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 […]
Ten key things to know about the new transportation law
Download this Top 10 as a sharable PDF We’ll be honest: We were truly disheartened by the way the Senate’s solid transportation bill was mangled in the late-hour, backroom negotiations with the House late last month, and our early commentary showed it. Now that the President has signed MAP-21 into law, we are able to […]
1,000 days overdue: The clock literally runs out as House negotiators demand extreme provisions
Notice something funny about our “count up” clock, ticking off the days since the transportation law expired? It flipped to zero today, because we set it up to count only to 999 days. Because who would have believed in 2009 that we would be over halfway through 2012 with the prospects of a renewal just as […]
Weight of the Nation series highlights transportation’s potential to help fight obesity
HBO’s new film series highlights the shocking state of our country’s obesity levels and worsening health, highlighting the impacts of the transportation systems we build and where we live on those alarming trends. An influential public health expert weighs in for T4 America on the movie and the connections to transportation.
Senate plan to give local communities more control in making their streets safer could be in jeopardy
It’s always hard to tell for certain what’s really happening on the inside during House-Senate conference committee negotiations on the transportation bill. Nearly all of the meetings are in private for the most part and confirming rumors and hearsay on what’s really happening is always very difficult. Which is one reason why you haven’t read […]
Final House-Senate bill must prioritize the repair of our bridges and roads
After months of hard work and thousands of calls and e-mails from many of you, we’re close to finally seeing a full transportation bill reach a final vote. A select group of House and Senate members are negotiating the final transportation bill right now in a conference committee, and they have immense power to affect the final product. Can you take a minute to tell your senators and representative to prioritize the repair of our roads and bridges during negotiations?
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.
Kicking off “Transportation Vote 2012”
Local communities across the country are preparing to vote on the people, plans and projects that will set the tone for transportation progress in the months and years to come — with many communities already showing us how it’s done. Transportation Vote 2012 will help educate voters, advocates and candidates and keep abreast of transportation-related campaigns as they unfold.
U.S. communities step up, hoping a strong federal commitment to infrastructure will follow
As Congress is finally close to passing a transportation bill more than 953 days after it first expired, many places have charged ahead with transportation funding and construction and are taking steps to make those needed investments today. But will they be enough without the strong federal partner we’ve had for the last 50 years leading the way? That remains to be seen, according to this compelling new report from the Urban Land Institute
Senate budget restores some sanity to transportation programs
Just a few weeks after Rep. Paul Ryan released his House budget that proposed cutting or eliminating many important transportation programs, the key Senate committee’s budget for transportation (and housing) for next year contains some good news. This doesn’t mean that the fight is over for this year — this budget will still have to be reconciled with the House, which is no easy feat. And we’ll have a battle at that point once more. It’s been tougher and tougher in the last few years to pass actual budgets for these individual programs. This year will be no different, especially heading into an election this fall.
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.
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