TIGER and passenger rail programs provide great economic benefit for cities large and small. The FAST Act took great strides by including the passenger rail title in the transportation authorization for the first time. Yet, because these programs are entirely discretionary, their funding is in question every year during the annual appropriations fight.

Mayor Koos provided the House Oversight Committee a glimpse into what is possible with a strong federal, state, local and private partnership, and we hope the members of the committee will work across the aisle to provide more communities the opportunity to follow in the transportation footsteps of Normal.

T4A Advisory Board Member testifies before Congress on the power of passenger rail as an economic catalyst

The success of Uptown Normal’s (IL) multimodal station as a catalyst for redevelopment was center stage as Normal Mayor Chris Koos testified before the House Oversight Committee last week.

That new multimodal station has been the anchor of a new economic boom in Uptown Normal. (Read T4America’s more detailed profile of Normal’s can-do aspirations and the multimodal station here.)

While years of tireless work by local officials to make the station a reality were fundamental for success, it wouldn’t have happened without support from federal transportation programs.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos is seated at the far right of the dais. Photo courtesy of Brad Tucker, CHG & Associates.

T4America advisory board member Mayor Chris Koos with Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) at last week’s hearing.

Transportation-oriented development has been integral for Normal as the city “has experienced growth, but a lot of that growth has been centered around the infrastructure,” cited Rep. Davis.

The public funding has spurred significant private investment in the Uptown Station area.

Normal’s success doesn’t have to be so rare.

Illinois legislature passes new policy that will aid the financing of transit projects

A just-passed bill in Illinois will make it easier to finance the construction and expansion of transit service across the state, making it easier for several crucial transit projects to go forward in the Chicago region.

This post was written by Peter Skosey, the Executive Vice President of the Metropolitan Planning Council in Chicago, Illinois, and reprinted here with his permission. MPC is a T4America member. Curious about membership with T4America? Find out more here.

Transit in Chicago just got a whole lot better, thanks to the General Assembly in Springfield — not the actor normally credited with such matters.

On July 1, 2016, the House and Senate approved the Transit Facility Improvement Area (TFIA), an innovative approach to finance specific transit projects in the City of Chicago. MPC has long supported this solution that many other cities across the country use, including Denver, San Francisco, Atlanta, New York and Milwaukee.

For decades, the entire country has neglected maintenance of existing trains, roads and bridges in favor of building new infrastructure. However, the latest federal transportation bill created a new “core capacity” provision, championed by Illinois’ own Sen. Dick Durbin, which allows critically needed maintenance projects [that will improve capacity], such as rebuilding the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red and Purple lines from Belmont north to the end of line in Evanston, to receive significant funding from Washington. These federal transit grants have one “catch:” locals must match those dollars, in this case about one-for-one.

chicago amtrak expansion By authorizing TFIA, the Illinois General Assembly created a way for Chicago to provide the necessary match for Red/Purple Line modernization and critical improvements to Union Station — for which Amtrak is currently doing phase 1 engineering and seeking a master developer.

Here’s how TFIA works: The added value that enhanced transit service brings to the surrounding property is captured in the form of property taxes and used to finance the improvements to the transit facility [that catalyzed the increases in the first place].

In the case of Union Station, Amtrak is seeking a developer to build on three parcels it controls. (Indicated in blue in the image above.) The additional property tax generated from those three new developments would be captured for up to 35 years to finance critical improvements to Union Station allowing for wider platforms, a roomier concourse and more trains in and out of the station. This is imperative, as Union Station is at capacity now and future growth of Chicago’s downtown depends on people being able to access their jobs via transit.

Many deserve kudos and thanks for supporting the TFIA measure: the original Senate and House sponsors of SB277, Heather Steans (D-Chicago) and Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove); House leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) and Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), who sponsored the ultimate bill, SB2562; members of the House who voted 78 to 27 in favor; and the Senate, which unanimously approved the measure.

Passage of TFIA was a great step forward in the battle to maintain our region’s transportation infrastructure and remain competitive in the global economy. Next up: Illinois must identify $43 billion in new revenues over the next 10 years to take care of the rest of the system.

These kinds of important changes to state policy are exactly what we’ll be discussing at Capital Ideas II this November 16-17 in Sacramento. Join us there and learn lessons to take back to your state. Register today!

Better together: All aboard for collaboration in the Midwest

Chicago is the busiest rail hub in the United States. Every day, nearly 500 freight and 760 passenger trains pass through the region. Many of those nearby cities connected via rail have benefited from developing the areas around their stations (read about a few in our 2013 report, The Little Cities That Could), and Chicago itself will soon see a large-scale renovation of its own Union Station. But these assets and local economies are seldom talked about or considered as a whole. That’s a mistake according to a recent OECD report that found that in order to grow, leaders in the Greater Chicagoland region — Northeast Illinois, Northwest Indiana, and Southeast Wisconsin — must better coordinate.

“Regional economic development is the way of the future” says Kelly O’Brien, director of the Alliance for Regional Development, which hosts a regular series of “quarterly conversations” to support improved collaboration among the region’s economic development interests. The group mirrors efforts of regional partnerships like those in Maryland and Virginia, where leaders have worked together on economic development initiatives, or Pennsylvania and Ohio, which collaborate on workforce development issues.

On June 10^th, we had the chance to join leaders from the greater Chicagoland region — including Illinois, Northwest Indiana, Southeast Wisconsin, and even Michigan — at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning for one of these conversations, this one focused on intercity rail & freight movement. Transportation for America Chair John Robert Smith joined the day to facilitate a panel about the economic value of passenger rail. Among the highlights, we heard that:

Beyond the commercial development opportunities promised by passenger rail investment, there are also huge potential benefits to be realized by other sectors of the economy; in total, the passenger rail manufacturing supply chain provides over 90,000 jobs in the Unites States, 60% of which are in the Midwest. (See the full report from the Environmental Law and Policy Center)

Leaders from across freight industries are counting on the unprecedented $1 billion dollar CREATE program to address one of the country’s biggest, most problematic freight rail bottlenecks that affects the movement of passengers and goods across the country.

Northwest Indiana is readying land to replace pockets of postindustrial decline with thriving transit-oriented development. The region is also planning for a new, commuter rail line extension of the state’s existing South Shore Line into Chicago. (See the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority website for more information)

New research from T4America member UIC Urban Transportation Center proves what many passenger rail advocates already know: leaders from across the industry agree that more investment is needed.

While O’Brien states that supporting collaboration “can feel like pushing a boulder up a hill” at times, the connections are being made; the day’s first panel featured leaders from the Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation who are working in lockstep to more efficiently own, maintain, and operate their equipment, and collaborating through the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.

Though a wide range of groups was represented in the meeting, leaders invoked the need for even more voices supporting these investments: such as developers, tourism leaders, the manufacturing community, and state legislatures.

“We are cooperating more than ever before, but we are still missing key players” said Tim Hoeffner, an MDOT leader who also chairs the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission. “we need to better harness the voices of local leaders,” he said.

At Transportation for America, amplifying the voices of local leaders is central to our mission. And we can’t do it without your help. For more information about getting involved in the Midwest or to recommend a local leader, contact Erin Evenhouse, Midwest Outreach Manager, at erin.evenhouse@t4america.org.

We can do more, together.

The current plan for the Midwest Regional Rail System. Photo Courtesy of the Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance

What progress did states make this year on raising new funding or improving policy?

Nearly all state legislatures have adjourned for the year. Here’s our regular look at the progress made in states working to create more transparency, build more public trust in transportation spending, or raise new money.

Though most states have wrapped up their legislative sessions, transportation funding fights still loom large on the agendas for many of the states still in session. And one key issue to watch is the scores of local governments putting forward ballot measures for this November’s election to approve new local funding.

Our state policy bill tracker is the best way to keep tabs on the most current information about these states attempting to raise new funding in 2016, states attempting to reform how those dollars are spent and states taking unfortunate steps in the wrong direction on policy — all tracked in three separate searchable, sortable tables of that information.

In addition, our hub for state policy and funding related resources includes all past and current reports, bill trackers, and other state-focused resources.

STATE FUNDING

New Jersey faces perhaps the worst transportation funding crisis in the country with a trust fund that is bankrupt. Transportation funds will be shut off completely on July 1st unless state leaders find new funding.

Legislative leaders are reportedly developing a “tax fairness plan” that would raise new revenue for transportation and cut other state taxes. Negotiating a package that will pass the assembly and senate with bipartisan, veto-proof supermajorities would sidestep Gov. Chris Christie (R), who has not supported any new revenues for transportation. In fact, the governor and transportation commissioner have downplayed the crisis and put the obligation on the legislature to find new revenue.

A tax agreement would likely include income tax deductions and a reduction of the estate tax, resulting in cuts to the general state budget, while a fuel tax or other new revenue would add to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund. Another possible funding source under consideration is adding new tolls on highways that are now free.

The state has the second lowest gas tax in the country and $30 billion in outstanding debt from past transportation projects. As a result, 100% of the dollars collected through the gas tax go to cover debt on past projects. The Transportation Trust Fund will run dry when it reaches a borrowing limit on June 30th.

Democrats are pushing for $2 billion in annual transportation spending; Republicans are looking for $1.6 billion annually, the average amount of state funding each of the last five years. The state’s transportation needs — especially the need for expanded transit service — are growing. The population around rail transit stations in the state is booming.

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) proposed a per-mile driving charge (SB 3267) as an alternative to the state’s per-gallon fuel tax. Though after receiving feedback he says he will not move forward with the proposal.

There’s been little visible progress toward any sort of agreement on transportation funding in Minnesota, and other policy and budget issues stand in the way of a bipartisan agreement. A bill (SF3211) introduced in the senate by Sen. Vicki Jensen (DFL-Owatonna) would direct the state DOT to develop a new, objective process to score and select projects. Moving in this direction could help steer the limited funds to the best projects while also building up public support for additional transportation funding.

The Colorado House passed a bill (HB1420) 39-26 to make budget changes that would allow additional state funds to flow to transportation. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The Oregon Legislature has named a new, special, bicameral, bipartisan study committee to develop a transportation funding package. The committee will begin regularly holding public meetings in May. This is a big improvement in transparency from the closed-door negotiation that resulted in a dead-end transportation funding proposal last year.

LOCAL FUNDING

Sacramento County, California, is moving ahead with a $3.6 billion, 30-year local sales tax. A deal struck by the Sacramento Transportation Authority will split these funds, with 70 percent going toward highways and streets and 30 percent toward transit. The county transit agency had reportedly anticipated as much as half of the new funding. In the first five years, three-quarters of the local road money would be used exclusively for repairing city streets. The proposal will need to be approved by the county board this summer and then supported by two-thirds of county voters in the November election.

We’ll see the results when we are in Sacramento November 16-17 for Transportation for America’s Capital Ideas state policy conference. Which reminds us…

Registration is now open for Capital Ideas, the premier conference on state transportation funding and policy, coming up this November 16-17, 2016, in Sacramento, CA. Sign up today to secure your seat and grab one of the limited number of discounted hotel rooms available.

As Sound Transit, the transit agency for metro Seattle, Washington, finalizes a $50 billion local funding plan to go before voters in November, free parking has become a major point of contention. The plan initially called for thousands of free parking spaces alongside new transit lines, but local leaders are calling for more housing and business development alongside transit stops, instead. Spokane-area voters will decide on a major expansion of transit service and the addition of a new bus rapid transit line at the ballot this November. Voters will consider a 0.1 percent sales tax increase in April 2017 with a second 0.1 increase to follow two years later and both running through 2028.

The county commission in Hillsborough County, Florida (which includes Tampa) voted 4-3 against putting a transportation sales tax measure on the November ballot. The long-debated measure would have raised new funding for highways and transit.

Stay up to date on all progress with state transportation funding and policy issues with our bill tracker.

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 past transportation bills in that it creates a program for freight. The bill includes almost $1 billion for freight in its first year and up to $2.5 billion toward the end of the authorization in 2021. (The bill was more robust when originally introduced in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, providing $2 billion in the first year and rising to $2.5 billion. It was scaled back to a smaller cost when some of the DRIVE Act’s “pay-fors” were deemed too controversial).

The program features a comprehensive and thoughtful national- and state-level planning framework to analyze the condition and performance of the national freight transportation system. It would require states to identify priority projects for improving freight movement regardless of mode – including rail, seaports, pipelines and airports. Yet the program restricts the majority of funds to highway projects. Only 10 percent of the money it provides to states can go to other modes.

This funding model would fall far short of the costs of multimodal freight projects. California, for example, would be allocated $90 million under this program in 2016, only $9 million of which could be used for non-highway projects. The Port of Los Angeles’s West Basin Railyard project – a rail and port project – costs $137.7 million.

Similarly, Illinois would have less than $4 million available. Chicago’s CREATE program – one of the most significant freight projects in the nation, which would improve rail freight efficiency throughout much of the country – costs over $3 billion.

This restriction seems burdensome, particularly since the new program would be paid for out of the general fund, not by roadway users. Congress has taken funding from across the board and restricted it to highway projects, even if a state says that its priorities for freight are elsewhere.

Also troubling is the fact that the National Freight Program’s funding would be distributed among the states evenly, using a formula that ignores where freight volumes are highest or where goods get stuck in congestion or bottlenecks. It’s the equivalent of investing wildfire prevention dollars in all 50 states even though a majority of fires are in the dry, arid west.

Reducing the country’s freight bottlenecks and helping businesses efficiently move commerce is a worthwhile goal, and one that can only be achieved with a truly multimodal freight program. When the House takes up their transportation bill in the early fall, we hope they rethink the DRIVE Act’s distribution formula and the restrictive funding cap on non-highway projects to ensure this program lives up the goals outlined for the National Freight Program.

15 issues to watch in ’15, Part II: Places

It’s a challenge to craft a list of only five states, regions and cities that have important or notable things happening this year. Whether states attempting to raise transportation revenue this year, states changing key policies and continuing to innovate how they choose or build transportation projects, or local communities going to voters to raise money for new projects, there’s no shortage of places worth watching this year. Here are five that rose to the top, but tell us what you think we missed, in your area or elsewhere.

Ed: As the year began, we thought it would be fun to identify 15 people, places and trends worth keeping an eye on the next 12 months. We’re rolling out this list in three posts — read our first post on five policy issues worth watching on Capitol Hill in 2015.

Places

1. Minnesota

If we released a list this time last year, Minnesota might have appeared on that one as well. Though a broad coalition (Move MN) formed to rally support from the public and lawmakers for raising transportation revenues, the DFL majority in both chambers did not pass a transportation funding package in 2014. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, running for reelection, seemed hesitant to support raising any taxes, though he routinely acknowledged that Minnesota needed to invest in their aging transportation network. Late in the election, he introduced his 2015 legislative plan to raise revenue: a new 6.5 percent wholesale tax on gasoline, in addition to a variety of other fee increases.

Gov. Dayton won re-election, but the Minnesota House flipped back to a GOP majority, providing a new challenge for his plan in the legislature. Though Move MN built an impressively broad coalition, they weren’t able to secure support from the statewide chamber and a few other key groups that represent Minnesota businesses. Gov. Dayton has already been lobbying those groups in 2015 to support his plan that would raise over $6 billion over the next decade.

Republicans in control of the House have issued their plan that would raise no new taxes but allocate $750 million over the next four years via various internal accounting maneuvers. (Great comparison of the two plans here.) With two legislative chambers split between the parties but a growing public call for something to be done to invest infrastructure, Minnesota will be a critical battleground to watch this year. If Congress fails to find a funding solution to keep the nation’s trust fund from going bankrupt this Spring, Minnesota — and states facing a shortfall — could be hit by a double whammy if they’re not prepared to act on their own.

2. Utah

While there had been some noise over the last year in Utah about the need to raise new transportation revenue, there was no concrete legislation introduced or seriously discussed in 2014. In late 2014, Governor Herbert suggested he was open to raising the gas tax in 2015, which was “a proposition [speaker-elect Greg] Hughes doesn’t see getting very far” in the upcoming legislative session, according to the Deseret News. At the time, Rep. Hughes did suggest that “House Republicans do want to look what he sees as an outdated formula for calculating the state’s 24.5-cent per gallon gas tax.” But just a few weeks ago, news broke that a deal could be closer than previously thought. An article in the Salt Lake Tribune last week broke the news that the state’s GOP caucus endorsed the idea of raising transportation taxes, but also overhauling the funding system — which could mean a revenue source that will rise with inflation.

“We have talked about concepts now for two years,” House Transportation Committee Chairman Johnny Anderson, R-Taylorsville, told a forum of the Utah Highway Users Association. “Know that the work is about to be done” to raise tax for transportation. …Anderson said the House GOP Caucus last month endorsed not only transportation-tax hikes, but also the idea to “dump our antiquated” tax system for one that automatically keeps up with inflation and makes those now escaping gas tax contribute.

The Utah legislature is somewhat unique — their trust of the Utah DOT runs so high that they often appropriate significant general funds to transportation projects. Utah could also prove to be a significant bellwether for other GOP-controlled state legislatures to follow. Utah’s session begins January 28, so we’ll soon find out if this proposition has legs.

3. Illinois

Incoming Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner faces significant challenges, but some of his first moves have a lot of advocates hopeful about positive changes that could come in 2015. Just a few years removed from a governor going to jail and a patronage hiring scandal at state agencies, Illinois is also in one of the worst fiscal messes in the country, brought on by billions in unfunded pensions, decreased tax revenue, and repeated downgrades to the state’s credit rating.

As the Governor and the legislature collaborate on a budget and craft a new capital plan for infrastructure investment, the fiscal crisis facing the state provides an interesting opportunity for Gov. Rauner, who ran as a reformer and a prudent fiscal manager on his business bona fides. With the state billions in debt and confidence in IDOT incredibly low, overhauling the system and moving towards a new system for measuring the performance of the state’s transportation spending could be the only way to restore public trust — essential for raising any new money for transportation.

Possibly hinting at a move in this direction, Gov. Rauner appointed Randy Blankenhorn from the Chicago MPO (CMAP) to head the state DOT, an appointment which could help bring the issue of performance measures into the debate. “There’s always hyperbole and optimism when you have a changing of the guard. But I sincerely believe that we have a chance to right Illinois’ ship with Gov. Rauner and Randy Blankenhorn,” said Peter Skosey with the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) and the T4 Advisory Board. As part of his transition team on transportation, Gov. Rauner also brought in MarySue Barrett from MPC, one of the leading advocates in the entire state for a performance-based transportation system.

With these pieces in place, it’s possible that discussing a way to restore credibility and create a new transparent mechanism for distributing any new transportation funds could be central in the debate in Illinois in 2015, which makes this an important state to watch.

4. Indianapolis, Indiana

It was a huge victory when the Indiana legislature and Governor Pence approved a long-sought bill in March 2014 that finally gives metro Indianapolis counties the right to vote on funding a much-expanded public transportation network, with a major emphasis on bus rapid transit. Civic, elected and business leaders had been hard at work since 2009 producing an ambitious and inspiring IndyConnect plan, “the most comprehensive transportation plan — created with the most public input — our region has ever seen,” according to Mayor Greg Ballard in the foreword to our Innovative MPO report. Now the hard part comes as they build public and political will and decide what to include on a November 2016 ballot measure that would raise revenue from changes to local income taxes — a challenging revenue mechanism to say the least.

While transit expansion has more support in the region’s core, local leaders acknowledge they have an uphill battle in some suburban counties more skeptical of the merits of transit. Mayor Ballard and the diverse group of Indy businesses (including a booming healthcare industry) supporting IndyConnect understand how important this measure is for helping Indy be economically competitive in the future. Indy likely won’t be supplanting Chicago as the big city of choice in the Midwest, but there’s a desire among local leaders for Indy to be the city that can attract young families who think Chicago is too expensive; or luring recent college grads back home to Indy. And a strong regional public transit system is lies at the very core of their economic strategy.

Though Indianapolis counties won’t vote on the transportation plan until 2016, some of the most important work will be done in 2015 as they continue their model efforts to build consensus in urban and suburban areas alike on a plan to take to the ballot.

5. Raleigh, North Carolina

After watching the Triangle region’s two other counties approve ballot measure to raise funds for a regional transit system originally envisioned by all three counties, Raleigh could finally be joining the party due to a big shakeup in their county’s Board of Commissioners in 2014.

Durham and Orange counties approved half-cent sales taxes in 2011 and 2012 respectively to fund transit operations, improved bus service and a regional light rail line. Although it contains the biggest city in the region (Raleigh), the Wake County Commissioners hadn’t allowed a question to raise funds for a regional transit system to go to the ballot. In fact, a handful of commissioners actively prevented the issue going forward, often stifling debate at times.

That could all change in 2015, as more than half of the county board was replaced last November. Four new supportive members were elected to the county board, replacing four who had consistently been on the other side of the issue, clearing the way for a potential ballot measure in Wake County. It’s worth noting that the mayor of Raleigh, Nancy McFarlane, has long been a supporter of a regional plan for transit, and she joined with other mayors and T4America a year ago to meet with USDOT Sec. Foxx on the importance of passenger rail.

Wake County is one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S. and the county’s population is due to double by 2035. Yet this rapidly growing community with a notable high-tech, research, government and major university employment base is one of the few major metro regions that lacks a significant transit system. Just like Indianapolis, they will be crafting their plan and building consensus in 2015 as they shoot for a vote in 2016. Though the issue has support on the county board now, there will be a public debate and votes worth watching in 2015.

Reps. Rodney Davis and Dina Titus step up to meet burgeoning demand for more local transportation funding

Yesterday, Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) announced a new bill to give local communities across the country greater access to federal transportation funds for innovative projects via a new in-state competitive grant program.

Rep. Davis announces his new bill in Normal’s Uptown Station on May 14, 2014, flanked by Mayor Chris Koos and Transportation for America Illinois field organizer Erin Evenhouse. Photo courtesy of Town of Normal.

At a press conference yesterday inside Uptown Station in Normal, Illinois, alongside the Town of Normal Mayor Chris Koos, Rep. Davis introduced the Innovation in Surface Transportation Act.

The bipartisan bill, to be introduced by Reps. Davis (R-IL) and Dina Titus (D-NV) in the House of Representatives next week, would create a new in-state competitive grant program that would allow local entities (cities, towns, etc.) to have greater access to federal transportation funds they can invest in innovative projects to help boost local economies.

The bill would create a statewide program of competitive grants for local communities, overseen by a diverse selection panel that includes the state DOT and local jurisdictions.

“The Innovation in Surface Transportation Act is a commonsense, bipartisan bill to give local entities a stronger voice when it comes to funding local projects,” said Rep. Davis. “Additionally, this bill recognizes our nation’s fiscal realities by giving preference to projects that strengthen the return on investment, encouraging public-private partnerships and increasing transparency so that every federal dollar spent goes a little bit further.”

Transportation for America applauds Reps. Davis and Titus for their leadership in crafting this bill that would make a dramatic difference by giving towns and cities and counties more access to the transportation funds they desperately seek for important local projects.

“As a former mayor who speaks frequently with local leaders around the country, I can say with confidence that they are more than willing to compete and be held accountable for results, but they need access to resources to meet their communities’ needs,” said Mayor John Robert Smith, chair of Transportation for America and former Mayor of Meridian, Mississippi. “This bill would take a major step toward restoring funding for local needs that was greatly restricted in the 2012 transportation bill, MAP-21. Rep. Davis’s and Rep. Titus’s measure will ensure that those closest to the heart-beat of a community will be making decisions on how transportation dollars should be spent, while promoting innovation and efficiency,” said Mayor Smith.

The location of yesterday’s announcement was no coincidence. Normal’s Uptown Station is a terrific example of what can happen when a local community can competitively access federal transportation funds to make an ambitious plan a reality. (Read our longer profile of Normal’s “can-do” story here.) A competitive federal grant was the final piece in the puzzle for Normal to rebuild their downtown multimodal transportation center and rebuild the infrastructure of their city’s core.

The new Children’s Museum and roundabout in the center of Uptown Normal, Illinois. Photo courtesy of Scott Shigley

Normal Mayor Chris Koos talked about how important it is for local communities like Normal to have the ability to invest in homegrown transportation projects to signal to the private sector that they have a committed partner. “The private sector was clearly not willing to make significant investment in Uptown Normal until it was evident that the public sector was committed to making a big investment of its own,” said Mayor Koos.

The more than $80 million invested by the Town of Normal into Uptown has sparked more than $140 million in private investment. That’s exactly the kind of spark that we hope Rep. Davis’ bill will provide to communities like Normal all across the country.

“An in-state grant program builds on the idea of competitive grants to spur innovation and allow communities of all sizes to build connections that provide better opportunities for local businesses and residents to prosper,” concluded Mayor Koos.

Rep. Rodney Davis (left) and Mayor Chris Koos shake hands at yesterday’s event in Normal, Illinois. Photo courtesy of Town of Normal

Rep. Davis heard this message from local officials like Mayor Koos all over Illinois, and responded by crafting a bill that could help give them exactly what they need to succeed. That’s the kind of leadership we need more of on Capitol Hill.

We will have much more detail on this bill in the days to come, but we want to congratulate Reps. Davis and Titus for leading the way and we hope to help them succeed in their efforts in Congress.

Urge your Rep and your Senators to cosponsor this bill today. Send them a message today.

Special announcement coming tomorrow from Normal, Illinois – stay tuned!

Looking forward to joining @NormalILL Mayor Koos and @T4America for an exciting announcement tomorrow!

— US Rep Rodney Davis (@RodneyDavis) May 13, 2014

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Part three: Crucial transportation projects could be halted if Congress fails to rescue transportation funding

Congressional inaction on saving the nation’s transportation fund would have tangible impacts on projects planned for next year and beyond, forcing many long-awaited projects to halt indefinitely as soon as this summer. Illinois’ six-year plan for transportation improvements could be threatened, and one long-awaited enormous project on the border with Iowa could be a casualty.

Our new report we released yesterday chronicles the tangible financial impacts that the expected insolvency of the nation’s transportation trust fund would have on state and local transportation budgets beginning in the upcoming fiscal year. No new projects with a significant federal share will be able to get underway in the new fiscal year, which begins this October, if Congress fails to act.

What would that really mean for projects around the country?

In Illinois, Governor Quinn recently announced a six-year transportation plan to complete dozens of key projects, including the Englewood Flyover freight and passenger rail project, bridge replacements along the Stevenson Expressway, repaving and repair on I-74 in Decatur and reconstruction of Rte. 2 in Rockford. But because the plan anticipates using $6.99 billion in federal funding to match $1.16 billion in state funding and $450 million in local funding, projects may not make it off the drawing board without the certainty of that federal contribution.

Just last week, in the Quad Cities on the border of Iowa and Illinois, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx visited the site of a bridge replacement and accompanying corridor improvement that could face significant delays if new work can’t be started next year.

The I-74 bridges connecting Iowa and Illinois carry nearly half the traffic each day between the cities of this bi-state region where one of five workers crosses the river to go to work. The narrow, obsolete bridges date back to 1935 and were never designed to be part of an interstate highway system. This stretch of road sees more than three times as many crashes as comparable corridors and increased traffic on the bridge has created a critical bottleneck that also affects freight passing through the middle of the country on the national freight network.Replacing the I-74 bridges have been a top priority for regional leaders for the last two decades.

When Illinois and Iowa DOTs released a construction plan for coming years including more than $800 million programmed for the central bridge span, The Quad City Times editorialized that “The Quad-Cities’ biggest public construction project in history seems to suddenly move from planning to action.”

Yet collapsing federal funding would threaten that progress. Illinois’ improvements on adjoining streets have begun and Iowa is scheduled to begin construction next year. Beyond just next year, though, the long-term funding uncertainty created by the insolvent trust fund jeopardizes the progress of the entire corridor project,which will depend on reliable federal contributions.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx tours the existing I-74 bridge site with Representatives Cheri Bustos (IL-17) and Dave Loebsack (IA-2) last week. Photo courtesy of Rep. Loebsack’s office.

We’ve heard many stories like this about the important projects that would come to a stop if Congress fails to rescue the nation’s transportation fund. But Congress must do more than just save the transportation fund. The local leaders we’ve been speaking with have made it clear that if Congress wants support for raising more revenue for transportation, they need to give these folks at the local level more reasons to believe that it will be to their benefit.

Last week we released a policy road map showing how we can resuscitate and reinvigorate the program in exciting ways, so that it better suits the needs of people in the communities where they live. It’s a great place to start.

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In Hill event, local leaders make case for federal support for transportation needs

Before a packed room on Capitol Hill, local leaders from three very different communities shared one very specific message with a handful of Congressmen and at least four dozen staffers: If Congress doesn’t act to shore up the nation’s transportation fund before it goes insolvent later this year, their cities and communities would bear the brunt of the pain.

Ways and Means briefing overall

Along with Reps. Richard Hanna (R-NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Transportation for America helped to bring local leaders to Washington to talk about what the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund means for their communities. As we’ve noted here, states and local governments stand to lose nearly all access to federal transportation support next year if Congress doesn’t act to shore up the nation’s transportation fund sometime before the end of the summer. (The details of which were explored at length in a presentation by the day’s last panelist, Sarah Puro, Principal Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.)

In between appearances by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, as well as comments from Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington and Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, three local officials painted pictures of their ambitious transportation plans, and what the lack of federal investment would mean for them.

Normal, IL, Mayor Chris Koos shared the story of how city leaders revitalized their town’s core — and how federal support was the only way they could make it a reality. (Read that full story here.) He noted that the private sector has since followed through with millions in new investments, but that they were unwilling to invest in Uptown Normal until they knew the public sector was truly committed.

Rep. Rodney Davis, a Republican from the 13th District that includes Normal, came up and offered his support for Normal Mayor Chris Koos and expressed pride in this project in his district — a model for how the federal government could support a smart local vision that also had strong local and state funding and support.

Rep. Rodney Davis (right) greets Mayor Chris Koos of Normal, Illinois after the Mayor shared the story of the revitalization of Uptown Normal — made possible by a federal TIGER grant.

While Mayor Koos was speaking in one hearing room, Transportation for America director James Corless was telling a different group of more than 20 members of Congress the same story from Normal, Illinois.

He was testifying alongside many of the transportation industry groups in an invitation-only congressional roundtable hosted by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to discuss the next transportation bill. He told the 20-plus members of Congress there, along with transportation lobbyists and advocacy groups, that because local economies are the heart of the American economy, the federal program should support more local initiatives like Normal’s.

“Normal should be “normal,” not the exception,” Corless said.

While Normal is a small college town, Nashville, Tennessee is a much larger, booming metropolis. They’ve been adding jobs and people over the last ten years, and are expected to add a million more in another 20-plus years.

Marc Hill, Chief Policy Officer of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, explained how the business community and the chamber got together years ago and recognized that congestion threatens that economic prosperity.

“Six years ago, the Chamber began focusing on transit as a top priority — second only to improving public education.”

Marc Hill from the Nashville Chamber of Commerce

Why? They’ve certainly been inspired by watching and learning from some of their neighbors’ mistakes. “We don’t want to be another Atlanta. We don’t want to start working on transit 10 years after we’re in gridlock,” he said.

The business community is leading the way for making bus-rapid transit a reality in Nashville — and they hope that The Amp’s first line through the center of town is just the first component of what could be a wide-ranging regional bus-rapid transit system, the first of its kind in the South.

But, “there’s simply no way a local community can pull off something like this without a federal partnership,” he said. If the trust fund goes belly up and the federal contribution is curtailed for next year, Tennessee could be out $900 million and Nashville would lose $40 million.

Down in Florida, Tampa Bay is home to the 15th largest port in the nation and the closest to the Panama Canal in sea-miles. Charlie Hunsicker, director of the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Dept and also speaking on behalf of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, urged the Ways and Means members to consider freight as they mull how to rescue the trust fund from insolvency.

“Ports constitute the most important first mile, or last mile, in world trade,” he said.

Charlie Hunsicker, Director of the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department.

The recurring theme today was clear: No matter how motivated and inspired, the American public and business community cannot do this alone.

Nashville is working on their local funding sources for The Amp, and hoping for the feds to support this region that’s “an economic driver, not just in Tennessee, but for the mid-South,” as Marc Hill put it. “There’s no lack of will locally to invest to be a full partner, a majority partner, but we absolutely can’t do it without that federal support.”

Messages and stories like these will continue to flow into Washington, DC from cities and towns and counties and districts all across the country.

But the ball is in Congress’ court, and especially the Ways and Means Committee that’s responsible for funding a transportation bill. Without a solution to the funding crisis, writing great new transportation policies will be like crafting a beautiful saddle without the horse.

These local leaders are counting on Congress to come through for them.

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Photos from the event

Sarah Puro of the CBO gives a presentation at the briefing organized by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14

Rep. Richard Hanna speaking at the briefing organized by his office and Rep. Blumenauer, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14

Rep. Earl Blumenauer speaking at the briefing organized by his office and Rep. and Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14

Rep. Earl Blumenauer speaking at the briefing organized by his office and Rep. Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14

Rep. Jim McDermott speaking at the briefing organized by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14

Rep. Jim McDermott stopped in to say a few words at the briefing organized by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) at the briefing organized by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14

Transportation for America’s John Robert Smith — himself a former mayor — kicks off the briefing with a few remarks.

TIGER brings joy to Normal, IL, as Uptown Station opens on time and on budget

This is a guest post by Kathleen Woodruff, T4America’s Illinois Statewide Field Organizer.

Over 11 years in the making, the July 14 grand opening of Normal, IL’s multi-modal transportation center brought together T4A partner organizations, local officials, USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood and US Senator Dick Durbin. The project, designed to revitalize the downtown and provide transit connections, was given a huge boost when awarded one of the first TIGER grants in the nation.

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) is a competitive grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation. This merit-based program allows cities, states, and regions to apply for funding for innovative projects large and small. It is one of the few ways local communities can access federal funding directly.

Normal, IL, Mayor Chris Koos cuts the ribbon on Uptown Station as U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Senator Dick Durbin look on.

The $45.9 million project received $22 million from TIGER, as well as $10.6 million in additional federal funding and more than $13 million in state and local contributions. Six months after receiving funds, it was the first TIGER project in the nation to break ground and begin construction. The Uptown Normal multimodal transportation center was completed on time and within budget.

Two years ago, Transportation for America’s Illinois Field Organizer Kathleen Woodruff joined coalition partner Brian Imus, IL PIRG, and Campaign director, James Corless for the center’s ground breaking — highlighting TIGER grants as exactly the type of federal investment that should occur nation wide: Making Normal the new Norm.

“Key to our Uptown master plan for the beginning was a transportation center designed to provide a multistory anchor for redevelopment,” Mayor Koos said. “Uptown station is something all Normal’s citizens can admire and be proud of, an example of elegant design, sustainability and quality that will last for generations.”

The new station will be able to accommodate consistently growing Amtrak ridership, and is opening in advance of new 110 mph service, which should start in September. Once complete, Amtrak trains will make trips from Chicago to Normal in about two hours and to St. Louis from Normal in less than two and one half hours.

The TIGER program funds innovative new transportation projects that support economic growth across the country. Unfortunately, the TIGER program was not included in the most recent Senate transportation bill, MAP-21. Projects of Regional and National Significance — a program that bears some similarities — was included, but regrettably it would not allow cities or regions to apply directly for funds, nor would it fund smaller projects like Normal’s multi-modal station.

Hopefully, Congress will choose to continue funding the TIGER program to allow cities and regions the ability improve transportation in their community — even if they aren’t gigantic mega-projects.

“Uptown Station is a prime example of a federal investment paying dividends for local taxpayers,” U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said. “I have secured more than $10.6 million in federal earmark funding for this state-of-the-art facility since 2003. Those earmarks, combined with additional federal support from a $22 million TIGER grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, have helped Normal create what will become the national model for multimodal stations.”

“Construction of this facility supported hundreds of jobs and generated millions in economic activity for the Bloomington-Normal region,” says Senator Durbin, “Yet, today’s ribbon cutting is just the beginning. In the years to come, this station will continue serving as an economic engine for Bloomington-Normal and Central Illinois.”

T4 partners meet President Obama, talk about transportation and infrastructure

Three T4 America partners were invited to join us at the White House Monday to meet the President of the United States and talk about transportation funding, specifically the infrastructure portion of the President’s American Jobs Act. The President’s plan, which failed to make it to a final vote yesterday in the Senate, would have invested $60 billion into infrastructure.

White House staff contacted T4 America to invite a few of our local partners out there with boots on the ground working hard to get their local, state and congressional leaders to start making smart, solid investments in transportation to help boost the economy and get people back to work.

Brian Imus of Illinois PIRG, Scott Wolf of Grow Smart Rhode Island, and Arnold Weinfeld of the Michigan Municipal League (pictured, standing right) were invited guests of the President for his Monday working group meeting in the White House to talk about the urgent need for America to invest more dollars, wisely, in our aging transportation system.

Arnold Weinfeld got a chance to stand up at his front row table a few feet from the President and tell him the same thing that we highlighted on our blog last week, that fixing bridges and building transit and passenger rail are bipartisan issues in Michigan. Tired of waiting on Washington to act — similar to the President’s motivation for the jobs bill — Governor Rick Snyder has put forth an ambitious plan to invest in all kinds of transportation for the state.

Michigan citizens and local partners like the Michigan Municipal League or the Michigan Suburbs Alliance know that a successful future for Michigan hinges on making smart investments in transportation to keep people and goods moving quickly and safely, whether in a car over a repaired bridge, on foot to the corner store, or in a new light rail vehicle on the Woodward light rail line underway in Detroit.

We desperately need the fresh infusion of money into our deficient bridges and aging transit systems that the American Jobs Act would have provided. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to get the necessary 60 votes for cloture in the Senate to vote on the transportation portion of the American Jobs Act. But that doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the road for transportation funding. Far from it.

Attention in the Senate will now turn to the long-term transportation bill that’s seemingly been just over the horizon for months now. The Environment and Public Works Committee is expected to release their part of the bill this afternoon, for markup next Wednesday.

Though we do need the kind of infusion that the jobs act would have provided to get things rolling today and put people to work, we really need the certainty of a long-term reauthorization bill, new policies and clear reforms to make sure that we make the best use of our transportation dollars.

Events across the country last week bring sense of urgency to bridge repair

Many communities are taking a close look at Transportation for America’s deficient bridge rankings by metro areas released last week. People are telling their representatives to invest in our infrastructure — and Washington is listening, with President Obama and rank-and-file members of Congress expressing urgency about repairing our crumbling assets.

At an event held at the Route 16’s Mabscott Overhead Bridge in Beckley, West Virginia, (pictured right) Representative Nick Rahall made a strong case for repair while surrounded by labor partners carrying “America wants to work” signs. The local NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates were on hand, alongside the Associated Press and Beckley Register-Herald, the region’s largest daily newspaper.

“It should not take a major catastrophe to bring this home to America. This horrific and tragic example shows how America’s decaying infrastructure is a disaster waiting to happen,” Rep. Rahall said, citing past tragedies that could have been prevented with greater foresight and investment

Rahall added that putting Americans to work was also a “deficit reduction issue” because it means more people paying taxes and putting money back into the economy.

Gary Zuckett, executive director of West Virginia Citizen Action and T4 America’s chief organizer in the state, played a key role in making the event happen.

At a similar event under a 78-year-old bridge at Chicago’s Lakeshore Drive and Wilson Ave. last Wednesday, Representative Jan Schakowsky joined labor groups, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and other groups in highlighting unsafe bridges in their area. The local affiliates for ABC, CBS and FOX all picked up the story, alongside print media and several blogs.

“Don’t my colleagues and their families and their children drive over bridges like this? Isn’t this a priority?” Schakowsky, a Democrat from Illinois’ Ninth Congressional District, said during the event. Brian Imus, the state director of Illinois Public Interest Research Group, pictured at the lectern, also addressed members of the press and public.

West Virginia has more than 2,500 bridges rated as structurally deficient, while Illinois has more than 2,200.Portions of West Virginia are also part of the Washington, DC metropolitan area, which has 215 structurally deficient bridges, or 5.7 percent of total bridges.

9.4 percent of the bridges in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metropolitan area are structurally deficient, for a total of 481 deficient bridges.

The deficient bridges in our largest 102 metro areas carry three-quarters of all traffic that crosses a deficient bridge each day. Check out how your area stacks up here.

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.

Illinois has benefited enormously from the TIGER grants program, which would be eliminated completely under the House budget currently being considered. TIGER — an acronym for Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery — was initially created in the Recovery Act and later renewed. The premise was simple: reward the communities pursuing the most innovative projects that integrate transportation, economic development, environmental improvement and quality of life — projects that can have a hard time getting funding under our current outdated federal programs.

We profiled several recipients of the second round of TIGER grants late last year, including a new multimodal transportation hub along the Moline waterfront. The $10 million grant was to be combined with local funds to renovate a historic building in downtown Moline into a multimodal transportation hub bringing together Amtrak, commuter rail, buses and other local transportation services. The hub will also be part of a passenger rail connection from the Quad Cities to Chicago, with connections west to Iowa City and Omaha to be potentially added later. As Kathleen Woodruff, T4 America’s Illinois organizer, described it in October:

The new hub will connect all transit services at one new central location in Moline, bringing together Amtrak, local buses, taxis and bicycle and pedestrian facilities, enhancing this area of Moline’s waterfront and making travel easier for all Quad Cities residents. It is expected to support up to 825 new, permanent jobs and eventually, when the new passenger rail link from Moline to Chicago breaks ground, it will produce 1,600 direct and indirect jobs.

The project is similar to another multimodal hub underway in Normal, Illinois that received $22 million in TIGER funds.

The event with Senator Durbin will be held on Monday, February 21 at 11 a.m. at Moline’s Central Station. The Senator will also be in Peoria, Illinois earlier in the day to highlight transportation projects there. If you’re near Moline, we encourage you to go and show your support for this project and these kinds of transportation investments that TIGER has been making across the country.

Photo: Life Magazine

Making Normal, Illinois the new “norm” for transportation planning

T4 Director James Corless speaks in Normal, Illinois on the site of the new multi-modal transportation hub. Photo courtesy of the Bloomington Pantagraph.

Last week, Transportation for America Director James Corless (right) was in Normal, Illinois, a town of 45,000 and recipient of a $22 million grant for a new city transportation hub, touting the project as a model for smarter federal transportation spending in the next six-year transportation bill.

The TIGER grant program, created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, doled out merit-based federal funding for projects that merge transportation with economic development, the environment and other criteria. This new multimodal transportation center in Normal received a $22 million grant from the first round of TIGER grants earlier this year, helping to bring Amtrak trains, city buses, regional buses and taxis all in one centrally located building.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos said making uptown accessible for walking, biking and public transit was a key goal of the redevelopment effort, allowing more residents a place where they could live, eat and shop. The project also played a crucial role in attracting the Marriott Hotel and conference center, both walking distance from the site.

Other elected officials were just as effusive, with State Representative Dan Brady, a Bloomington Republican, calling the project a “shot in the arm for the economy.”

James joined 25 local stakeholders, including Representative Brady and Mayor Koos, at a press conference last week to demonstrate local support for the transportation hub. Attendees included local labor leaders and representatives from the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Amtrak and the Bloomington Normal Economic Development Council. Staff members for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and local Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson were also on hand.

“We think the transportation bill needs momentum and vision,” Corless told the participants. ”The reason we are here today is because we think that what Normal is doing is exactly that type of vision and kind of momentum that will give the transportation bill the kick in the pants it really needs.”

Normal should be the new “norm” for smaller cities, a example of livable and sustainable development resulting in real job creation and investment from businesses both large and small. Mayor Koos himself has been owner and operator of Vitesse Cycle Shop/Often Running in Uptown Normal since 1979. Normal’s leadership demonstrates to smaller cities that focusing on increased transportation options, investing in their town and city cores and expanding biking and walking can improve quality of life.

“We celebrate this type of spending,” said Brian Imus, state director of Illinois PIRG. “The multimodal center is an example of how to invest in a smart way.”

He added, “the next federal (transportation reauthorization) bill should encourage similar projects.” Transportation for America agrees, and is working toward a new bill that makes these types of transit hubs more easily funded and ready to move.

If projects like Normal’s can truly become the norm, that would be progress indeed.

A number of local media covered this event, including the Bloomington Pantagraph, WMBD and TV10 at Illinois State University.

UPDATED: We have some photos from the event on our Flickr page, and you can watch this short video of James Corless’ remarks at the event. Apologies for the quality of the audio, which is fairly quiet.