The 775-page transportation authorization bill introduced in the House this week, offers a broad, reform-minded framework for fixing our nation’s transportation system. However, more must be done to ensure an equitable, smart, and green transportation system that provides real, affordable options for all Americans.
To help you stay abreast of the transportation authorization, we are hosting a conference call on Friday June 26th from 2:30 to 3:30 pm EST (11:30 am to 12:30 pm PDT), where PolicyLink, Transportation for America, and the Transportation Equity Network will break down the equity opportunities in the new transportation authorization bill.

To RSVP for the call, visit http://www.PolicyLink.org/AnEquitableFuture

“This bill provides a promising foundation for real transportation reform in America, but we must do more to ensure this bill promotes true access to opportunity for lower-income people and communities of color,” said Radhika Fox, PolicyLink Federal Policy Director. “While the House bill includes some positive provisions, more work needs to be done to ensure that this $450 billion dollar investment creates communities of opportunity for all Americans.”

We need far more detail, for instance, on whether low-income people and people of color will have meaningful access to good jobs and job training programs in the transportation sector. Most of the sections of the bill that cover these issues are blank with details “to be supplied.” In addition, we need stronger provisions to make sure cities and regions can use federal transportation resources to help cash-strapped transit agencies with support for the costs of current operations, not just capital construction.

The foundation for much-needed reform is in place, but the hard work of hammering out the details to ensure our nation’s under-served communities benefit still remains. PolicyLink stands ready to support members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and House leadership to craft a transformative bill that will foster equity and inclusion in America.

We also encourage you to visit the Transportation for America and Transportation Equity Network for more information.

With the release this week of the 775-page transportation re-authorization bill, the starting gun has officially sounded on the effort to create real transportation reform in America.

During a conference call Friday, June 26, from 2:30-3:30 pm EDT (11:30 am to 12:30 pm PDT), we will break down the equity opportunities in the new transportation authorization bill introduced in Congress this week – which could include billions in funding for low-income communities and communities of color.

RSVP for the call here

Panelists will include:

• Radhika Fox, Federal Policy Director, PolicyLink
• James Corless, Director, Transportation for America
• Laura Barrett, National Policy Director, Transportation Equity Network

The folks at Transportation4America aren’t afraid to be blunt. Their new micro-site, www.mycommutesucks.org, is a great way to show how smart transit policies can end the vicious tyranny of the long commute. Check it out…and in the meantime, watch this tender love story:

Want to hear about something really boring? How about I drone on and on about the safety benefits of a proposed Idaho law to allow bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs? I’m asleep already.

But the folks at BikePortland.org (a terrific and prolific transportation blog) have managed to use an animated online video to make a wonky and distant policy proposal come alive. And they didn’t even use the short cuts of humor or oversimplification. Instead, they explained the bill in a easy-to-understand and visually compelling way. Everyone who works to get public support behind policy proposals could learn a thing or two from this very cool and persuasive video:

Some great news for anyone interested in equitable transportation or creating healthy, opportunity-rich communities!

Transportation for America — an exciting broad-based coalition of housing, environmental, public health, urban planning, transportation, real estate, and business organizations — today released its much-anticipated policy platform  and a fresh new poll showing “an overwhelming majority of Americans believe restoring existing roads and bridges and expanding transportation options should take precedence over building new roads.”

From the coalition’s press release:

 Today in Washington, D.C., Transportation for America (T4America) held an event on Capitol Hill to announce formally our new coalition of more than 225 organizations and 15,000 individual members and to release the platform drafted with input from dozens of practitioners and stakeholders. In opening remarks, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) called the coalition perhaps the “most formidable” such coalition assembled on behalf of transportation reform.

In a keynote address, Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian Mississippi noted that towns large and small, in every region of the country, would benefit from more transportation options, while the county as a whole would reap reduced oil dependency, lower carbon emissions and greater access to opportunity. Other panelists spoke on behalf of the public health benefits, implications for real estate development and the need for local areas to have greater latitude to address their mobility issues.

At the same, the National Association of Realtors released a poll done in conjunction with T4America that shows strong support for  investment in public transportation, walking and biking and a better-managed and maintained highway system.

T4America also announced that the coalition will launch a series of town hall meetings and provide materials for self-organized house parties where engaged citizens can talk about what a renewed national vision for transportation investment could mean for their communities. More to come on that in the next several days.