Transportation For America
Transportation for America (T4) is a broad coalition of housing, environmental, public health, urban planning, transportation and other organizations focused on creating a 21st Century national transportation program. T4’s goal is to build a modernized infrastructure and healthy communities where people can live, work and play by aligning national, state, and local transportation policies with an array of issues like economic opportunity, climate change, energy security, health, housing and community development.
The Apollo Alliance is proud to among over 100 partner organizations or the T4 coalition.
The key points of the T4 policy agenda are consistent with various aspects of The New Apollo Program as follows.
21st CENTURY INFRASTRUCTURE, 21st CENTURY JOBS
Create green jobs through greater investment in modernized infrastructure and healthy communities — from highway maintenance and repair to public transit upgrades to green housing and neighborhood construction.
A WORLD-CLASS RAIL SYSTEM
Build a world-class rail network — both between cities and within them — that links our communities, transports people and goods more smoothly and makes our economy more competitive.
FIXING IT FIRST
Protect the integrity of our existing highway and public transportation systems with an aggressive program of rehabilitation and upkeep, and financial support for superior service.
HELPING PEOPLE DRIVE LESS
Help people drive less, avoid unpredictable gas prices, get healthy and stay active in their own neighborhoods through expanded construction of public transit, bicycle routes, and safe sidewalks to walk on.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
Set and enforce national transportation standards, but empower local communities to decide what is necessary to meet those goals as well as the needs of its neighborhoods and residents.
Transit-Emergency Service and Operation Grants
Public transit is being cut around the country. Many municipalities are either eliminating services, cutting back on staff, increasing fares or implementing a combination of cutbacks.
Our friends at Transportation for America devised this map to show why that an additional $4 billion is needed right now for “Transit-Emergency Service and Operation Grants.” They say that these ready-to-go grants will help municipalities where there are severe revenue shortfalls and ensure that transit jobs are preserved, service is not reduced, and fares are not increased. It is estimated that these funds can be used fairly quickly (as in months) and they will create/retain many thousands of jobs - thus providing a nice boost to the economy.
Key
Yellow = Service Cuts
Green = Fare Increases
Red = Job Losses
Purple = Service Cuts and Fare Increases
Deep Blue = Service Cuts and Job Losses
Turquoise = Fare Increases and Job Losses
Dollar Sign = Service Cuts, Job Losses, and Fare Increases
