A New National Transportation
Policy for the 21st Century
Transportation For America
American Planning Association
September 21st, 2010
Kathleen Woodruff, T4A Illinois Statewide Organizer
Source: © 2009 GasBuddy.com
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 10, 2006
Children Are Walking Less to School
In 1969: 50% of children
walked or biked to school.
In 2001: only 13% of
children walked or biked
to school.
Source: Robert Wood Johnson foundation, Active Transportation to
School: Trends in Walking and Biking to School
Americans are Becoming
Increasingly Obese
Americans are Becoming Increasingly Obese
Source: Mokdad A H, et al. J Am Med Assoc 1999;282:16, 2001
Economic Costs of Obesity
• Direct costs of obesity total $75 billion nationally; indirect
costs total $139 billion
• Obese people pay 36% more for health care and 77% more for
medications
• Obese employees had $51,091 in workers’ compensation
medical claims costs per 100 full-time employees; non-obese
employees had $7,503 in medical claims costs per 100
employees
Economic Costs of Obesity
• Indirect costs fall on employers (increased absenteeism,
disability, presenteeism, workers’ compensation)
• Obese workers had 183.63 lost workdays per 100 full-time
employees; non-obese workers had 14.19 lost workdays per
100 full-time employees
• Excessive weight and physical inactivity negatively affect
quality & quantity of work, and overall job performance
Americans want transportation
options
Federal Gas Tax
Americans Want Options
➔73% of Americans say they have no choice but
to drive
➔Further 66% would like MORE options.
• 59% would like more public transit options
➔57% would like to spend less time in their car
Federal Transportation Policy
➔We need increased transportation investment
➔BUT can’t keep asking for money without a
vision
➔Need to be smarter about where we build new
➔Need more accountability and performance
➔Better up front planning, less red tape on back
end
➔Contractors, labor, enviros, health cooperate
History of Reauthorization
• 1991, ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act)
$155 Billion
– new vision for surface transportation
– expanded funding to air quality, reducing congestion and pedestrian and
bicycle access
• 1998, TEA-21 (Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century)
$227 Billion
– Declared interstate highway system complete
– Increased funding levels and added local flexibility to existing programs
• 2005, SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient,
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users)$286 Billion
– Safe Routes to School Program and more funding
• 2010/11, The New Bill? $450 Billion
ISTEA
• ISTEA: Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of
1991
• $155 Billion
• New vision for surface transportation in America.
• Presented an overall intermodal approach to highway and
transit funding with collaborative planning requirements
• Gave significant additional powers to (MPOs) Metropolitan
Planning Organizations.
TEA-21
• Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 1998-2003
• Authorized $217 billion over 6 years
– 40% more than ISTEA
Balanced investment in highway, transit, intermodal projects and
technologies,
Strong state and local flexibility in the use for funds.
Increased tax-free transit benefits to encourage transit ridership.
Streamlined Planning in metropolitan and statewide
transportation planning processes
-freight shippers and transit riders as stakeholders. Strengthens
the role of local officials and improves public involvement in the
planning processes.
•
•
SAFETEA-LU
August 2005, President Bush signed into law
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for
Users
• $286 Billion
•
Focused on improving safety, reducing traffic congestion, improving efficiency
in freight movement, increasing intermodal connectivity, and protecting the
environment
KEY PRINCIPALS
• Safety
• Equity
• Innovative Finance
• Congestion Relief
• Mobility and Productivity
• Efficiency
• Environmental stewardship
• Environmental Streamlining
REAUTHORIZATION-2011?
Will they use outline from Oberstar house bill
Huge opportunity with current administration
Most likely now not happening until 2011
What will the midterms bring?
Change in party? Change in leadership of crucial
committees such as EPW, Banking etc.?
Transportation for America believes the 21st century
requires a more complete transportation system—
one that is smarter, safer, cleaner, and provides
more mobility options for all Americans.
A broad, growing coalition
T4America: A Broad, Growing Coalition
➔ Began May 2008
➔ 500 members include AARP, ATU, TWU,
Teamsters, Good Jobs First, National
Housing Conference, TEN, Policylink,
NRDC, American Public Health
Association
➔ 8 staffed states, partners in 40 states
➔ New Blueprint unveiled in May 2009
provides a roadmap for reform.
The T4America Agenda
➔ Smarter
➔ Goals and performance measures
➔ Smarter communities with a diverse mix of uses
➔ ITS and operational hwy improvements
➔ Safer
➔ Safer streets for drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists
➔ More choices
➔ Such as public transportation, high speed rail, walkable
neighborhoods, bike paths
➔ More local control
➔ New roles and $$ for regional transportation agencies
T4America Goals
➔ Accountability – measurable goals incl CO2 & safety
➔ Repair - Road, bridge and transit rehab & operations
➔ Jobs - Quality jobs & workforce development
➔ Options – public transit, walkable communities, rail
➔ Access – for seniors, low-income and the disabled
➔ Innovation – technology, mixed income TOD
➔ Influence - more local voices and local control
Critical Reform Areas
Performance Measurement
and Accountability
Institutional Structure
How to measure progress?
How to monitor and deliver
reforms?
Program Structure
Revenue and Finance
How to achieve objectives?
How to pay for it?
Transportation and a 21st century economy
Transportation in a 21st Century Economy
The Federal Highway
Administration estimates that every
billion of federal dollars invested in
transportation creates 34,000 jobs
Investments in road maintenance
projects create nine percent more jobs
than spending on new highway
capacity; investment in transit capacity
creates 19 percent more jobs than road
expansion.
National Transportation Objectives
➔ Promote Energy Conservation and Energy
Security
➔ Ensure Environmental Protection, including
Climate Stability
➔ Improve Economic Competitiveness and System
Efficiency
➔ Ensure Safety and Improved Public Health
➔ Better Transportation System Conditions and
Connectivity
➔ Provide Equal and Equitable Access to
Transportation Options
Flickr user: starquake
Performance Targets
•
Reduce per capita VMT by 16%
•
Triple walking, biking, and public
transportation usage
•
Reduce transportation-generated carbon
dioxide levels by 40%
Flickr user: karolik
•
Increase proportion of freight
transportation provided by railroad and
intermodal service by 20%
•
Achieve zero percent population
exposure to at-risk levels of air pollution
Flickr user: portlandbike.org
Elements of Reform
•
Empowering local and regional governing bodies
with direct funding and decision-making ability.
•
Breaking down modal silos with reformed program
structure
•
Integrating transportation with land use, housing,
economic development, and environmental
protection through new programs and incentives.
•
Clear goals and performance targets – with
accountability.
Flickr user: dctourism
•
Elevating needs of underserved communities.
•
Multiple funding scenarios, but no extra dollars
without reform.
•
More balance in funding – more for transit,
bicycling, walking, planning
TIGER GRANTS
•TIGER:
•Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery
•Entire amount spent in the first round of TIGER grants
•Legislation provides $1.5 billion for a National Surface Transportation System
through September 30, 2011
•Awardees in Illinois
•Normal Illinois Multi-modal Transportation Center
•CREATE program aims to alleviate major bottlenecks along the area’s freight- and
passenger-rail corridors. The public/private partnership program includes more
than 46 rail and 25 grade separation projects that call for restructuring, modernizing
and expanding Chicago’s rail network..
•Amount potentially spent in TIGER II
•DOT is authorized to award $600 million in TIGER II Discretionary Grants
Key Differences between Tiger I and Tiger II:
-At least $140 million of the new grants are required to go to rural areas-Localities selected to receive federal funding would need to provide a 20 percent match
Name: Normal Multimodal Transportation Center
Location: Normal, IL
Sponsor: Town of Normal, IL
Total Cost:
$47,400,000
TIGER Funding:
$22,000,000
4 - Number of stories (first floor serves Amtrak, bus and taxi users; top three floors for town
of Normal administrative offices and City Council chambers)
400 - Spaces in attached parking deck
7,500 - Square feet of first-floor retail space
9.8 - Amount in millions of dollars for the town’s share of the project’s cost
24.9 - Amount in millions of dollars for the winning bid by River City Construction of East
Peoria
33.4 - Amount in millions of dollars received from federal and state grants, including $22
million in a federal Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery grant
43.3 - Amount in millions of dollars for the total cost, including design, furniture, equipment
and roads
Source: The Pantagraph
Sustainable Communities
➔ DOT, HUD & EPA
➔ Affordability, Choice & Access – both Transp & Housing
➔ Livable Communities = Sustainable Communities
➔ Coordination of Programs, ID Barriers to Implementation
➔ $150M in HUD FY10 Budget
➔ Sen Dodd bill - $400M regional planning, $3.75B
projects
Flickr user: starquake
Six livability principals
• The Partnership for Sustainable Communities established six
livability principles that will act as a foundation for
interagency coordination:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Provide more transportation choices.
Provide more transportation choices.
Enhance economic competitiveness.
Support existing communities.
Coordinate policies and leverage investment.
Value communities and neighborhoods.
Rep. Blumenauer on Government &
Transit
http://www.streetfilms.org/earl-blumenauer-talks-transit-stimulus-bikes-and-obama/
The Future of Transportation
➔
Metropolitan Regions
➔
that link to one another with roads, air, bus and high speed rail
➔
but also compete with one another for funding, business, people
➔
Goodbye gasoline tax, hello distance & congestion pricing
➔
Competitive grants from federal and state levels
➔
Smarter, more coordinated public transportation
➔
Focus on the big and the small – freight, high speed rail and
walkable communities
House T Bill
➔ $450B for six years
➔ Double $$ for transit, TOD is
major criteria
➔ Metro Mobility Pgm for large
metro areas
➔ Blueprint planning to link housing
& transportation plans
➔ CO2/Climate targets as part of
long range transp plans
Flickr user: starquake
Senate T Bill
➔ Safety
➔ Asset Management
➔ Freight
➔ Metro Mobility
➔ High Speed Rail?
➔ Draft in December?
Current Legislative Update
•
•
•
•
Previous authorization (SAFETEA-LU) expired September 30,
2009, extended 4 times, most recently in “Jobs Bill 1” until
December 31, 2010
House bill (Surface Transportation Authorization Act, or STAA)
from Chairman Oberstar heard in subcommittee in June 2009
No transportation bill yet on Senate side – probably writing in
next few months, possibly lame duck? If not then, most likely
before May/June 2011
2011 Appropriations bill for Transportation, Housing & Urban
Development (THUD) pending
Flickr user: garyisajoke
Obama Initiative
➔
On Labor Day, President Obama
unveiled
•
•
•
➔
6 years
ROADS: Rebuild 150,000 miles of roads –
renewing our commitment to the
backbone of our transportation system;
RAILWAYS: Construct and maintain 4,000
miles of rail – enough to go coast-tocoast RUNWAYS: Rehabilitate or
reconstruct 150 miles of runway – while
putting in place a NextGen system that will
reduce delays.
Could spur job growth as early as next
year
•
IF Congress approves……….
Great quote from Streetsblog:
On Labor Day, President Obama put
transportation near the top of his agenda by
calling on Congress to tackle stagnant job growth
by repairing and upgrading infrastructure. He
asked Congress to ramp up investment in roads
and rail, create a federal infrastructure bank that
would help fund large and complex projects,
reform the Balkanized structure of federal
transportation spending programs, and make the
nation’s transportation system safer and more
livable. Advocates for shifting away from the
highway-centric effects of current federal policy
were encouraged by Obama’s use of the word
“reform,” and the lack of any mention of
expanding highways.
Obama Initiative
➔
➔
➔
➔
An up-front investment.
The President will work with Congress to enact a new up-front investment in our
nation’s infrastructure – an investment that would help jump-start additional job
creation, while also laying the foundation for future growth. This initial
investment would fund improvements in the nation’s surface transportation, as
well as our airports and air traffic control system.
A vision for the future. The President proposes to pair this with a long-term
framework to reform and expand our nation’s investment in transportation
infrastructure. Since the end of last year, when the last long-term surface
transportation legislation expired, these investments have been continued on a
temporary basis, even as the trust fund to finance them has fallen into
insolvency.
If we are to enjoy the benefits that come from a world-class transportation
system, Congress must enact a long-term reauthorization that expands and
reforms our infrastructure investments and returns the transportation trust fund
to solvency. To jumpstart job creation, this long-run policy front-loads – through
a $50 billion up-front investment – a significant share of the new infrastructure
resources. As with other long-run policies, the Administration is committed to
working with Congress to fully pay for the plan.
Campaign Strategies
• Make clear asks for “Highway and Bridge Repair”
and transit funding for any jobs bill
• Support strong transportation planning and
funding provisions in climate bill
• Support House bill and work for some modest
improvements
• Develop Senate champions and supporters for
transformative Senate transportation bill
•Work with champions and allies to support key
marker bills
•Find common ground to bring over or diminish
previous opposition
Campaign Strategies
Marker bills
(introduced)
• Active Transportation
(introduced)
• Complete Streets (introduced)
•Safe Routes to School
• Fix it First
•National Transportation
Objectives (performance
measures)
• Livable Communities Act
• Rural Transportation
• Green Freight & Ports
• Blueprint Planning
Midwest Strategies
• Key Senate Targets – include
Durbin (IL), Klobuchar (MN),
Voinivich and Brown (OH)
• All Senators are Key
• Key House Targets – include
Oberstar (MN), Levin (MI)
• Caucus Opportunities
• Election Education
Opportunities
Midwest Strategies
• High Speed Rail
• Rural Issues (incl. Livability)
• Jobs
• Freight Issues
• New Starts
• Transit funding
• Active Transportation/Health
• Climate
• State of Good Repair
• Others?
WHO WE ARE
…and over 500 more, and growing.
http://t4america.org/who-we-are/
Work with Us!
Join us at t4america.org
Contact Kathleen Woodruff at
kathleen.woodruff@t4america.org
Flickr user: tallkev