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Blueprint for a 21st Century
federal transportation
program
tHerOute TO
REFORM
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T4America.org
202-955-5543
1707 l s nW
s 250
Wh, dC, 20036
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ransportation or America (4 America) repre-
sents a broad range o national and local organi-
zations and thousands o individuals ocused on
modernizing and maintaining our national trans-
portation system inrastructure. Our members
believe that sound investments in transportation
are critical to the health o the nations economy
and essential or reducing our current dependenceon oil.
As Congress takes up debate over the ederal
surace transportation program, 4 America
joins many others in calling or the transorma-
tive change required to ensure our policies and
programs are better aligned to serve the needs o
a 21st Century America.
Congress should not shy away rom restructuring
the ederal surace transportation program and
its agencies. Tere is simply too much at stake or
the economy, our environment, and the needs
o Americans in every community across the
country.
We need a bold vision or the nations transpor-
tation inrastructure investments that promotes
maximum economic benets, access to oppor-
tunity, public health and environmental sustain-
ability or people living in urban, suburban and
rural communities. It is particularly urgent that
our roads, public transportation and rail systems
be made saer and more accessible or the grow-ing numbers o older Americans. Tis means
planning our transportation systems and our
development patterns to ensure that there are
convenient and aordable travel options available
to everyone, in every community, at every stage
o lie.
Tis document represents the best thinking o
many transportation proessionals, public o-
cials, and stakeholders, who were convened by
4 America to outline in detail the policy rame-
works that will build a national program capable
o laying the groundwork or a prosperous uture.
In it is our sincere hope that members o Con-
gress and their sta will nd here the thoughtul
guidance they seek as they undertake a heroic
rewriting o transportation policy at this pivotalmoment in our nations history.
Abouttasoao fo
Amca
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tHerOute TO
REFORMBlueprint for a 21st Century
federal transportation
program
Ackowdgms
Transportation for America wishes to thank
the many people who reviewed and helped
to develop the proposals in this Blueprint. In
particular, we express our appreciation to ShelleyPoticha, Andy Cotugno, David Burwell, Linda
Bailey, Hal Hiemstra, Michelle Giguere, and
Debbie Collard. Special acknowledgement also
goes to Lilly Shoup, Annie Finkenbinder and
Andrew Bielak on the T4 America staff for their
research assistance, and to Mariia V. Zimmerman
for directing the policy work teams and serving
as primary editor.
The pfomac Masm ad
AccoabyWork Team was lead by David
Warm and Mell Henderson with the Mid-America
Regional Council, and included Geoff Anderson,
Smart Growth America; Tom Bulger, Government
Relations; Anne Canby, Surface Transportation
Policy Partnership; Marlene Connor and Jim
McLaughlin, Wilbur Smith Associates; Fred
Hansen and Eric Hesse, Tri-Met; Roger Millar,
Director of Planning City of Missoula, Montana;
Michael Replogle, Environmental Defense
Fund; David Van Hattum, Transit for Livable
Communities
The pogam Sc Work Team was lead
by Shelley Poticha, Reconnecting America, and
included Andy Cotugno, Portland Metro; Jeff
Boothe, Holland & Knight, LLC; Michael Allegra,
Utah Transit Authority; Linda Bailey, NYC DOT;
Sarah Campbell, District of Columbia; and
James Corless, Metropolitan Transportation
Commission
The isoa rfom Work Team was
led by Paul Bay, and included Rex Burkholder,
Portland METRO; Elaine Clegg, Idaho SmartGrowth; Jim Charlier, Charlier & Associates;
Joel Ettinger, New York MTC; Jackie Grimshaw,
Center for Neighborhood Technology; Tom
Murphy, Urban
The rv ad Fac Working Group was
led by David Burwell, and included Bill Ankner,
Louisiana DOT; Chris Leinberger, LOCUS;
Jack Lettiere; Deron Lovaas, NRDC; Therese
McMillan, MTC; Paul Marx, Sacramento RTD;
Robert Puentes, Brookings Institution, and
Jonathan Rose, Rose Companies
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ecv s
In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed
into law the largest public works program in his-
tory, an inrastructure project that would reshape
America in the 20th century. Te National Inter-
state and Deense Highways Act, as it is com-
monly known, embodied a vision that Americas
cities and states could be linked with a network
o superhighways that would allow people, com-
merce and the military to move rapidly rom one
part o the country to another.
Fity years later, the Interstate Highway System
has been built, and America stands in desperate
need o a new vision or our national transporta-
tion system. Just as the Interstate highway bill an-
swered some o the most pressing mobility needs
o the rapidly growing nation in the mid-20thcentury, a new ederal surace transportation bill
must answer the vastly dierent needs o America
in the 21st century. Te next transportation pro-
gram must set about the urgent task o repairing
and maintaining our existing transportation as-
sets, building a more well-rounded transportation
network, and making our current system work
more eciently and saely to create complete and
healthy communities. It should invest in modern
and aordable public transportation, sae places
to walk and bicycle, smarter highways that use
technology and tolling to better manage conges-tion, long-distance rail networks, and land use
policies that reduce travel demand by locating
more aordable housing near jobs and services.
And it should put us on the path towards a
stronger national uture by helping us reduce our
oil dependency, slow climate change, improve
social equity, enhance public health, and ashion
a vibrant new economy.
Getting there rom here will require some
signicant reorms. o meet these goals, the 4
America coalition oers our main recommenda-
tions or the upcoming transportation authoriza-
tion bill:
Develop a New National ransportation Vi-
sion with Objectives and Accountability or
Meeting Perormance argets.
Restructure Federal ransportation Programs
and Funding to Support the New National
ransportation Vision and Objectives.
Reorm ransportation Agencies and the
Decision-making Process.
Revise ransportation Finance So We Can
Pay or Needed Investments.
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dv a New NationalTransportation Visionwith Objectives andAccountability for Meeting
Performance TargetsTe next ederal surace transportation bill should
articulate a clear and compelling national vision
with specic goals or implementation that will
build and maintain a comprehensive National
ransportation System. Tis system will be
essential or helping us respond tothe myriad
challenges acing our nation today, including the
economy, energy, public health, the environment,
an aging population, and equal access and air
treatment or all communities and transportation
users.
America in the 21st century needs a complete Na-
tional ransportation System that includes sae,
well-maintained, and ecient highway, rail and
public transportation systems, as well as bicyclingand pedestrian networks. 4 America calls on
Congress to clearlydene the national interest
and purpose o the ederal transportation pro-
gram by adopting and implementing the ollow-
ing set o National ransportation Objectives:
Improve Economic1.
Competitiveness, ransportation
System Eciency and WorkorceDevelopment Opportunities
Improve ransportation System2.
Conditions and Connectivity
Promote Energy Eciency and3.
Achieve Energy Security
Ensure Environmental4.
Protection, Restore Climate
Stability and Resolve Persistent
Environmental Justice Issues
Ensure Saety or All5.
ransportation Users and
Improve Public Health
Outcomes
Provide Equal and Equitable6.
Access to ransportation
Options in Urban, Suburban and
Rural Communities
Te next ederal surace transportation bill should
hold state and local transportation agencies ac-
countable or meeting the transportation needs
o an increasingly diverse America and should
ocus on the needs o both our major metropoli-
tan areas and our small towns and rural regions.
In order to do so, the ederal government should
establish perormance targets that correspond
to the National ransportation Objectives, alongwith signicant oversight measures, while look-
ing to states and regions to develop the plans or
achieving these outcomes within ederal guide-
lines.
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Objectives
National Transportation
Objectives & Targets
Performance Targets
Reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled by 16%
Triple walking, biking and public
transportation usage
Reduce transportation-generated
carbon dioxide levels by 40%
Reduce delay per capita by 10%
Increase proportion of freight transportation
provided by railroad and intermodal services
by 20%
Achieve zero percent population exposure
to at-risk levels of air pollution
Improve public safety and lower congestion
costs by reducing traffic crashes by 50%
Increase share of major highways, regional transitfleets and facilities, and bicycling/pedestrian
infrastructure in good state of condition by 20%
Reduce average household combined housing +
transportation costs 25% (use 2000 as base year)
Increase by 50% essential destinations accessible
within 30 min. by public transit, or 15 min. walk for
low-income, senior and disabled populations
2010-2030
Improve Economic Competitiveness,Transportation System Efficiency and Workforce
Development Opportunities
Improve Transportation System Conditions and
Connectivity
Promote Energy Efficiency and Achieve Energy
Security
Ensure Environmental Protection, Restore Climate
Stability and Resolve Persistent Environmental
Justice Issues
Ensure Safety for All Transportation Users and
Improve Public Health Outcomes
Provide Equal and Equitable Access to
Transportation Options in Urban, Suburban and
Rural Communities
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rc FederalTransportation Programs toSupport the New NationalTransportation Vision and
Objectiveso achieve our national goals, 4 America calls
on Congress to restructure and consolidate,
ederal programs away rom single-mode silos
towards greater integration, and provide the tools
or states, regions and localities to develop solu-
tions.
A core set oNational Priority Programs should
be established or:
Outcome-Based Planning;
System Preservation and Renewal;
Access, Independence and Mobility Manage-
ment or Seniors, Disabled and Low-Income
Families;
ransportation Saety; and,
Energy Security or Clean Communities.
Te next bill should include a set o multimodal
programs, geographically tailoredto meet
mobility needs at the inter-regional, metropolitan,
small town and rura l levels to support highways,
passenger and reight rail, public transportation
and bicycle and pedestrian projects. It should
also provide cities with direct unding or project
implementation and provide new operating und-
ing or public transportation agencies.
Te programs established in the next transporta-
tion bill should help us complete our national
transportation system, with particular ocus on
expanding transportation options. ransportation
or America supports programs that will build a
modern, intercity passenger rail network, greenour reight transport systems and our ports, and
expand high-quality public transportation and
bicycling and pedestrian networks within metro-
politan areas. Te goal o our investment program
must be a nationally interconnected system o
roads, rail, public transportation, pedestrian, and
bicycling acilities.
Finally, a set oInnovation Programs should be
created to spur states and communities to ad-
vance state-o-the-art transportation policies into
state-o-the-practice. Strategies could include in-
creasing research and development o new system
management technologies, pursuing innovative
least-cost projects, and implementing policies that
anticipate uture needs and demands.
r TransportationAgencies and the Decision-making Process
When the United States Congress passed the
National Interstate Highways and Deense Act
o 1956, it empowered the states to construct the
41,000-mile system o superhighways to connectthe nation. Fity years later, with most Americans
living in metropolitan areas, our primary chal-
lenge is mobility within cities and their suburbs,
rather than between regions. Americas metropoli-
tan regions ace complex challenges that demand
new approaches and more responsive institutions.
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4 America believes that, along with greater ac-
countability, there must also be more local voices
and local control in the transportation decision-
making process.
4 America proposes empowering regions to
shape their uture by giving them more direct
unding and decision-making authority, while
holding them accountable or results. Te 4
America platorm also calls or new approaches
and practices such as complete streets policies
that are designed to meet the needs o all us-
ers; the adoption o fexible design and mobility
guidelines that emphasize cost-eectiveness; a
new stormwater policy standard to reduce water
pollution rom ederally unded roadways; new
incentives or aordable housing near public
transportation; and local hiring and workorce
development provisions to boost green jobs na-
tionwide.
At the same time, the ederal program must
acknowledge the powerul, inevitable interaction
between transportation investments and local
growth and development, as well as the proound
impact that development patterns have on the na-
tions economic, environmental and energy goals.
National Transportation
Priority Programs
Planning and Research
Transportation System Preservation and Renewal
State of Good Highway, Road, Trails, and
Bridge Repair
Access, Independence and Mobility Management
Transportation Safety
Energy Security for Clean Communities
State of Good Transit Repair
Programs to Complete the National
Transportation System
Intercity Passenger Transportation Program
Green Freight and Ports
Major Transit Capital Projects
Projects of National Significance
Geographically-Tiered Multimodal
Access Program
Statewide Multimodal Access Program
Metropolitan Multimodal Access Program
Local Multimodal Access Program for Cities and
Rural Regions
Innovation Incentive Programs
Sustainability Challenge Grants
Smart Communities Program
Active Transportation
Proposed Federal
Transportation Structure
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4 America proposes a newBlueprint Program
that would empower major metropolitan areas
with direct transportation unding and greater
authority to select projects, in return or progress
toward meeting national objectives. In addition,
we recommend that state Departments o rans-portation (DOs) be required to develop state-
wide blueprints, in partnership with smaller Met-
ropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), cities,
and rural planning districts, that demonstrate
how transportation investments across the state
advance community goals and national transpor-
tation objectives. Once certied, state blueprints
would provide the ramework or state DOs to
lead on intercity and interstate investments, and
also serve as the ramework or investment deci-
sions o unds sub-allocated to smaller MPOs,
cities and rural planning districts. Te Blueprint
process also creates the ramework to speed proj-
ect selection and delivery by completing analysis
o a comprehensive package o investments on the
ront-end.
rv TransportationFinance So We CanPay for NeededInvestments
In the summer o 2008, Congress had to patch
the highway trust und with an $8 billion inu-
sion rom the general und. A similar x may beneeded again this summer. Te nation needs to
develop a sustainable method o raising revenue
or ederal transportation programs. Increased
revenues or transportation are needed, and
4 America is prepared to support a near-
doubling o the current ederal investment to
roughly $500 billion over the next six years.
However, neither we nor the American public
will support this increase unless it is linked to
real reorm and can produce the sort o results
outlined in this proposal.
4 America believes the nation must diversiy the
unding sources or transportation and engage
in an aggressive eort to spur innovation and
develop new revenue strategies. Existing revenue
projections or both the short and long term,
coupled with growing needs or maintenance and
construction, are clearly outstripping the capacity
o the motor uel tax. In the short run, it may be
necessary to raise the ederal gas tax, or to index
it to infation, in preparation or a transition to a
tax based on vehicle miles traveled. Tis proposal
includes options or other innovative nance
mechanisms such as congestion pricing to pay or
travel options in a given corridor, a National In-
rastructure Bank, and a per-barrel surcharge on
oil. 4 America proposes three distinct revenue
alternatives that each would generate over $500billion or the next six-year authorization period.
As new revenue sources are developed, 4
America urges Congress to reorm the program
to create a Unied ransportation rust Fund
that would allow greater integration o surace
transportation systems and help to balance alloca-
tions o ederal dollars in a broader portolio o
investments in rail, reight, highways, bus, and
non-motorized transportation.
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ransportation policy is perhaps our most impor-
tant tool or making the nations economy more
globally competitive, or improving the health
and quality o lie or households and individuals,
and or increasing personal economic opportunity
the oundation o Americas economic vitality
and strength. ransportation networks are unda-
mental to how we grow, develop and prosper.
Over the years, the ederal program has presented
the equivalent o a blank check to the states,
who were guaranteed a certain amount o und-
ing regardless o how well or poorly they spent
it, or how inclusive or air their decision-making
processes were. One clear, practical result o thispolicy vacuum is states oten have avored build-
ing new acilities over maintaining and preserving
the existing system.
Context for Reform
Te original promise o the 1991 transporta-
tion reauthorization bill, the Intermodal Surace
ransportation Eciency Act o 1991 (ISEA),
was to provide new fexibility to move beyond the
traditional boundaries o a highway bill to create
a truly multi-modal system. Unortunately, this
promise was never realized because the fexibility
was rarely used, and uture bills included new
programs to try and ensure that certain under-
invested transportation needs were addressed.
Reorming the ederal program could take two
possible routes: (1) mandating the desired modaloutcomes without aording extensive fexibility,
or (2) establishing a comprehensive set o per-
ormance goals that could be achieved through
fexing unds to develop integrated solutions. 4
America recommends the latter, with the recog-
nition that fexibility without clear perormance
targets and strong measures or accountability
will ultimately ail to create and maintain a com-
prehensive national system that meets the myriad
challenges acing our nation.
Te current ederal transportation program must
be guided by a clear and compelling national
purpose and give guidance to the many govern-
ment and private institutions making decisions
about transportation at the state and local level.
While our current system has certain metricsor examining perormance, it is clear that these
measures o success are inadequate. ransporta-
tion programs and investment decisions ocus on
the physical condition o acilities (i.e. pavement
condition, age o bridges) and relative cost-eec-
tiveness o capacity alternatives with little ederal
oversight or reporting ocused on how money has
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been spent and how quickly. While the physical
condition o the system is an important consid-
eration, other actors must also be monitored
to help us evaluate whether, as a nation, we are
getting our value out o transportation invest-
ments. Similarly, there are insucient provisionsin national transportation programs to promote
accountability in decision-making processes tied
to broader economic, social and environmental
outcomes.
Tereore, this proposal provides a ramework to
bring greater ocus and discipline to the decision
making process to better ensure that transporta-
tion investments result in a stronger economy,
more energy eciency, healthier citizens, im-
proved access and mobility or all users, and
improved air and water quality.
Elements of Reform:Making the FederalProgram Goal Oriented andAccountable for AchievingResults
Te 4 America Blueprint includes strong, work-
able recommendations or improved accountabil-
ity, transparency and measurement o progress in
the perormance, maintenance, and accessibility
o the national surace transportation system.
Accountability is paramount in evaluating any
potential use o public unds and assets. Unortu-
nately, today state DOs apply the great major-
ity o ederal unds without ederal regulatory
standards, little ederal approval, and virtually no
ollow up or on-site audits to ensure the value o
the investments.
In developing this proposal, 4 America con-
sulted a range o experts and resources on per-
ormance and accountability and sought input
rom numerous transportation hpractitioners
and users. We believe the ollowing principles are
undamental to establishing a goal-oriented andaccountable ederal transportation program:
Te ederal program must establish and pri-
oritize national transportation outcomes that
articulate what the nation wants the ederal
transportation investments to achieve.
Te ederal program must set national trans-
portation perormance targets and methods
to assess progress including appropriate
oversight and checks on abuses to ensure ac-
countability in the targeting and application
o unding by all levels o government.
Issues related to perormance measurement
and data collection must be understood and
resolved, with guidance and technical assis-
tance provided by the ederal government to
assist in the development and monitoring o
progress towards achievement o perormance
measures.
Any ramework or establishing goals and
accountability must be integrated into both
the ederal legislation and transportation
decision-making processes.
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Establish nationaltransportation objectivesand identify methods toassess progress towardstheir achievement
4 America proposes the ollowing list o Na-
tional ransportation Objectives to establish
clear goals and clariy the purpose o the ederal
transportation program.
Improve Economic Competitiveness, rans-
portation System Eciency and Workorce
Development Opportunities
Improve ransportation System Conditions
and Connectivity
Promote Energy Eciency and Achieved
Energy Security
Ensure Environmental Protection, Restore
Climate Stability and Resolve Persistent En-
vironmental Justice Issues
Ensure Saety or All ransportation Users
and Improve Public Health Outcomes
Provide Equal and Equitable Access to rans-
portation Options in Urban, Suburban and
Rural Communities
A ocus on accountability and perormance
generates mechanisms or reaching transportation
goals, but it is not a prescription or what type o
activities should be undertaken at the state and
local level. Accountability and perormance mea-
sures should underpin the unding decisions to
ensure ederal assistance is provided to plans, pro-
grams and projects that support progress towards
regional, state, and national objectives.
o ensure accountability towards meeting each
National ransportation Objective, 4 America
recommends a set o National ransportationPerormance argets be established in the next
bill. In identiying these perormance targets, 4
America considered the ollowing:
Te list o National ransportation Per-
ormance argets should be succinct and
directly tied to specic National ransporta-
tion Objectives.
Te National ransportation Perormance
argets should be powerul drivers o change
and evaluated as a package o targets. No sin-
gle measure can ully assess progress toward
a particular national goal, as all the National
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ransportation Objectives are complex and
depend on many variables that can be evalu-
ated in dierent ways.
Te National ransportation Perormance
argets should include measures that can
demonstrate progress toward multiple
National ransportation Objectives so the
advancement o one target could also advance
other aspects o the transportation system.
All the National ransportation Perormance
argets recommended should be able to meet
the ollowing criteria:
Data can be secured to measure thetarget, or reasonable proxies can be
identied, preerably using existing data
systems.
Measurable targets can be set.
Each target can be incorporated into a
system o accountability.
Each target respects dierences betweenareas o the country and can be tai lored
to specic states or regions.
argets or achievement o National ransporta-
tion Perormance argets have been set at 20
years, which is consistent with typical transpor-
tation planning horizons. A period o time or
developing measurement systems is likely needed
to nalize and incorporate National ransporta-
tion Perormance argets into regional and state
long-range plans.
Tere are other types and levels o perormance
measurement that should be an integral part
o transportation management and decision-
making. In act, perormance measures that
are tailored to transit agencies or state DOs to
improve delivery o service, operational ecien-
cies, and feet management should be encouraged
in national transportation policy and guidance.
Specic recommendations or National ranspor-tation Perormance argets are described in more
detail in Appendix A, including the supporting
rationale or the inclusion o each measure and
the selected target.
Performance measurementdata collection
wo data issues were key in selecting national
transportation objectives and the accompanying
perormance targets: (1) data availability, includ-
ing the reliability o existing data sets, the cost o
collection, variation among states and metropoli-
tan planning organizations (MPOs) in collection
accuracy, completeness, uniormity, timeliness,
capacity, resources, and the level o need to invest
in new data collection systems; and, (2) sub-national goal setting. Te U.S. Department o
ransportation (US DO), the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department o
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) should
be engaged to establish state and regional goals
and provide technical assistance and guidance.
Tis Blueprint largely supports the inclusion oper capita goals embedded in some o the recom-
mended measures to acilitate the apportionment
process or ormula unding. More analysis would
need to be done in the early years ater new legis-
lation to rene or develop measurement tools and
methodologies. Federal agencies should also be
engaged in developing protocol and oversight to
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Objectives
National Transportation
Objectives & Targets
Improve Economic Competitiveness,Transportation System Efficiency and Workforce
Development Opportunities
Improve Transportation System Conditions and
Connectivity
Promote Energy Efficiency and Achieve Energy
Security
Ensure Environmental Protection, Restore Climate
Stability and Resolve Persistent Environmental
Justice Issues
Ensure Safety for All Transportation Users and
Improve Public Health Outcomes
Provide Equal and Equitable Access to
Transportation Options in Urban, Suburban and
Rural Communities
Performance Targets
Reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled by 16%
Triple walking, biking and public
transportation usage
Reduce transportation-generated
carbon dioxide levels by 40%
Reduce delay per capita by 10%
Increase proportion of freight transportation
provided by railroad and intermodal services
by 20%
Achieve zero percent population exposure
to at-risk levels of air pollution
Improve public safety and lower congestion
costs by reducing traffic crashes by 50%
Increase share of major highways, regional transitfleets and facilities, and bicycling/pedestrian
infrastructure in good state of condition by 20%
Reduce average household combined housing +
transportation costs 25% (use 2000 as base year)
Increase by 50% essential destinations accessible
within 30 min. by public transit, or 15 min. walk for
low-income, senior and disabled populations
2010-2030
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ensure that projected or orecast perormance is
achieved, while assisting states and regions in ur-
ther rening their models and orecast methods.
US DO should play a critical management role
in supporting the research and updated modelingthat will be required to dene appropriate nation-
al transportation targets by providing guidance to
states and metropolitan areas and implementing
new perormance strategies. US DO must also
ensure that standards are consistent across the
country and that reporting is done in a transpar-
ent way to allow the public and policy makers to
analyze results.
Both incentives and sanctions should be embed-
ded in the new legislation to ensure continued
progress toward these targets. Under such a
program, states and regions that meet or exceed
the targets would gain access to incentive unds
set aside or that purpose. Conversely, ailure to
meet targets could result in reduced fexibility
or states, through the targeting o ederal equitybonus unds to program areas where targets are
not being met. In addition, contingency measures
should be included in all state and metropolitan
transportation plans.
Reform long-rangetransportation planning
to advance accountabilitymeasurement
Federal transportation legislation requires sca lly
constrained, long-range transportation plans by
every state DO and MPO as a condition o
receiving ederal unding. Tese plans should
be the tool or demonstrating how a program o
long-term (20-year) transportation investments,
transportation demand management strategies,
system eciencies and operations, and land use
strategies at the state and metropolitan levels
will collectively meet National ransportationPerormance argets and advance the National
ransportation Objectives. However, signicant
reorm and improvement o these long-range
plans is needed.
ransportation planning and unding decisions
should be integrated into other planning process-
es to create complete and healthy communities
or all residents. Greater attention should be given
in the long-range transportation planning process
to the mobility and access needs o low- and
moderate-income and vulnerable populations,
including seniors, to support healthy individuals
and communities in support o broader economic
opportunity goals.
4 America suggests state and metropolitan long-range transportation plans be replaced by State-
wide and Regional Blueprints. Federal approval
o the plans would be based on compliance with
National ransportation Perormance argets,
and project selection and unding authority
would be provided directly to implement certi-
ed Blueprints. We believe that this reormed
long-range comprehensive plan would provide
greater accountability and an improved means
or ederal oversight through improved reporting
on measures o eectiveness. Tis specic Blue-
print recommendation is described in more detail
herein and in Appendix B.
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rc f
t
p
s hnw
t
V
objcv
In order to develop a comprehensive national
transportation system that grows the economy,
improves energy security, protects the environ-
ment and addresses social equity concerns, we
must enact a major restructuring o our existing
ederal transportation policies and programs. Te
U.S. Department o ransportation (US DO)
currently includes over 108 separate undingprograms. Many o these programs are outdated,
while others are redundant, housed in separate
agencies with little coordination between them.
Tese programs also tend to be prescriptive,
rather than perormance based.
In December 2007, the National Surace rans-
portation Policy and Revenue Study Commission
released its long-awaited report, Transportation
for Tomorrow, calling or consolidation o our
surace transportation system into 12 multi-
modal programs ocused on achieving a set o
clear outcomes.1 Te emerging consensus among
transportation practitioners and policy-makers
is that greater system eciency is achievable
through ewer programs based on transportation
mode, and placing a greater emphasis on setting
national goals and priorities. Tis understandingis refected in the National ransportation Objec-
tives and National ransportation Perormance
argets included in this proposal. 4 Americas
restructuring recommendations are designed
to produce a goal-driven ederal program that
includes the accountability measures neces-
sary to achieve results.At the same time, we
recognize that we are not starting rom scratch,
and our recommendations build practically rom
existing rameworks and institutions.
Principles to GuideProgram Reform
Invest to complete and1.maintain the National
Transportation System
Te upcoming transportation authorization must
set us on a course to identiy and build a network
o public transportation, walking and biking in-
rastructure by 2030 to complement and interace
with the completed National Highway System.
We must make the preservation and maintenance
o existing transportation assets a top priority,
and ensure that unds that are supposed to be
used or maintenance cannot be easily fexed
or other spending programs. Te bill should lay
the groundwork or a world-class inter-regional,
1 Report of the National Surface Transportation Policyand Revenue Study Commission, Transportation forTomorrow. Washington, DC: December 2007.
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seamless passenger air-rail system by 2030, and
ensure that reight transportation by truck is
not heavily concentrated in corridors that result
in concentrated emissions and produce adverse
saety and inrastructure impacts in specic
regions o the country. Using this newly balancedtransportation policy, the ederal government
should give regions and communities a greater
role in determining what types o investments are
appropriate by allowing or direct unding with
appropriate oversight and reporting.
Create a level2.transportation investment
playing eld
Federal policies should end or minimize pro-
grammatic silos and ensure that all programs are
multi-modal in nature. In order to end existing
inequities between dierent modes and stream-
line the project selection process, the new legis-
lation should simpliy administration o unds
and provide parity in the obligation process,
match ratios, accountability measures and project
delivery systems between modes. Simply put, the
current process or unding new transit capac-
ity has become so onerous as to discourage some
applicants while very little perormance review is
required or new highway capacity. Tis inequity
must be addressed, with an improved and compa-
rable project delivery process or all new capacity
regardless o mode or sponsor agency.
Te next bill should establish a complete streets
policy requiring that all road projects that utilize
ederal unds include appropriate provisions to
accommodate bicyclists, people with disabilities
and public transportation vehicles and riders, and
pedestrians o all ages and abilities. Likewise, it
should require all public transportation station
and bus stop construction and reconstruction
projects to include appropriate provisions to ac-
commodate bicyclists, people with disabilities,
and pedestrians o all ages and abilities to ensureseamless and sae connection between dierent
modes.
Reward leveraging3.of collateral benetsto address multiplecommunity and nationalgoals
Te ederal government should adopt policies to
assist communities developing projects and plans
to achieve both local goals and National rans-
portation Objectives. For example, the transpor-
tation bill should oer incentives that encourage
more compact, less automobile-dependent land
use patterns that help reduce energy use, while
expanding aordable housing options in acces-
sible locations, improving access to goods and
services, and stimulating economic development.
It should prioritize spending on projects that pro-
mote health; improve energy eciency, connect
low-income residents to economic opportunity
and essential goods and services; and, improve
saety o our transportation system or people o
all ages and abilities. Additionally, the ederal
program should encourage states and localitiesto adopt least-cost design solutions (sometimes
called context sensitive design solutions) or
new capacity or reconstruction projects regardless
o mode.
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Empower regions and4.cities in the planningprocess
Previous transportation bills provided fexibility
or transerring unds and suballocating dollars
to cities and regions, but lacked ederal direction
on what kind o national objectives should be
promoted through these investments. Local and
regional empowerment has been stunted in most
states due to the lack o authority at the regional
or local levels in the project selection process and
absence o direct unding allocation decision-
making.
Directly fund local project5.implementation
A revised program and unding structure should
be created that empowers jurisdictions to receive
grant unds directly rom US DO or road and
bridge projects, as they are currently able to do
under the transit program. Te result would be
a more integrated multi-modal structure on the
local level, a commitment to ederal priorities
through closer contact with the Federal High-
way Administration (FHWA), and aster project
turnaround. Local projects would still be part o
the metropolitan planning program, and recipi-
ents would be required to demonstrate that they
have the administrative and engineering capacityto maintain regulatory and design standards on
their projects.
Retool our federal6.programs
Federal transportation programs must be ad-
justed to be more nimble at unding multiple
modes, support more integrated design o a-cilities, and respond more to geographic than
modal dierences. Te ederal role in research
and technical assistance should be elevated and
adequately unded. Federal policy should ocus
on articulating desired national outcomes tied to
ederal unding, providing guidance and techni-
cal resources to help states, regions and localities
implement solutions to achieve these goals, and
ensuring transparent accountability measures are
in place and maintained.
Blueprint for aRestructured, PerformanceBased FederalTransportation Program
for a 21st Century Americaand Economy
What we need, then, is a smart transporta-
tion system equal to the needs of the 21st
Century. A system that reduces travel
times and increases mobility. A system that
reduces congestion and boosts productivity.
A system that reduces destructive emis-sions and creates jobs. President Barack
Obama, April 17, 2009
4 America believes that the role o the ederal
government is to acilitate the construction,
operation, management and preservation o a
National ransportation System. Te ederal
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program has been eective in building the Na-
tional Highway System (inclusive o the Interstate
System) but has taken only altering steps toward
managing and preserving that highway system
or long-range strategic purposes, and even ewer
steps toward construction o the intra- andinter-city public transportation system and key
elements o bicycle and pedestrian systems. Our
current ederal surace transportation program
structure is simply not up to this task.
oday, America needs a comprehensive national
transportation system that provides sae, reliable,
and convenient travel options to Americans in
every part o the country and o every economic
background. We need a national transportation
system that can move reight in a predictable and
ecient manner, with minimal impact to the en-
vironment or public health, and we need a system
that will help our metropolitan regions perorm
on par with our global competitors. Building and
maintaining this system will create millions o
good-paying green jobs and help rebuild oureconomy.
Te proposed program structure is designed to
prioritize unds or achieving National rans-
portation Objectives. Furthermore, the set
o programs are a guideline or building and
maintaining a National ransportation System
that recognizes the dierences between regions,
the economic importance o our metropolitan
areas, the critical role states play in intercity and
interstate transportation, and the unique needs
o rural communities. It seeks to consolidate and
elevate a set o core transportation programs to
support the National ransportation Objectives;
proposes to consolidate a number o current pro-
grams to create a new geographically-tiered multi-
modal access program to meet mobility needs at
the interregional, metropolitan, small town and
rural levels; creates a set o new capacity programs
that include comparable project development,
review and unding processes; and recommends aset o discretionary innovation programs.
National TransportationPriority Programs
Te recommended set o National ransporta-
tion Priority Programs has a signicant impact on
the overall eectiveness o the National rans-portation System and correlate closely with the
proposed National ransportation Objectives.
Recognizing the magnitude o the importance
and size o these programs, 4 America recom-
mends that unding or them be distributed by
ormula.
ransportation agencies that make progress
towards meeting the goals and National rans-portation Objectives should be rewarded with a
higher ederal match and better access to discre-
tionary/incentive programs.2 Agencies that are
not making progress towards the goals should
be directed to target their equity bonus unds
towards areas o deciency. Te ve proposed
national priority programs have been developed
to help advance particular National ransporta-tion Objectives, but these programs are addition-
ally critical in our goal o building a maintaining
a comprehensive National ransportation System.
2 Specic recommendations for reforming program fund-ing formulas are not included in this proposal, but T4America supports efforts to apportion funds based onprogram goals, population density, economic activity,system need, and other relevant factors.
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For instance, investments to preserve and repair
a decient bridge may also help to improve saetyon that roadway, and could include complete
street design principles that encourage saer
walking and bicycling paths. Tese programs are
brought together and integrated by the Blueprint
plans. It is important to have separate programs
to ensure sucient attention to and progress
towards these goals, but we must also recognize
that the interactions between programs is to be
encouraged and supported.
Planning and Research1.
Priority Program
ransitioning the National ransportation
System to a set o programs with greater account-
ability perormance measures will necessitate
new types o research and data, education or
practitioners and decision-makers, and technical
assistance or agencies and communities adopting
new approaches.
Current mode-specic research, data and educa-
tion programs should be combined into a single
unit within U.S. Department o ransporta-
tion (US DO), U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency (EPA), U.S. Department o Energy
(DOE), and U.S. Oce o Housing and Urban
National Transportation
Priority Programs
Planning and Research
Transportation System Preservation and Renewal
State of Good Highway, Road, Trails, and
Bridge Repair
Access, Independence and Mobility Management
Transportation Safety
Energy Security for Clean Communities
State of Good Transit Repair
Programs to Complete the National
Transportation System
Intercity Passenger Transportation Program
Green Freight and Ports
Major Transit Capital Projects
Projects of National Significance
Geographically-Tiered MultimodalAccess Program
Statewide Multimodal Access Program
Metropolitan Multimodal Access Program
Local Multimodal Access Program for Cities and
Rural Regions
Innovation Incentive Programs
Sustainability Challenge Grants
Smart Communities Program
Active Transportation
Proposed Federal
Transportation Structure
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Development (HUD). Other relevant ederal
agencies should also be engaged to develop state-
o-the art modeling and technical assistance or
states, regions and local jurisdictions.
US DO needs to assist states and metropolitanareas in developing truly integrated transporta-
tion, land use and economic development plans
to accommodate projected growth levels over the
next several decades. First and oremost, a major
overhaul is needed in how the ederal government
collects, assembles and provides data and inor-
mation. 4 America joins the Brookings Institu-
tion and other organizations in call ing or greater
unding, guidance and technical assistance to
help states, MPOs, and localities plan, monitor
perormance and deploy state-o the art modeling
and orecasting tools.
Te upcoming ederal transportation bill must
require data collection o comparable requency
and scope or all modes o transportation, includ-
ing bicycling and walking, and must require USDO to create a ramework to ensure the trans-
parency and accessibility o data and inorma-
tion. State and metropolitan entities should, at
a minimum, disclose their spending patterns by
political jurisdiction and origins o revenue used,
especially ederal dollars, so that the public can
better evaluate the spatial equity o transporta-
tion spending in accordance with broad goals and
perormance measures.3
3 Recommendation originally put forth in A Bridge toSomewhere: Rethinking American Transportation forthe 21st Century by the Brookings Institution, 2008.
Federal unding or metropolitan planning
should be maintained, and new planning resourc-
es provided to support a substantially reormed
long-range transportation planning process called
or by 4 AmericaBlueprint Planningand
also provide unds to local communities to un-dertake community planning and reward trans-
portation-supportive land use measures.
Blueprint Planning for2.Major MetropolitanRegions and States
4 America strongly recommends thatstates and
metropolitan regions over one million in popula-tion be required to develop and adopt an inte-
grated, perormance-based Blueprint or land use
and transportation plans.
Te Blueprint plan should cover a 20-year time-
rame and demonstrate how proposed transporta-
tion investments and system operations and man-
agement will coordinate with land use strategies
to achieve timely and reasonable progress towards
meeting National ransportation Perormance
argets. Blueprint plans should be developed in
close coordination with other regional and state
agencies to address long-range energy security,
environmental, housing, economic development,
public health, saety and human service goals.
Strong public involvement and accountability in
the development o Blueprint plans is essential.In particular, participation o people o low and
moderate incomes, seniors, people with disabili-
ties and minority communities should be engaged
at all stages o the planning process. Strategies
should be developed to engage the business com-
munity, particularly the development and reight
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interests two sectors which are prooundly
impacted by transportation investments and in
return infuence regional economic development
and the workorce. Tese Blueprint plans must be
driven by eective strategies to achieve outcomes
and not devolve into a wish list o projects.
Appendix B describes in more detail the objec-
tives and process or developing Blueprints. Blue-
prints will be approved by the states governor and
certied by US DO and the EPA, and reviewed
or comment by HUD and U.S. Department
o Health o Human Services. Upon approval,
Blueprint regions and state DOs will be
granted direct project selection and contract
authority o ederal transportation ormula
dollars to help accelerate project delivery.
Smaller regions (those under one million in size)
can elect to opt-in to this program, thereby ac-
cessing direct project selection authority with the
certication o an approved Regional Blueprint
plan.
State Blueprint plans would include certied
Regional Blueprints and ransportation Improve-
ment Plans (IPs), projects submitted by rural
planning authorities, tribal authorities, intercity
trails, reight, passenger or high-speed rai l invest-
ments, and other major inrastructure invest-
ments identied through state planning process.
Both State and Regional Blueprints must consider
the broad spectrum o community viewpoints,
the collaborative participation o local communi-
ties and transportation agencies, and the mean-
ingul involvement o the public. In developing
the Blueprints, states and metropolitan areas
should accept input rom all constituencies to
ensure investments are equitably distributed to
population and employment density areas while
addressing the needs o small towns and rural
areas.
Transportation System3.Preservation and RenewalPriority Program
4 America believes that a top national transpor-
tation priority should be to adequately und the
repair and rehabilitation o the existing transpor-
tation system. Several major reports have shown
that current unding levels are not adequate
or even maintaining current conditions, much
less addressing uture capacity needs. US DOshould undertake a comprehensive asset inventory
study o the needs and investment requirements
o the nations highway, bridge, bus, rail, and
non-motorized transportation systems includ-
ing a cataloging o the nations bike and trail net-
work that would identiy gaps in the system. US
DO and state DOs should support research to
advance an asset management approach to system
preservation and evaluate the use o technologi-
cal solutions to determining more comprehensive
and standardized denitions o good repair and
investment requirements.
Current repair and rehabilitation programs do
not require a substantial overhaul. Nevertheless,
Congress should ensure that adequate unding
levels are available, and should rewall theseunds so they cannot be fexed into other spend-
ing areas without certication that existing inra-
structure is in a state o good repair. Appendix C
provides urther detail on the eligible activities 4
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America proposes be unded under the ranspor-
tation System Preservation and Renewal Priority
Program.
State of Good Highway,A.Road, Trails, and Bridge
Repair
Our nations highways, roads, streets and bridges
are in critical need o repair and rehabilitation.
According to the February 2009 Final Report
rom National Surace ransportation Inrastruc-
ture Financing Commission, almost $79 billion
per year is needed to keep Americas transpor-
tation inrastructure in a state o good repair.While many states have not made repair and
rehabilitation a top spending priority, chronic un-
derunding o transportation programs have also
negatively infuenced the condition and saety o
our highway system.
By 2025, one in our drivers will be age 65 or
older a demographic shit that demonstrates
the need to adjust our nations roadways andinvest in special repair and rehabilitation needs.
Road repair and rehabilitation should incorporate
design improvements that make roads saer or
older individuals and all road users. In the repair
and rehabilitation o transportation acilities,
priority should be placed on utilizing sustainable
development design and construction materials
to promote energy eciency and reduce negativeenvironmental impacts.
In the next surace transportation bill, a category
o unds should be strictly dedicated to repair
and rehabilitation. Te existing Interstate Main-
tenance and Bridge Repair and Replacement
programs should be converted to a signicantly
enlarged program to repair, rehab and retrot
all decient bridges, highways, roads, and trails
and associated equipment signal systems,
structures, etc. in the National ransportation
System. Given the extensive backlog o structur-
ally decient bridges, special consideration should
be given to these projects. Te extensive need
or highway and bridge repair and rehabilitation
projects should be treated as an opportunity,
where easible, to provide and improve oten
decient road access or bicycles, pedestrians,
people with disabilities, and public transportation
vehicles and riders. At the same time, some o our
bicycling and pedestrian inrastructure is also
beginning to show its age and should be incorpo-
rated into the eort to maintain the previous vedecades o ederal transportation investment.
Complete Streets Policy
In the rehabilitation o highway, bridge and
transit acilities, 4 America recommends that
the principles o complete streets and practical
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design solutions be incorporated to ensure that
our transportation system meets the saety and
mobility needs o al l users. Te streets o our
cities and towns should be designed or every-
one, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist,
walker or wheelchair user. Complete streets aredesigned and operated to enable sae access or all
these users.
A national complete streets policy will require
all recipients o ederal unds to include all users,
including transit vehicles and users, bicyclists,
and pedestrians in the design and construction o
public roads when appropriate. Construction or
reconstruction o transit stations should include
accommodations or pedestrians and cyclists, cre-
ate ederal standards that set minimum require-
ments or national complete streets policies, and
adopt enorcement mechanisms to hold states and
localities accountable.
State of Good TransitB.Repair
Americans are riding public transportation at the
highest levels in 50 years, and transit systems
some built over 100 years ago are being pushed
to perorm at ever-increasing capacity. Yet many
systems, strapped or unding, have signicant
deerred maintenance needs that are aecting
reliability, saety and security. A 2009 Federal
ransit Administration analysis o nationaltransit data ound more than one-third o the
trains, equipment, and acilities o the nations
seven largest rail transit agencies are near the end
o their useul lie or past that point. Te report
noted that while many public transportation
systems have components that are deective or
may be critically damaged, it will cost $50 billion
to bring the rail systems in Chicago, Boston, New
York, New Jersey, San Francisco, Philadelphia
and Washington, D.C., into good repair and $5.9
billion a year to maintain them. Tose seven sys-
tems carry 80 percent o the nations rail transitpassengers, making more than 3 billion passenger
trips a year.4
Signicant unding is needed to maintain,
modernize and make green our existing public
transportation investments. Keeping the nations
bus and rail systems in a state o good repair is
essential i public transportation systems are
to provide sae and reliable service to millions
o daily riders. Investments to maintain a state
o good repair or public transportation should
include the purchasing o new vehicles, basic
maintenance, and asset management practices,
such as preventive maintenance. Retrotting pub-
lic transportation vehicles and acilities to support
access and mobility needs o seniors and persons
with disabilities is also crucially important.
Provide Federal incentives for state andlocal funding commitment to publictransportation
Sustainable public transportation operating as-
sistance at all levels o government is critical to
ensuring that our transit systems are able to meet
the service needs or those who depend on transitand or those who choose to ride public transpor-
tation. Te current ederal program limits transit
operating assistance to those communities under
200,000 in population. 4 America recommends
4 Federal Transit Administration, Report to Congress.Rail Modernization Study. April, 2009.
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that this threshold be removed, and that transit
agencies o all sizes be allowed to use transit or-
mula unds or operating assistance. We support
a change in ederal operating assistance policy to
allow local communities to decide whether or not
they want to access ederal operating unds.
4 America recommends an additional ederal
matching incentive program or operating as-
sistance that would help encourage states, regions
and local governments to assume the primary
responsibility or sustainable transit operating
unds. We propose a new ederal match program
that would be available to transit providers con-
ditioned on action at the state, regional or local
level to provide dedicated and/or increased transit
operating assistance. We believe that such a pro-
gram could also be structured to provide incen-
tives or transit agencies to implement aggressive
energy eciency strategies as well in return or
ederal operating support. 4 America is working
with coalition partners to develop more specic
recommendations on how a ederal role in operat-ing assistance can be achieved to help communi-
ties meet the critical transit service needs, while
also ensuring incentives or state and local com-
mitments. Given the need to improve our nations
energy security and ensure equitable access, we
must nd solutions or all levels o government
to work in partnership to provide aordable and
available transit service.
Access, Independence4.and Mobility ManagementPriority Program
4 America believes that a transportation sys-
tem that does not serve the needs o all citizensis inadequate. A national survey conducted in
November, 2005, ound 82 percent o Americans
age 65 or older worry that they will be stranded
and unable to get around when they can no lon-
ger drive.5 Congress has recognized the need to
provide sae and accessible transportation options
or all o our nations citizens, including those
who do not drive.
Te Formula Grant Program or Special Needs o
Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Dis-
abilities was created in 1975 to provide capital
assistance or specialized transportation to older
adults and persons with disabilities, primarily
through nonprot social equity agencies. Te Job
Access and Reverse Commute Formula Grant
Program (JARC) was enacted in 1998 as a com-ponent o welare reorm to connect low-income
individuals to jobs. Te New Freedom Program
was established by the Sae, Accountable, Flex-
ible, and Ecient ransportation Act: A Legacy
or Users (SAFEA LU) in 2005 to und trans-
portation services or persons with disabilities
that go beyond those required by the Americans
with Disabilities Act. While demand or these
services continues to grow, unding or these pro-
grams barely registers as percentage o the overall
transportation program.
5 American Public Transportation Assocation Poll,conducted by Harris Interactive on November 28 30,2005
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Older adults, persons with disabilities, and low-
income individuals are inadequately served by
our transportation investments. More than 50
percent o non-drivers aged 65 and older or
3.6 million Americans stay home on any given
day partially because they lack transportationoptions.6 According to a 2000 nationwide survey
by the National Organization on Disability, 30
percent o respondents with disabilities reported
diculty in accessing transportation, compared
to 10 percent o respondents without a disability.7
And while two-thirds o all new jobs are in the
suburbs, three-quarters o welare recipients live
in central cities or rural areas.8
4 America believes that the new ederal trans-
portation legislation must elevate the existing
programs under a newly created National Ac-
cess, Independence and Mobility Management
(AIMM) Priority Program. Tis national pro-
gram would bring new ocus to these transporta-
tion needs and provide or increased overall und-
ing while maintaining the targeted, specializedservices that are dierent and unique or older
people, persons with disabilities, and low-income
Americans. AIMM would also strengthen local
coordination planning and practice among all
transportation providers. Providing operating as-
sistance or paratransit service is long overdue and
6 Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Depart-ment of Transportation, National HouseholdTransportation Survey, 2001, Washington DC.
7 U.S. General Accounting Ofce, Transportation-Disadvantage Populations: Some Coordination
Efforts Among Programs Providing Transporta-
tion Services, but Obstacles Persist, Washing-ton, D.C., 2003)
8 Federal Transit Administration, Moving Rural Residentsto Work: Lessons Learned from Implementation of Eight
Job Access and Reverse Commute Project, Washing-ton, DC, 2002.
should be unded, with provisions to encourage
more ecient, responsive, reliable and respectul
service. In this way, the ederal program can help
ensure that the nations older individuals, persons
with disabilities, and low-income workers are able
to enjoy a high quality o lie, equitable access tojobs, social services, and ully participate in their
community.
National Transportation5.Safety Priority Program
Despite creating a multitude o saety programs,
recommending a wide variety o policies and
proposals and explicitly elevating saety to a newlevel o importance in the last transportation
authorization, the ederal government has yet
to develop a comprehensive, multi-modal saety
program that sets specic targets or improve-
ments and holds states accountable or making
our roads saer or all users. Meanwhile, tra-
c crashes continue to take a signicant toll on
Americans. Over the last two decades, tracdeaths have hovered around 43,000 per year, with
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bicyclists or pedestrians comprising about 5,000
o those annual atalities. Motor vehicle crashesare the leading cause o death or Americans aged
three to 33 and 2.5 million people are injured on
our roads each year.9
SAFEEA-LU made signicant strides in
promoting saety by mandating the creation o
Strategic Highway Saety Plans at the state level,
implementing the Sae Routes to School Program,
and ensuring an overall increase in unding or
saety programs. Nevertheless, the continued lag
in investment relative to need, singular ocus on
highway deaths, and lack o accountability in the
9 U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2007 Report
system has prevented us rom achieving a measur-
able set o goals to actually mark the successes orailures o our investments.
rac accidents and other health impacts o
surace transportation represent major orces a-
ecting the health and saety o the U.S. popula-
tion with signicant long-term impacts on the
ederal budget and the national economy. 4
America believes the ederal government must
show leadership on this issue by strengthening
and tightening existing laws and regulations
many o which are unevenly implemented across
the country and develop clear language to
require compliance at the state level. Appendix D
provides recommendations on a number o spe-
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cic actions 4 America recommends be included
in the next surace transportation bill to improve
public saety and reduce crashes.
Energy Security for Clean6.Communities
Tere is a critical national need to align transpor-
tation, energy, air and water quality and climate
policies. Despite the act that motor vehicle
engines are 90 percent cleaner than they were
orty years ago, increases in vehicle miles trav-
eled have negated the uel-eciency benet. Air
quality in many communities is still unhealthy,
exacerbating the prominence o cancer, asthmaand other respiratory illnesses. People who suer
rom asthma and live near heavy vehicular tra-
c are nearly three times more likely to visit the
emergency department or be hospitalized or their
condition than those with less trac exposure.
Moreover, living in the areas exposed to heavy
trac is a burden borne disproportionately by
people in low-income neighborhoods and bycommunities o color.
4 Americas recommended National ranspor-
tation Objectives included several perormance
targets specic to this program: reducing per
capita vehicle miles traveled; tripling transit and
non-motorized transportation usage; reducing
transportation-generated carbon dioxide; and
sharply reducing exposure to air pollution levelsthat are linked to cancer, asthma, and respiratory
problems.
Recognizing transportations impact on air qual-
ity, Congress created the Congestion Mitigation
and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ)
as part o ISEA in 1991. oday, we know that
transportation also has a proound impact on
climate change as the astest growing source o
national greenhouse gas emissions, and is the
second largest single source o emissions in the
U.S., responsible or more than one-third o ouroverall emissions.
4 America calls on Congress in the next surace
transportation bill to re-arm its commitment
to clean air and clean water. We believe that air
quality conormity has been an important tool
or improving air quality in our nations metro-
politan areas, and 4 recommends that Congress
expand upon the success o the CMAQ program
to also recognize the national imperative to pro-
mote clean energy strategies and eciencies. We
recommend elevating these programs into a new
National Energy Security or Clean Communities
program that would broaden the eligibility o the
CMAQ program to our additional areas: vehicle
eciency, low carbon uels, VM reduction
strategies and system eciency improvements.
Tis expanded program would be unded at sig-
nicantly higher levels than the current CMAQ
program, with supplemental unding coming
rom climate change revenues. Te program
would provide unding and technical assistance
to help transportation entities institute green
technology and practices, as well as monitor their
carbon ootprint and lower harmul air pollut-
ants. Funding should also be provided to address
environmental justice concerns to mitigate health
impacts, ozone hot spots, and unhealthy air qual-
ity in disadvantaged communities.
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Climate and Transportation LegislationMust Work Together
4 America supports the proposal included in
Clean, Low Emissions, Aordable, New rans-
portation Act, or CLEAN-EA (introduced inthe U.S. Senate by Senators Tomas Carper and
Arlen Specter and in the U.S. House o Represen-
tatives by Representatives Earl Blumenauer and
Ellen auscher) that would allocate 10 percent o
climate auction revenues by ormula to states and
regions or the development o plans to reduce
VM, and und strategies to achieve these reduc-
tions. While these measures should be included
in any climate or clean energy bill, that legislation
alone is not sucient to meet the challenge o
reducing transportation-related carbon emissions.
Cleaning our Waterways and MinimizingRun-off
Pollution rom vehicles on ederal-aid roads and
highways has a huge negative impact on water
quality throughout the nation. Stormwater runo
rom the nations 985,139 miles o impervious
ederal-aid highway miles transport a variety o
pollutants to surrounding waterways and causes
signicant erosion to roadside streams and
ditches.
Stormwater runo carried rom these roads
impairs bodies o water in three ways: volume;rate o fow; and pollutants. Volume and fow
cause the erosion o stream banks, which causes
cloudy, sun-blocking water and sediment covered
substrate and aquatic vegetation. Stormwater also
picks up pollutants that have been deposited rom
vehicles, deicing agents, atmospheric deposition
and road degradation and carries toxic metals,
nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria, and sediment to
local waterways.
o address this problem, 4 America recom-
mends that the ederal government set a policystandard or controlling stormwater discharges
rom ederally subsidized roadways. Te stormwa-
ter policy standard would apply to new ederal-
aid roads, as well as whenever signicant repair or
upgrades are undertaken. Specically, we ask the
ederal government to include language to:
Preserve and retain natural eatures such as
trees and shrubs as much as possible whennew roadways are built. Tese eatures reduce
fow rates and allow or water to settle and be
absorbed.
Invest in pre-treatment methods such as
street sweeping, catch basin cleaning, storm
drain fushing, and management plans or
deicing agents and roadside ertilizers.
reat as much runo as possible on site utiliz-
ing elements o low-impact development such
as retention basins, swales and inltration
trenches and basins.
reat remaining stormwater discharges osite
or create appropriate osets when onsite
treatment is not viable.
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tion Improvement Program (IP) and Statewide
ransportation Improvement Program (SIP),
with the state DO being the central arbitra-
tor, is that the Regional Blueprint and Statewide
Blueprint are each certied by the US DO
and EPA, with the state plan needing to incor-porate the Regional Blueprint. Once projects
are identied on a certied State or Regional
Blueprint, a city, MPO or transit provider can
apply or certication to receive direct ed-
eral aid to construct or implement projects.
Te ability to receive direct aid rom the ederal
government signicantly empowers local com-
munities and expedites project delivery to get
projects done more quickly. Te change will also
relieve state DOs rom some o the bureau-
cratic burdens allowing those agencies to ocus
on projects. Formula unding would provide all
areas with base unding or the development and
management o the core multimodal transporta-
tion system.
Te MAP program resembles the existing Suraceransportation Program with eligibility o unds
or highway, bridge, transit, bicycle, pedestrian
and rail projects.11 However, the MAP program
also includes a broader set o programs that have
been consolidated into this one multimodal
program.12 Rather than being ocused on modal
silos, the MAP program is structured to und
11 Freight and passenger rail eligibility was included in theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, andhopefully sets a precedent for expanded eligibility in theuse of highway funds.
12 The MAP program includes a consolidation of fund-ing, or portions of funding from a variety of existingprograms that would be incorporated into this morecomprehensive, integrated program. These includesurface transportation program and national highwaysystem funds, urbanized and non-urbanized formulatransit funds, over the road bus, intelligent transporta-tion, value pricing, recreational trails among others.
an integrated program o transportation invest-
ments with states and regions needing to demon-
strate a package o investments that will achieve
National ransportation Perormance argets.
In undertaking the Blueprint process, states and
regions are encouraged to choose low-cost optionsto improve overall regional access and mobil-
ity through improved land use options, demand
management options, and public transit options.
Federal oversight and enorcement is a prerequi-
site o this program to ensure that investments are
consistent with certied Blueprint plans, and that
reliable inormation is being reported on progress
towards achievement o the National ransporta-
tion Perormance argets.
Te MAP program, described in greater detail in
Appendix F, would und the ollowing eligible
transportation activities:
Road and Public ransportation Capacity
(projects below $75 million in total project
cost);
Bicycle and Pedestrian Capacity 10 percent
ransportation Enhancements set-aside
Commuter Choice programs
ransportation Demand Management
System management, i.e. Intelligent rans-
portation Systems and Congestion Pricing
ransportation-Supportive Land Use Activi-
ties 5 percent Livable Communities set-
aside
Mobility Management
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Discretionary Programsto Complete the NationalTransportation System
Te Multimodal Access Program (MAP) program
is intended to provide unding or the core set
o multimodal programs, but the ollowing our
additional discretionary programs are also sug-
gested to accelerate development o the Nationalransportation System. 4 America supports the
creation o a ederal review process that recom-
mends projects or unding based on the ability
o the project sponsor to demonstrate the projects
nancial easibility, environmental impact and
mitigation strategies, cost/benet including
economic development and job creation impacts
and level o nancial risk. Projects should be
included in the State Blueprint, and Regional
Blueprint, i applicable.
Intercity Passenger1.Transportation Program
Railroads and intercity buses are a critical com-
ponent o our national transportation system,
providing personal mobility options and eco-nomic growth or rural, suburban and urban
communities while meeting the nations energy
and climate challenges. 4 America supports
eorts to strengthen and expand the nations
intercity passenger travel options through the
creation o an Intercity Passenger ransportation
Program, to provide discretionary unds through
icy passg nwok
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a competitive grant program administered by US
DO or intercity passenger rail and intercity bus
projects to complete a trans-American passenger
network. Te ederal government should und
investments to expand capacity, improve saety,
achieve reasonable service levels, and protect theoperations o intercity passenger services in the
United States. Appendix G discusses details o
this proposed Intercity Passenger ransportation
Grant Program.
Intercity passenger rail is one element o a com-
prehensive intercity passenger network that also
includes air travel and bus services. An emphasis
on coordinating these services and enhancing
links between intercity travel, regional, and local
travel will leverage the governments investments,
maximize ridership, and enhance mobility op-
tions or passengers. Impacts to communities
should also be addressed, including railroad
crossing saety and land use strategies to support
intercity transportation investments. 4America
recommends the development o a rans-Ameri-can Intercity Passenger Network to be completed
by 2030 as recommended by America 2050. Tis
network should provide competitive travel op-
tions within and between regions o the US, with
a specic ocus on travel corridors connecting our
nations largest cities and towns. o prioritize and
select appropriate investments, US DO should
develop a national vision or the intercity passen-
ger network serving all important transportation
routes connecting regions and metropolitan areas.
Tis national vision should include the ollowing
elements and ultimately provide a plan or the
creation o a seamless rans-American Intercity
Passenger Network:
Develop recommendations or service levels
appropriate in high-density areas coupled
with long-haul services to connect and inte-
grate rural regions;
Set policies or allocating unding or region-
al intercity passenger rail and intercity bus
projects and on-going services;
Provide criteria or developing public-private
partnerships to ensure the most appropriate
use o ederal unds; and
Create new, publicly owned high-speed rail
segments in those routes where requency and
speed are most easible.
4 America commends the Obama-Biden
Administration or its April 2009 Vision or
High Speed Rail in America plan. Tis plan,
in combination with the $8 billion providing in
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
is an important down payment to jump start a
world-class network o high speed passenger rail
corridors in America. High-speed rail is a critical
element in creating a dynamic, seamless national
intercity passenger rail system. Additional und-
ing should be provided in the next surace trans-
portation program, and through other resources,
to realize this vision.
Green Freight and Ports2.
Program
Functional, sae, and ecient transportation sys-
tems are one o the cornerstones upon which this
country was built. Americas economic strength
and the health o its citizens depend on our
ability to connect people to opportunity and on
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transportation network that is outmoded, over-
capacity, dependent on imported petroleum, and
incapable o eciently linking the US national
economy into the global economy.
o ensure coordinated, ederal leadership in shap-
ing uture transportation investments to support
reight movement and build a trans-American
reight network, 4 America recommends estab-
lishing a Green Freight and Ports Program. Tisprogram would create a competitive grant pro-
gram administered by US DO to und invest-
ments to expand and green our reight system
and nations ports, with a ocus on improving
rst/last mile intermo
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