Jobs threatened by transit funding cuts proposed by Congress
The benefits of transit construction ripple across the country
This new short paper examines the supply chain for public transportation and illustrates how cuts proposed by Congress and the administration to federal transit funding threaten thousands of manufacturing jobs at more than 2,700 suppliers from coast to coast. As an example, recent capital improvements made to just four transit systems — in San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and Portland — supported jobs in an astounding 21 states. Read the full report and find out which states and congressional districts are home to the most manufacturers.
USDOT trying to eliminate NEw Co2 measure
Performance measure intended to improve efficiency & reduce emissions
USDOT is attempting to rescind a federal requirement for states and metro areas to measure their carbon emissions as part of a larger system of accountability for federal transportation spending. The intent is to hold states and metros accountable for making progress on important goals, like congestion, traffic fatalities, reliability, and road/bridge condition; measuring carbon emissions is a good yardstick for how efficiently a state or metro area is moving people and goods. After trying to illegally eliminate it without public feedback, the Trump administration is attempting to repeal this carbon emissions measure through an official rulemaking process. Find out more and take action by providing an official comment to USDOT in support of keeping it intact. But act quickly — the deadline is 12 p.m. Eastern on Monday, November 6.
the news
A quick roundup of other things you need to know
It's not just big cities — funding for transit in rural areas and smaller towns is threatened.
Smaller cities and rural areas are facing potential funding reductions, phase-outs or the total elimination of vital federal programs they depend upon to provide transit service. We recently released a detailed memo that explains these specific threats, and last week we held a short webinar with our federal policy experts and some sharp local leaders to explain things in more detail. If you missed the session, you can catch up with the full recording here.
Federal program that helps tackle health disparities threatened in 2018 budget.
Congress is threatening to eliminate REACH, a small yet significant federal program housed within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that helps local communities take concrete steps — often through transportation interventions — to prevent someone’s zip code from being the most powerful determinant in their long-term health. Read more about the program and send a message of support today.
Catch the launch discussion of our latest creative placemaking in resource
We spent September talking about arts and culture, culminating with the launch of a new field scan that explores seven of the most pressing challenges facing the transportation sector today, identifies how arts and culture contribute to solutions, and offers case studies from diverse community contexts. If you missed the terrific discussion about the report with a handful of experts on October 13, catch up with the full recording here.
Complete Streets month is starting this week at Smart Growth America. And the National Complete Streets Coalition has some big news to share: Beginning in 2018, they're rolling out a brand new framework to analyze, rank and evaluate the best Complete Streets policies in the country for their annual report. Throughout November, they have a boatload of posts and stories queued up to explain this new policy framework and share some insights from the Steering Committee members who helped craft it. Sign up for their newsletter if you want to regularly get all the news on Complete Streets.
Florida is taking steps to design safer streets + a webinar to explain it all. In one of the most perpetually dangerous states for walking & biking, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) recently took steps to formalize and institutionalize the idea that within urban areas, roads serve different purposes and should be designed differently than in rural places — with the aim of improving safety. The State Smart Transportation Initiative at SGA is hosting a webinar on November 28 with DeWayne Carver from the FDOT and Billy Hattaway from the City of Orlando to discuss and unpack these changes. Register now >>
Come and work with us at T4America. View our available jobs. We're currently hiring a policy associate, an arts and culture associate, a communications associate, and there are other jobs available at Smart Growth America.
SGA is also looking for a new President & CEO to replace Geoff Anderson, who is leaving in early 2018 after ten fruitful years at the helm.
OTHER Stories worth your time
Interesting stories being passed around our network this week
- Ten rules for automated vehicles for cities to think about — Congress for the New Urbanism
- Alphabet and Sidewalk Labs are redeveloping a huge portion of Toronto's waterfront using smart city ideas — Wired
- As more cities are tearing down outdated urban freeways, NYT takes a look at the trend and one story from Buffalo — New York Times
- With bus ridership going down in most cities, here's how Seattle bucked the trend — CityLab
- Nashville Mayor Megan Barry unveiled the region's long-awaited transit plan, headed to the ballot in spring 2018 — The Tennessean
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