Author Archive
Release: Over 200 transit agencies, cities, and organizations urge Congress to pass emergency funding for transit
Over 220 elected officials, transit agencies, and organizations urge Congress to provide $13 billion in emergency funding for public transportation to stave off service cuts and job layoffs, and preserve service for the future
The Congestion Con: You’ve been played
In a new report, The Congestion Con: How more lanes and more money equals more traffic, we show how our approach to curbing congestion with new and wider highways has failed. We have spent decades and hundreds of billions of dollars on highways in the name of beating back congestion, yet in all of the 100 most populous urbanized areas examined in the report, congestion has gotten worse as a result. The Congestion Con lays out a comprehensive look at congestion data, why our “solution” has failed, and what the federal government can do to correct course.
What’s inside presidential candidates’ transportation plans?
Our director Beth Osborne often jokes that transportation is the first agenda item on politicians’ second to-do list—which is why it never gets done. Most presidential candidates are no different, advocating for business-as-usual transportation funding or embedding transportation across multiple plans. Here’s what’s in them.
“This budget is disappointing but not surprising”: T4America statement on President Trump’s 2021 budget request
“With enormous potential to reshape the way Congress and the public think about transportation policy, the President’s FY 2021 budget follows his past budgets, cutting transit, rail and safety for those walking and biking while stressing highway funds require no accountability.”
House principles could finally connect transportation spending to tangible outcomes
Transportation for America and the National Complete Streets Coalition released a statement regarding the principles for infrastructure released today by the House majority of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
14 cities join Transportation for America’s Smart Cities Collaborative
The roster for the Smart Cities Collaborative is set. Last December we announced the three cities that will be implementing pilot programs in this year’s Collaborative; today we’re unveiling the remaining 14 cities and agencies that will join this peer learning effort on curb management.
TransportationCamp DC in the rearview mirror
TransportationCamp DC 2020 was last weekend, and while it was a huge success, it almost didn’t happen at all. More than 500 people were there on Saturday and the waitlist topped 100. The creativity and energy on display was awesome. Recapping such a dynamic event is a challenge, but we collected some short reflections from staff who were there to help give you a feel for what we saw and felt on Saturday if you weren’t able to attend.
Connecting people to jobs and services week: Hey Congress, we need your help to measure access
The Des Moines Area MPO wants to make a shift to award funding the transportation projects that do the most to improve the region’s resident’s access to jobs and services. But—like most MPOs and local governments across the country—its budget for the technology that makes this possible is small. It’s time for Congress to help local communities invest in the right projects.
Connecting people to jobs and services week: Rethinking shared mobility to prioritize access
Transportation is fundamentally about connecting people, but America’s transportation system focuses on moving cars instead. Madlyn McAuilffe from the New Urban Mobility Alliance wrote this guest post about the consequences of our misguided priorities and how we can get back to focusing on building places and transportation networks for people.
Connecting people to jobs and services week: What do destination access metrics look like in action?
Academics have long pointed to a metric called destination access—called by Transportation for America “access to jobs and services”—as a better decision guide than older, conventional measures that focus mainly on the speed of cars. But what does this new practice look like in real life, and where and how is it already being used?
It’s past time to elevate the national conversation about infrastructure beyond just the price tag. Learn more about T4America's three simple principles for federal transportation investment.
Read our new principles