We have been beating the drum for several months now to encourage states to fully spend their Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) funds before the critical deadline of September 30, 2017, when any unused FY2014 funds would expire after four years.
After spending August at home in their districts, Members of Congress are returning to Washington with a packed agenda ahead of them in September. Congress must raise the federal debt limit to avoid defaulting on our national debt and extend funding through the appropriations process to keep the government running.
The latest version of the health care repeal bill is down for the count after the Senate voted against moving forward, leaving the Prevention Fund intact for the time being. The big question is what does Congress move on to now? There is a lot of pressure on Republicans to deliver some sort of big legislative priority.
Congress continues to struggle with finding consensus on major legislation, and also still has a lot of work ahead in coming months to settle federal government spending levels for 2018.
As our new publication Vision Zero and Safe Routes to School: Partners in Safety makes clear, when a community takes a Vision Zero pledge to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries, there is an opportunity for Safe Routes to School advocates to take their efforts to the next level. Vision Zero action plans can lead to a greater community focus on and funding towards making the streets safer for kids and families.
Last night, in his address to Congress, President Trump revisited his campaign promise of a big new investment in infrastructure. He called upon Congress to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure package, using a combination of public and private investment.
At a recent grantmaking conference, one of the speakers emphasized the role of evaluation by saying that if you can’t measure something, it doesn’t matter. Thanks to a new rule from the US Department of Transportation, all states will now be required to measure and be held accountable for bicycle and pedestrian safety.
We are now six weeks out from when Congress passed the FAST Act, securing funding for Safe Routes to School and the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) for five more years. Here at the Safe Routes Partnership, we've been spending a lot of time educating advocates about what changed and what didn't in the FAST Act, and gathering as much information as we can to help you access the funding.
We have been advocating together for three years for a new transportation bill that supports Safe Routes to School, walking and bicycling. Now that Congress has passed the FAST Act and locked in funding for the Transportation Alternatives Program (or as it is now also known the STP Setaside), what should advocates be focusing on?
The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee has set its consideration of the transportation bill for Thursday, October 22. This is coming in just under the wire, as the current transportation law expires at the end of October. Congress will still have to do an extension of current law to allow the House to complete its work and then come to agreement with the Senate -- hopefully by mid-December. (Update 10/22/15: The committee completed consideration of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act today. An amendment offered by Reps.