How — and When — Can D.C. Help Local Transport Reform Happen?

A map of the areas served by transport MPOs, pictured in color. (Photo: NARC via Kaid Benfield)

In a new op-ed
for Citiwire, former Indianapolis mayor and GOP member of Congress Bill
Hudnut suggests six ways that Washington can train the nation's
350-plus metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) into tools for
smart and environmentally sound transportation policymaking.

Hudnut's piece is worth reading in full, but here are his six proposals:

• Elect the membership. ...
• Give
  MPOs actual authority to zone land, allocate funds, issue bonds, levy
  taxes, and enforce federal and state regulations regarding clean air
  and water.
• Require MPOs to focus on GHG (greenhouse gas)
  emissions as a planning issue, since lower densities generate a larger
  carbon footprint than higher ones. And not only that: federal law
  should require that the [MPOs' transport plans] comply with results-based goals for
  climate stability, furthering national energy independence and clean
  energy goals.
• Require neighboring regions to link their planning
  through a uniform approach to presenting information and benchmarking
  results. And require, indeed, that there only be a single MPO for a
  single metro region. Many are now all split up, with predictably minimal
  coordination.
• Develop multi-modal regional access plans, establish
  local transportation governance standards and best practices, and fund
  approved multi-modal access plans (as recommended by the White House).
• Mandate a “fix it first” strategy for MPOs, which is to say, rebuild the old before building the new.

The
third item was included, for the most part, in the climate bill that
passed the lower chamber of Congress earlier this summer. The
legislation requires MPOs to "address transportation-related greenhouse
gas emissions" as part of their local planning decisions, specifically
mentioning increased transit ridership, pedestrian activity, and bike
use as goals.

But no numerical targets for emission
reduction are specified in the bill. And without the second and fourth
items on Hudnut's list becoming reality soon, the door is left open for
MPOs to set uneven or unrealistic emissions goals.

So how
soon could more substantive MPO reform reach Congress' lengthy to-do
list? Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) is working on
a plan for competitive grants to encourage innovative local and
regional planning, but the upcoming six-year federal transportation
bill is the most likely vehicle for MPO empowerment.

Of course, that six-year bill is presently mired in a funding stalemate
that will continue into next month, when lawmakers must decide how long
they can put off a broader re-write of federal transportation laws.
Most senators are on record backing their leadership's push for a "clean" 18-month delay that avoids targeted reform of the current system.

Yet
there is still the chance, however slim, that change could start
happening more quickly. One Democratic senator suggested last week that
an 18-month stopgap transport bill should come with planning help for
MPOs and state DOTs.

In a Senate floor speech, Sen. Mark
Warner (D-VA) outlined a transportation benchmark plan and said he
would work to "ensure its inclusion" in any extension of current law
that comes up for a vote next month. Here's a transcript of Warner's
remarks:

(h/t Kaid Benfield, NRDC)