Building America’s Future brings bipartisanship to rebuilding the country
For two years now, Building America’s Future has been beating the drum for substantive investment in our nation’s roads, bridges, railways and ports. This week, the bipartisan coalition ramped up its message to Washington with a press conference pushing for a National Infrastructure Bank.
Cleaner buses can create jobs, improve the environment
A new study by Duke University illuminates the fact that thousands of green jobs are waiting to be tapped in transit bus manufacturing — if the federal government will make a sustained commitment to investing in public transportation. Jobs in and related to public transportation are some of the lowest hanging fruit in the push for green jobs, so what’s keeping the domestic manufacturing industry from ramping up?
Feds announce change to consider livability in funding transit projects
Following through on a policy change hinted at for much of 2009, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced this morning that federal transit officials would begin considering expanded criteria as they select which transit projects to fund, focusing on livability and sustainability.
East Tennessee doctor weighs in on the health-transportation connection
Our transportation decisions have a huge impact — positive or negative — on the health and well-being of all Americans. This idea that health and transportation are connected is gaining traction all across the country due in large part to groups (and T4 America partners) like the American Public Health Association, Prevention Institute, Partnership for Prevention and Health by Design. An influential doctor wrote a smart op-ed for an Eastern Tennessee newspaper this week asking some pointed questions on behalf of Tennesseans.
Biking the freeze?
The Streetsblog Network is working on another slide show, this one seasonally appropriate. It’s time for another Streetsblog Network slide show. This time, in honor of the frosty weather enveloping much of the country (and the world), we’re looking for your pictures of cycling in inclement conditions. Snow, ice, extreme cold — we know that […]
SGA analysis reveals transportation projects create the most jobs at the lowest cost
A new analysis of federal stimulus spending, co-authored by Smart Growth America, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and U.S. PIRG, reveals that during the first ten months of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), investments in public transportation produced twice the jobs per billion dollars as did highway projects.
Debate panelists split over buses, broader impact of transit investments
Monday’s online debate on conservatives and public transportation was billed as a back-and-forth on why the ideological right should embrace public transportation. While differences persisted between our conservative and libertarian panelists about the impact of transit investments, another schism developed over how big a role buses should play.
Secretary Ray LaHood on the the Daily Show with Jon Stewart
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was the guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night, and got an easy question right off the bat. When asked by Stewart about how a high-powered CEO could get from New York to D.C. “when it’s foggy out,” alluding to the three Wall Street CEOs who had their plane grounded in last week’s fog, missing a meeting with the President, Ray LaHood gave a simple answer. “Amtrak runs in the fog,” he said.
Still time to register for today’s discussion on conservatives and public transportation
What is the conservative rationale for providing efficient public transportation? Some conservatives would likely suggest that the entire concept is an oxymoron. Conservatives William Lind and the late Paul Weyrich believe otherwise. This is the final post in a three-part series on Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation, the subject of an online debate later today (at 3 p.m. Eastern, register now!)
Pew: “Self-sustaining” highways are increasingly subsidized
Critics of public transportation say government should not subsidize a transportation option that cannot pay for itself. A new study conducted by SubsidyScope, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, reveals that not only are roads and highways not self-sustaining, but the amount covered by gas taxes is declining.
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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