Posts Tagged "transit"
Transit still more popular with millennials, despite their upbringing
One of the deepest studies of attitudes about public transportation, published yesterday, finds that core fundamentals like speed, reliability and cost are far more important to millennials than wi-fi or smartphone apps. They’re open to riding it even more, but like everyone else, find that there just aren’t enough neighborhoods being built that have great transit options.
Four senators introduce bill to help finance transit-oriented development
Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) have introduced an important bill to make it easier for communities to support economic development around transit stations. For any community with a high-capacity transit line – subway, light rail, bus rapid transit – encouraging walkable development around the stations is […]
From state to town, Michigan takes strong steps toward a better transportation future
Perhaps no place illustrates the national positive trends in transportation at the ballot box (and state legislatures) better than Michigan, where citizens voted to raise taxes for transportation investments in cities and counties across the state, at least one anti-transit elected official was ousted, a Republican governor led the charge for regional transit investment in the state’s biggest metro and when given a chance to bail in the name of “cost savings,” voters doubled down on their existing transit systems.
A stirring persuasion for deciding to vote for transit: seeing it built next door
One of the most powerful avenues for persuading a skeptical community to invest in transit is to see it successfully implemented nearby — whether in the community or neighborhood right next door, or a city and region a few hours away. This trend is illustrated in two of this year’s Transportation Vote 2012 ballot measures through two very different stories in Virginia and North Carolina.
Tuesday’s vote: Strong support for more transportation options nationwide
During a federal election season that saw the presidential candidates making only the barest mention of our teetering system for funding transportation infrastructure, local voters took transit funding into their own hands in more than two-dozen locales Tuesday. Most of the measures that included public transportation and a more balanced set of transportation options appear to have passed — or in the case of California, came achingly close to the required two-thirds majority.
Telling only half the story of congestion, travel time and the quality of our metro areas
A popular study on traffic and congestion in our metropolitan areas is widely cited by the national, state and local media with every annual release, but it doesn’t tell the entire story. Far from it. That’s because measuring congestion while ignoring the actual time and distance spent commuting is a poor measure of what residents’ actually experience on a day-to-day basis.
With cities and suburbs clamoring to build new transit systems, a new book showcases creative financing approaches for getting them built
The demand for public transit is at its highest point in 50 years, and more communities then ever before are looking for funds to build and operate rail and bus lines. Despite the challenges posed by ideological gridlock in Congress, dwindling federal gas tax revenues, and the elimination of earmarks, many communities are finding creative ways to move ahead.
Is metro Atlanta vote a bellwether for transportation funding?
The Atlanta region soundly rejected a penny sales tax to fund $7.1 billion in new transportation improvements for the traffic-snarled region. Coming on the heels of the passage of MAP-21, a federal bill indicating a shrinking federal role in transportation funding, many wondered: Will metro regions and localities be able to bootstrap their way out of congestion and mobility woes? Was the failure of Atlanta’s transportation vote a bellwether for votes in other states and metros?
Atlanta transportation vote: “You pay it one way or another”
It took three tries in the Georgia legislature for metro Atlanta to win the right to vote itself a regional sales tax to fix its transportation woes, and another two years of a grinding political process to come up with a list of 157 highway and transit projects that just might do the trick. Now […]
Saving a transit system and turning the tide for the future of a mid-sized city
Last month, the citizens of Baton Rouge, LA, voted to raise their taxes to preserve and expand their struggling bus system. To pass it, churches, faith-based groups and local organizers teamed up with businesses and institutions. As we’ve seen in similar local measures, they won by explaining exactly what taxpayer money would buy, building a diverse coalition and getting out the vote.
House committee ignores broad opposition, decimates transit funding anyway
Hours after receiving over 5,000 letters and phone calls and a letter signed by more than 600 groups from an unbelievably broad spectrum, the House Ways and Means Committee ignored that broad, bipartisan opposition and went full speed ahead with their unprecedented plan to kill dedicated transit funding — ending the historic guarantee for dedicated funding for public transportation, leaving millions of riders already faced with service cuts and fare increases out in the cold.
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.
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 […]
With Congress in limbo, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder puts promising transportation ideas on the table
More state and local officials are coming to grips with the fact that they cannot wait for Washington to act on infrastructure investment and repair. After two years of short-term extensions, a new transportation bill may or may not happen in the next six months. From a vantage point closer to their constituents, local leaders […]
Transit benefit once again slated to be cut in half — tell Congress to move
Last November, we posted an action alert on the potential for millions of Americans to see the cost of their commute suddenly rise. Congress wisely chose to extend to $230 per month tax benefit for transit as part of the 2010 package extending the Bush tax cuts, continuing transit parity with the $230 deduction available […]
Today is the “Don’t X Out Public Transportation” day of action
15 events around the country today highlight the devastating impact of the House’s initial transportation proposal that would make a 35 percent cut to public transportation. Today is the “Don’t X Out Public Transportation” day of action to highlight the crippling impacts of the proposed 35 percent cut to public transit. The events are being held in 15 cities in cooperation with the American Public Transportation Association and a number of key partners to let Congress know that deep cuts mean Americans losing their jobs or their ability to get to their jobs, as well as groceries and essential services.
“Passengers” documentary features diverse voices on transportation
A newly-released documentary available both on radio and online surveys a variety of Americans about their perspectives on the nation’s public transportation system. “Passengers,” as the program was dubbed, aired on WAMU (D.C.’s NPR affiliate), a number of public radio stations in most major U.S. markets and nationwide on NPR World and NPR’s Sirius XM […]
Tell your story: 15.5 million seniors will have poor or non-existent transit access in 2015. How will it affect you?
By 2015, more than 15.5 million Americans 65 and older will live in communities where public transportation service is poor or non-existent. That number will continue to grow rapidly as the baby boom generation “ages in place” in suburbs and exurbs with few mobility options for those who do not drive. How will we address […]
Seniors and transit report generates widespread coverage and discussion
Last week, we released Aging in Place, Stuck without Options, documenting the more than 15.5 million Americans 65 years and older who, by 2015, will live in places with poor or non-existent public transportation. The report ranked metro areas according to the percentage of seniors projected to face poor transit access, and asked: How do […]
Nassau County Executive to privatize Long Island Bus system
In April, the Long Island Bus system in Nassau County, New York was on the verge of cutting bus service in half until a funding deal between state and local officials halted the reductions with an $8.6 million cash infusion. Now, with the temporary lifeline slated to end in December, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano has announced his intention to privatize the system by 2012.
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