Yesterday was a big day for livable streets and progressive transportation advocates -- and not just because of what happened in New York City.
Rep.Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) speaking at the launch of Transportation for
America's campaign platform. Photo by Steve Davis/Transportation for
America.
Down in DC, Transportation for America
went to the U.S. Capitol to formally launch its campaign to influence
the 2009 transportation bill. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Mayor
John Robert Smith of Meridian, MS, were the featured speakers, and
Blumenauer noted that the T4A coalition of more than 225 organizations
and 17,000 individual members was perhaps the "most formidable" ever
assembled for transportation reform. On their campaign blog,
Transportation for America writes:
Ourcampaign platform calls on President Obama and Congress to launch a newfederal transportation mission that breaks with the worn-out ways ofthe status quo, helps put an end to America’s oil dependency, bringsopportunity to all Americans and allows our country’s businesses tocompete and thrive in the 21st Century.
Sounds good, right? You can download the full platform here.
Streetsblog Network member Hub and Spokes
also links to an interview on Smart City Radio with T4A's David
Goldberg, in which he addresses the question, "Does America have a
transportation policy?"
Also, Green Wheels has the latest data from the Energy Information Administration on US demand for gasoline, and Sustainable Savannah
reports on the recent firing of the commissioner of the Georgia
Department of Transportation. Was she not building roads fast enough?
