Laura Barrett

U.S. PIRG's latest study confirmed what many of us who are parents of teenagers or twenty-somethings already know - the Millennial Generation drives less than we did. In fact, the Driving Boom, a 60 year phenomenon, is over. Americans are driving less than they did eight years ago, and as a result are using less oil. But even more significantly, according to U.S. PIRG's study, Americans took 10% more public transit trips in 2011 as compared to 2005 and are commuting more often through walking and biking.

Gamaliel's project, Transportation Equity Network (TEN), has long advocated for more investment in public transit. We believe that low income people, people with disabilities and our seniors deserve transit access, especially in rural areas, so they can get to the doctor, to worship and to work.

But we also believe that public transit and infrastructure projects should be accountable to the public even if they utilize public private partnerships (P3s). As Fawn Johnson outlines in her recent cover story, public officials are increasingly turning to P3s as a s

Transportation fans like Gamaliel, home of the Transportation Equity Network (TEN), and other transit advocates were thrilled to see Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx nominated for Secretary of Transportation. We are hoping that Foxx's experience as a transit-oriented mayor will guide his work as USDOT head.

The two year transportation authorization bill, MAP-21, signed into law last July has some serious shortcomings. As Transportation For America put it: "The bill dedicates zero dollars to repairing our roads and bridges, cuts the amount of money that cities and local governments would have received, makes a drastic cut in the money available to prevent the deaths of people walking or biking, and ensures that you have less input and control over major projects that affect you and the quality of your community."

Transit advocates will push for a more progre

President Obama is tapping into a speeding trend. As the federal government, states and municipalities have become increasingly strapped for cash to invest in infrastructure and job-creation, the debate about public-private-partnerships (P3) has accelerated. While P3 agreements represent a way for states and municipalities to create jobs through infrastructure investment, several factors have prevented P3s from contributing to the common good in the way that publicly financed infrastructure usually does. Political cronyism and financial desperation have contributed to these troubling trends:

- Little or no democratic oversight – A central concern with P3 projects is that decision-making power is often concentrated in the hands of a few appointed vs elected officials. The Brookings Institute has recently recommended that the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provide guidance and oversight on P3 deals.

- Competition Stifled – As the benefits of private sector innovation

Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is right to bring up the effect that a sequester would have on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and air traffic safety in this country. But the untold story is more serious because cuts to transit, bus and train service will first impact low income people on their way to work.

Indeed, low-income people will be hurt by cuts to human services programs like Medicaid, but cuts to Amtrak, the New Starts program, which funds public transit projects and TIGER --the groundbreaking program that funds important sustainable transportation initiative --will hurt working people, forcing many to skip work, pay for taxis out of limited budgets or lose their jobs altogether because of absenteeism or tardiness.

In addition, nearly $1 billion of the $8 billion added to the highway trust fund in 2013 will be cut – impacting job-creating highway programs. When we look ahead to 2014, these bone-chilling cuts will be extended to all transit programs as well as highway programs.

These cuts promise to be draconi

Infrastructure banks are a terrific idea whose time has come. We have to start to answer the pent up need in our communities with fair, accountable financing mechanisms. An infrastructure bank is one of the most accountable ideas proposed thus far; it would have an independent and objective board of directors. However, as USPIRG has detailed in numerous reports, we have to make sure that our communities have access to decision-makers. We also need to make sure that infrastructure banks use employment models that lift up communities such as the Missouri Model, heralded by Secretary LaHood. Using a part of the project's budget to train low income minority and women workers is a proven method. The Missouri Department of Transportation devel

Unfortunately, the Republican and the Democratic National Conventions barely touched upon transportation. While frustrating for advocates, it's hardly surprising that transportation policy hasn't been a major issue this election. The realities of life for people of low-income -- like whether you can get a bus home from your second job -- aren't registering with pundits and campaign directors primarily interested in faceless statistics.

During a recession, campaigns tend to be built around simple soundbites and the focus turns away from planning and projects. As a country, we are facing a fiscal cliff where mandatory cuts to programs combined with the possible expansion of the Bush-era tax cuts for the very wealthy could lead us into another, deeper recession. Obama and Romney are currently battling to prove who is more able to lead us economically. In Obama's speech at the DNC

The Bus Riders Union is a charter member of Gamaliel's Transportation Equity Network. We stood with the Bus Riders and their appeal to FTA and will continue to do so. We can't trade one form of transit for another. We need to increase access to transit for everyone, instead of picking light rail over buses - both are important and both are needed to create a truly integrated transit system that will improve LA's economy.

Is access to transit a civil right? The FTA seems to think so: On March 8 of 2011 Federal Transportation Administrator, Peter Rogoff wrote to the heads of major transit agencies reminding them of their obligation to ensure that service and fare changes don’t have a discriminatory impact on minorities or people of low income. Administrator Rogoff’s letter reminded the heads of major U.S. transit agencies that a budget crisis is no excuse for violating civil rights. In a time of economic crisis, it’s more important than ever to ensure that service and fare changes don’t put those most vulnerable among us at a disadvan

It's certainly noteworthy that ambitious, forward-thinking mayors are turning to transit as one of the best community-building mechanisms available. Apparently, winds of change are blowing in the USDOT as well. Administrator Rogoff of the Federal Transit Authority told the Transportation Equity Network's annual conference last week that he is working to increase the number of new bus rapid transit and light rail projects that FTA supports. He wants to support both transit-dependent riders and choice riders. When we as a nation invest in TIGER grants or the Sustainable Communities program, we're helping to create transit, jobs, and sustainable communities - goals we can all get behind.

In the meantime, riders are voting with their feet. According to the APTA study that was released today, 10.4 billion trips were taken on US public transit in 2011. This is the secon

The President's proposed budget for infrastructure is a terrific start to moving our country back on the right path. We need to return to the days of building great bridges and transit systems. Investing in America's infrastructure will put people to work and will rectify the alarming situation that many of our cities and states have fallen into - thousands of people travelling every day on dangerous crumbling systems that aren't as safe as they should be. Of course, when we are talking about putting people to work in construction, we need to think about who gets the jobs. The Missouri Model that Gamaliel and the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) pioneered is a great way to include minority and women workers who might get left behind if the system is left the way it is. The President's original proposal, the American Jobs Act, had a couple of key provisions that would have enhanced the entry of these workers into construction careers: a clarification around the local hiring issue as well as training provisions and assistance for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (minority and

Look no farther for true radicalism. It's right there in the House Transportation and Infrastructure's "solution" to the funding woes of the transportation trust fund. The traditional funding split in the highway trust that has existed for ages - 80 for roads and 20 for transit - is booted. Transit would lose all dedicated fund9ing. The 35 million (and growing) number of people who ride transit every day? They have to just hope that the federal government will feel like voluntarily handing over money every year. All predictability mass transit funding would be gone if the T and I committee gets its way.

That's no way to run a business - especially one as complicated and diverse and crucial as our mass transit systems. We need predictability in the system itself so that all of the businesses which in turn rely on mass transit for their workers can have a dependable workforce. Low income workers who are depending on buses in Detroit, San Diego, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee need to be able to get to work, school, and worship in an affordable manner. Transit riders and

When the House version of the 5-year Surface Transportation Authorization Act was released last week, it immediately provoked an uproar from Transportation Equity Network (TEN) and Gamaliel leaders. This reaction from Rev. James Hunt of Chicago, IL was typical: “Many of our communities’ public transit crises won’t be addressed through this bill. Ultimately we need operating assistance if we’re going to get out of this mess.”

TEN and Gamaliel support flexibility in transit operating funds. It is an easy, temporary and cost-free approach to fixing the transit crisis. Rep. Russ Carnahan has been a leader in Congress on the issue - he was motivated by the service cuts to 2,000 bus stops in St. Louis several years ago.

TEN and Gamaliel leaders decided to take their concerns to Congress. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, dozens of faith leaders from across the country pounded the halls. It was a racially and geographically diverse team that featured 5 pastor

Anyone who has doubts about whether our transit system desperately needs help should listen to actual transit riders. Riders in Detroit are waiting two and three hours for a bus. Jobs are being lost. Children are being left alone, waiting for a parent to return. Detroit riders need help - not after the election, not after more delays and more petty political maneuvering - they need help right now.

It's unconscionable that the 1% in Congress are making the 99% wait even longer. The transportation authorization bill has traditionally been a bi-partisan bill. Political polar opposites such as former Senators Christopher "Kit" Bond and Barack Obama could agree on the need for a transportation bill and work together to get it passed. They could even work to insert a "Sense of Congress" (Section 1920) in SAFETEA-LU which implied that when transportation construction takes place, up to 30% of the workforce should come from the local community. Section 1920 wasn't mandatory and it could have gone much farther, but, by go

Many people look at the latest threat to the mass transit tax benefit as an attack on transit. At the Transportation Equity Network, we look at it as an attack on the poor. Who takes buses, not as a choice, but as their only option? Low income people, people with disabilities, teenagers, students and seniors. It's also an attack on middle class folks who takes transit. As the International President of ATU, Larry Hanley, said in this space "Americans spend more on transportation than health care, education and food. It is the second largest household expense for many families. The transit commuter tax benefit means they have one less expense to worry about, and in today’s economy, every dollar saved counts." When we talk about reducing the transit benefit and not reducing the parking tax benefit - it's a reverse Robin Hood situation. Somehow, the cries of the Occupy movement - we are the 99% - are not reaching politicians' ears - they still want to take from the poor and give to the rich. We hope that President Obama and Congress will wake u

"Buy American" isn't just a phrase used by politicians - when ordinary folks get together, it's a constant refrain. At the recent TEN conference in Chicago, many of our volunteer area leaders were asking how they could ensure that our communities benefit from infrastructure investments.

Rebuilding America's aging infrastructure has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in communities across the country - but only if it's done right. We need to guarantee that our investment dollars create the greatest long-term return for our struggling economy. In these tough fiscal times, it's not difficult to find examples of shortsightedness. Major pieces of American infrastructure are being built by foreign companies and some - like San Francisco's new Bay Bridge - are being constructed abroad and shipped thousands of miles to cities in the U.S. American infrastructure shouldn't come with a "Made in China" label. Our local TEN leaders are wondering - who will buil

In a time of bitter partisan battles and disastrous short-sightedness, Secretary LaHood has provided vision, direction, clarity, and hope.

Being at the helm of our national transportation system could be an overwhelming task in the best of times, and these last few years have been far from the best of times. The economic crisis has created a deeper need than ever to invest in job creation through transportation, and in the infrastructure that will drive our economy for decades. Secretary LaHood has fought tirelessly for those things. We all need to thank him for that.

But the economic crisis has also led to a poisonous atmosphere in Washington that makes it hard for common sense to survive. It’s led to a frenzy of budget-cutting than in many cases is only making the crisis worse—especially for those who’ve been hit hardest. It would be easy for any cabinet secretary to decide that progress just isn’t possible, to abandon any long-term vision, to play small ball with whatever time he or she has left.

Secretary LaHood hasn’t done t

Too often, the attacks on bike paths and walkways aren't about practical or financial matters, let alone a broad, forward-looking vision for our national transportation system. The attacks are about cultural politics. There's a confused notion some people have that walking and biking are for the "liberal elite," while "real Americans" never set foot outside of their gas-guzzling SUVs. Politicians who score points by attacking everything associated with the "liberal elite" seem to take special joy in attacking biking and walking. The problem with biking and walking paths, they seem to suggest, isn't that they cost money, but that they're un-American. That's nonsense. For many folks, especially in smaller, rural, or suburban areas, biking and walking are their only way to get to the minimum-wage jobs they struggle to survive on. Not too long ago, I was talking to a friend of my teenage son named Mike Wilson. I told him about TEN and our fight to fully fund public transit. Then I said a foolish thing: "I bet that's not an is

There’s a good reason TEN launched a partnership this year with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). TEN is a grassroots network of more than 350 community organizations in 41 states. ATU is North America's largest transit workers union, representing over 190,000 members in 270 localities. No one knows better than daily transit riders—which many TEN members are—how important public transportation is to accessing jobs, schools, and health care. No one knows better than transit workers—which all ATU members are—how valuable public transportation is as a source of quality jobs and economic growth.

When transit funding is under threat, as it is now, our common interests are even clearer. Even before the madness of the debt ceiling debate took its toll, our transit systems were under siege nationwide: 84% of transit systems were forced to raise fares, cut service, or both in 2010.

But the stakes go far beyond the interest of commuters in keeping their bus lines

It’s clear we need a long-term transportation bill. But at a political moment when ideological zealotry has brought us to the brink of yet another crisis, Senator Boozman is right. The bipartisan cooperation on the Senate transportation bill is little short of a miracle. It’s a shame that our federal representatives can’t learn from the example of Senators Boxer and Inhofe when it comes to the debt ceiling debate. We all know the reasons why transportation has historically been an area of bipartisan compromise and cooperation. We all know that transportation investments are a powerful job creator and engine of economic growth—especially investments in public transit. We all know that transportation has the unique ability to unite groups as diverse as the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. We all know that SAFETEA-LU and other part transportation bills have been milestones of bipartisan cooperation. The grim deadlock over the debt ceiling might have seemed like the nail in the coffin for any kind of cross-party cooperation in Washington. But the Boxer-In

Few of us in the transportation organizing and advocacy communities found anything to cheer in Chairman Mica's reauthorization proposal. Mica’s committee constantly repeated the mantra of “long-term predictability” during the presentation, as though any six-year bill, regardless of what it contained, would be a step forward.

In reality, the $230 billion that Mica proposed would be a massive step backward. $230 billion over six years is an alarmingly low figure, a starvation diet for a transportation infrastructure system that’s already too weak to stand on its own. Such a bill would throw countless struggling Americans into crisis—especially the transit-dependent—while slowing our economic recovery even further.

The only consolation is that Mica’s proposal was just that: a proposal. It marked out a negotiating position. Unfortunately, that position is one more example of the deluded notion that we can starve our way to economic health. No matter how many Nobel Prize-winning economists refute this notion, it still has much of

President Eisenhower had a bold vision of a more connected, prosperous, and secure America. The Interstate Highway System helped usher in an era of prosperity never seen before in this country. Eisenhower's vision helped shape modern America and made us the wealthiest nation in the world.

Unfortunately, that system simply isn't sustainable today. 1955 was a very different time in our country. Natural resources were more abundant and the potential downsides of an auto-dependent society simply weren't as apparent. President Eisenhower was also fighting the Cold War and the Interstate Highway System was an important part of our national security. So what can we do to strengthen the nation 55 years later? Sustainability. America needs a national transportation infrastructure that we can actually sustain and that won't leave us dependent on foreign sources of energy. We also need to consider how we can strengthen the national economy. TEN's recent report

At TEN, we disagree with the idea that privatization is always cheaper or more efficient. However, we don't need to speculate about the potential impacts of passenger rail privatization. Transit systems across the world have experimented with privatization and the results are virtually always the same: the public ends up paying more for less and less service.

As an example, let's look at what happened in Britain. In the mid-1990s, the Conservative government in the UK set about breaking up the national British Railways and selling it off to a series of private investors. Since then, the financial realities of rail service have forced the government to subsidize many commercially unsuccessful services. Without the buying power of a single operator like the former British Railways, costs have increased dramatically and incentives to innovate and modernize have decreased leaving the infrastructure in Britain decades behind the publicly-run systems of nearby France and Germany.

More accountability is a good thing. More bang for our buck is a good thing. That’s part of the reason TEN wants to maximize federal transit funding (the top job-creator among types of transportation spending), followed by a fix-it-first approach to roads and bridges (the next best job-creator).

But let’s be careful here. Scales of "merit" are not handed down from the heavens. They're reflections of our current values and priorities. This is why they change over time, why they provoke disagreements just as sharp as any other, and why they can fall prey to the political whim of the moment. And as we all know, the political whim of the moment is to slash every investment that gives poor people and people of color a fighting chance.

Our priority at TEN is ensuring that our national transportation policy and funding create a more just, prosperous, and connected America. Anything that calls itself "performance-driven" but deepens existing inequities only deserves one name: a mistake.

So while we strongly support accountabilit

Whether or not a fix-it-first approach is enough to kick-start Congressional action on a reauthorization bill, there’s no question that it should be a top priority at every level, from federal to local.

We already know how deep a crisis is our transportation infrastructure is in. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives America's infrastructure an overall grade of D. A recent report by Transportation for America told us more about the dangerously poor condition of our nation’s bridges.

We already know that endless highway expansion has fueled sprawl to the tune of billions of taxpayers of dollars, with disastrous consequences to our economy, ecology, and sense of community—from de facto segregation and urban disinvestment to suburban isolation and auto dependency.

Most importantly, at a time when millions of Americans are struggling economically and unemployment is ti

For us at TEN, the question of whether environmentalists, domestic-manufacturing advocates, unions, and the transportation community can come together to advocate for infrastructure investment isn’t a hard one. It’s practically our reason for being.

TEN represents a grassroots base of tens of thousands of members in 41 states who know that smart infrastructure investments—especially in transit—make sense because they create jobs, spur economic development, expand access to opportunity, and create healthier, more livable communities.

In order to fight for those investments, we’ve built alliances not just within the transportation advocacy community, with national partners like Transportation for America, but with the Amalgamated Transit Union, with civil rights and environmental justice groups, and with public officials like US Se

“Skepticism” about transportation infrastructure investments may be the order of the day in the current frenzy of budget-cutting (at least among Republicans). But Sen. Hatch’s quips don’t change the fact that 82 of Americans want more transportation options, including 79% of rural voters. Nor does it change the fact that transportation investments—especially in public transportation—have been shown time and again to be a powerful engine of job creation and economic growth. That’s why transportation has long been an area of bipartisan cooperation and compromise. And underlying all the practical benefits is the fact that transportation investments help forge the commitment to community that made America possible.

As far as trust in government does, there are real reasons why it’s lower than it has been in the past. That doesn’t negate the need for it