Correcting some misinformation on bicycle and pedestrian spending
Bike and pedestrian projects get less than 1.5 percent of federal transportation funding — despite recent misinformation to the contrary. There’s some misinformation percolating about the size of the transportation enhancements program — the small dedicated program that has funded projects to make biking and walking safer and more convenient for 20 years. Some misleading […]
Structurally deficient bridges and President Obama’s jobs bill
Last night after President Obama’s speech to Congress, attention turned to analysis of the speech and the President’s plan to take it on the road to the districts of key Representatives and Senators. Chris Matthews of MSNBC referenced Transportation for America and our data on structurally deficient bridges as an important part of making the […]
House appropriators make deep cuts to transportation for 2012
The House Appropriations Committee released their draft bill for 2012 spending in the transportation program, and the cuts are severe, with some key programs facing more of a reduction than others. The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development spending bill, or THUD, as its called, contained similar cuts for transit and road/bridge spending that we saw […]
700 days since expiration of last transportation bill, Congress urged to pass an extension
President Obama gave a short speech in the Rose Garden Wednesday calling on Congress to come together quickly to pass a “clean” extension of the federal transportation bill to ensure that there’s no interruption in federal funding for transportation projects while they debate a longer-term reauthorization. The clock starts ticking after Labor Day.
Photos of dangerous streets have been streaming in
After putting out the call far and wide for pictures of streets designed for speeding traffic at the expense of safe travel by people on foot or bike, we’ve been getting some great — and by great, we mean frightening and terrible — photos of inconvenient, poorly-planned, dangerous and downright hostile conditions for pedestrians. Here […]
Governor Cuomo signs Complete Streets legislation as New York Times surveys pedestrian safety in Orlando
NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to sign complete streets legislation is a step forward for pedestrian safety, though a Times report out of Orlando yesterday illustrates how much further we have to go. The status-quo for most people on foot or on bike around the country is woefully unsafe and insufficient, though perhaps nowhere more so than in Florida.
Raquel Nelson’s story may be rare, but the dangerous conditions are not — show us
Many of you were shocked by the story of Raquel Nelson, the single mom in Atlanta charged with vehicular homicide when her son was killed while crossing an unsafe street with her. While shocking, head-scratching stories like hers are thankfully rare, it’s emblematic of the road design in many places that we live, and we want to make sure that Congress gets that picture loud and clear. We want to show them that roads like Austell Road by Raquel Nelson’s apartment — 4 lane speedways with few considerations for pedestrians — are far too common. So send us your photos of dangerous, unsafe and poorly planned streets out there across America.
“Passengers” documentary features diverse voices on transportation
A newly-released documentary available both on radio and online surveys a variety of Americans about their perspectives on the nation’s public transportation system. “Passengers,” as the program was dubbed, aired on WAMU (D.C.’s NPR affiliate), a number of public radio stations in most major U.S. markets and nationwide on NPR World and NPR’s Sirius XM […]
Ensuring economic prosperity for the future by investing in transportation
We’ve fallen behind the world on investing in transportation and our physical infrastructure, but Building America’s Future lays out a clear path forward to help restore America’s prominence and lay a strong foundation for our economic future. Falling Apart and Falling Behind lays out the economic challenges posed by our ailing infrastructure, provides a comparative […]
Protect, don’t prosecute, pedestrians — Raquel Nelson seeking a new trial
The story of Raquel Nelson, the Atlanta mother charged with vehicular homicide when her son was killed while crossing a street with her, continues to make waves in the local and national media. It’s been a galvanizing story, as people across the country were shocked to see a grieving mother convicted and facing jail time […]
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