Posts Tagged "senate"
The Senate needs a new transportation bill—and over 120 elected officials and organizations agree
Current long-term transportation policy expires this September, giving Congress a rare opportunity to fundamentally rethink American transportation. That’s why the House passed a transformative bill last summer—but the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a status quo bill that would just make our problems worse. Over 120 elected officials and organizations signed our letter urging the Senate to take a new course.
Senate Democrats recommend less driving—as Senate committee approves billions for new roads
The Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis recently released a report recommending key federal actions in each sector to avert the impacts of climate change, incorporating a number of Transportation for America’s recommendations. In fact, the very first recommendation for the transportation sector is to enable Americans to choose walking, biking, or public transportation over driving.
Webinar recap: How the Senate’s transportation proposal would make climate change worse
Transportation is the largest source of U.S. carbon emissions, and most of it comes from driving. But a long-term transportation bill passed by a Senate committee last summer would only make this problem worse. Last week, along with Third Way, we discussed the role federal transportation policy plays in making climate change worse—and what a better transportation bill looks like.
Why the Senate’s transportation bill is terrible for climate
Last summer, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a long-term transportation bill that was praised for its climate title, marking the first time the word “climate” was included in a bipartisan transportation bill. But while this climate title was worth celebrating, the bill overall would actually result in more emissions, not less. Here’s how, and why we need a different approach.
T4America statement on Senate Republicans’ HEALS Act
Senate Republicans’ COVID-19 relief funding proposal contains no emergency funding for transit for passenger rail. T4America released this statement in response.
Transit agencies sound the alarm: COVID-19 is a long-term threat to service
The COVID-19 pandemic is decimating transit agencies’ budgets. Without emergency assistance from Congress, public transportation won’t be there when this crisis subsides—yet the Senate Republicans’ proposed stimulus bill doesn’t give transit a cent. Join transit agencies across the country and tell Congress that transit needs emergency funding.
Here’s how senators can turn their support for transit into real policy
At a Congressional hearing earlier this week, senators on both sides of the aisle expressed support for funding public transportation. As they begin to prepare legislation, we have six ideas on how to guarantee that transit is a priority.
The Senate’s first transportation reauthorization bill gets an F
Authorizing federal spending on surface transportation is complicated, with different Congressional committees writing separate portions of the bill. That’s why we’ll score every reauthorization bill by how well it achieves our three simple principles for transportation investment. The America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act fails on all counts.
Broad coalition takes the offensive on federal automated vehicle policy
Instead of waiting for Congress to release a new bill to regulate autonomous vehicles worse than last year’s notorious AV START Act, T4America joined a diverse coalition of safety, public health, consumer, and transportation groups to urge lawmakers to take a smarter approach than last year’s reckless hands-off approach for the driverless car industry.
Senate Transportation Infrastructure Act makes welcome additions but fails to change the status quo
Today the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works approved America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act, a bill that will reauthorize the FAST Act once it expires in September 2020. T4America director Beth Osborne offered this statement: “This first attempt at reauthorization from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has some notable new additions worth praising, […]
U.S. Senate passes transportation appropriations bill with robust funding for transit, rail programs
The US Senate again rejected the Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate or severely cut vital transportation programs that local communities rely on by adopting its FY19 Transportation Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill. In perhaps their strongest rebuke of the president’s disdain for transit, the bill language specifically requests that USDOT manage the BUILD program (formerly TIGER) as it did during the Obama administration.
Senate Democrats’ infrastructure plan provides more funding, but as with the president’s plan, it fails to prioritize repair & maintenance
Upon the release of the Senate Democratic Jobs & Infrastructure Plan, T4A Director Kevin F. Thompson released the following statement:
Senate tax bill greenlights a torrent of cuts to transportation programs
After the United States Senate voted late Friday night to approve passage of their tax reform bill, T4America director Kevin F. Thompson released the following statement.
Tax reform proposals would cut more than taxes
Though presented by Congress as a sensible approach to provide relief from a complicated tax code, Congress’ tax reform proposals would actually increase the deficit and trigger $150 billion in automatic reductions that are likely to end up resulting in deep cuts to vital transportation and infrastructure investments.
T4America Statement on Senate Commerce AV START Markup
On Wednesday, October 4, the Senate Commerce Committee marked up and approved the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV START) Act. Beth Osborne, senior policy advisor for T4America, offered this statement in response.
Senate revises bill on automated vehicles but fails to address the primary concerns of cities and states
On Wednesday, October 4, the Senate Commerce Committee will mark up the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV START) Act. A revised draft was released by the committee on September 29.
Take action on Senate automated vehicles bill that would would leave cities, states, and the public in the dark
Congress is on the cusp of passing the very first federal law to regulate automated vehicles (AVs). Unfortunately, a Senate committee has produced a law that would leave cities, states, and the public in the dark while handing the keys to the industry.
Federal approach to regulating automated vehicles described as a “giveaway to the industry”
After producing draft legislation for discussion last week, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing this week about automated vehicles (AVs) and some of the witnesses’ testimony highlighted the numerous problems with the committee’s approach that would hand the keys to automakers, kick cities to the curb, and threaten the safety of millions.
Senate automated vehicles legislation would jeopardize the safety of millions and leave cities and states on the side of the road
Transportation for America (T4A), and the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) issued the following response to the released Senate discussion draft of the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV START) Act.
Do our federal transportation priorities match the rhetoric we use to justify more spending?
With the Trump administration readying both an annual budget and discussing a possible large infrastructure package, Transportation for America this morning urged a key Senate subcommittee not to stop investing in programs that promote innovation, encourage collaboration and maximize benefits for local communities.
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