ANCHORAGE CITIZENS COALITION, ALASKA CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY, AND THE BICYCLE COMMUTERS OF ANCHORAGE SUPPORT BLUEPRINT FOR TRANSPORTATION REFORM
Road map for transformational change will enhance Alaska’s economic future
Anchorage – Today, as Congress prepares to rewrite the federal transportation law, Alaskan organizations join Transportation for America to release a detailed plan to recreate the nation’s transportation program in order to build a smart, safe and clean transportation system that provides real choices to all Americans.
Developed in consultation with teams of transportation professionals, public officials and stakeholders from and around the country, The Route to Reform outlines a renewed vision for the federal program as well as ways to pay for it, coupled with a restructuring that can produce results. Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski serve on the key committees in the U.S. Senate and will play a major role in shaping the future of transportation in America and Alaska.
“As the existing program has lost focus and energy, we find ourselves with an aging, yet incomplete transportation system that is not prepared to serve the changing America of the 21st century,” said James Corless, Director of Transportation for America. “Our coalition is prepared to lend considerable support for a much larger investment in transportation, but we believe that only a reinvigorated, redirected federal program will win buy-in from our coalition and American taxpayers in general.”
In the blueprint, Transportation for America recommends Congress include four critical reforms in the upcoming transportation authorization bill:
1) Articulate a National Vision, Objectives, and Performance Targets for the national transportation program and hold state and local transportation agencies accountable for demonstrable progress toward goals including safety, efficiency, environment, health and equity.
2) Restructure and consolidate federal programs for greater modal integration, with a focus on completing the second half of the national transportation system, providing more transportation options for all Americans and creating seamless transportation systems that meet the unique needs and connect metropolitan regions, small towns, and rural areas.
3) Empower states, regions, and cities with direct transportation funding and greater flexibility to select projects, using carrots and sticks to incentivize wise transportation investments and in return require demonstrated performance on meeting national objectives.
4) Reform how we pay for the transportation system and create a Unified Transportation Trust Fund that would achieve balanced allocations of federal funds in a portfolio of rail, freight, highway, public transportation, and non-motorized transportation investments
The Route to Reform breaks with convention by calling on Congress not to increase taxes to provide additional funding to the federal transportation program unless it also institutes critical reforms. In the summer of 2008 Congress had to patch the highway trust fund with an $8 billion infusion from the general fund. A similar fix may be needed again this summer and long-term projections show that the current funding mechanisms will not meet future needs.
“Today’s transportation system leaves too many people stranded by the side of the road. This blueprint offers a bold new vision for a 21st century transportation system, including a Multimodal Access Program that will improve access for bikers and walkers and improve public transportation service while encouraging development patterns that build homes closer to employment centers.” said Brian Litmans, President of Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage. “Already Senator Mark Begich has signed onto the Complete Streets bill that requires federally funded roads to be designed for all users, not just drivers. We call on our congressional delegation to also support increased funding for public transportation, and climate change goals for transportation. This bill could fund additional People Mover routes and more frequent service as well as incentives for Anchorage to begin building the neighborhood centers called for in Anchorage 2020” making it safer to walk, bike and take a bus to work. These are reforms that will provide affordable mobility for families.
“Our nation’s transportation program has not been significantly upgraded since the 1950’s when President Eisenhower created our federal highway system,” concluded Corless. “Economic competitiveness in the 21st Century relies upon innovative solutions that give Americans options and connect our cities, regions, and rural areas. The upcoming rewrite of our federal transportation law represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop a new national transportation vision and leave behind a new legacy for our children and grandchildren. The Route to Reform will help policy makers ensure that legacy is one they can be proud of.”
Read the report at http://t4america.org/docs/blueprint_full.pdf
ABOUT TRANSPORTATION FOR AMERICA
Transportation for America is a broad coalition of housing, environmental, equal opportunity, public health, urban planning, transportation and other organizations focused on creating a 21st Century national transportation program. The coalition’s goal is to build a modernized infrastructure and healthy communities where people can live, work and play by aligning national, state, and local transportation policies with an array of issues like economic opportunity, climate change, energy security, health, housing and community development. www.t4america.org
