Counties should be free to put outcomes first in transportation investment

County government has been at the center of American civic life for more than 350 years.

Counties help preserve and protect the qualities that make our urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods special. Counties create a climate for business, for families, and for the institutions we all care about--from libraries and schools to vibrant downtown streets and safe rural roads.

County officials have their ears to the ground because they govern where people live. And that's why I was pleased to address the National Association of Counties on Sunday.

Now, transportation plays a major role in creating the kinds of counties people want to live in; transportation policy can reduce dependence on private vehicles and foreign oil and promote a cleaner environment.

But for too long, federal policy has encouraged sprawl and congestion and pollution, rather than quality public transportation and smart, sustainable development. We intend to change that.

And for too long, federal transportation spending has mainly been driven by rigid formulas that divide highways from subways and commuter rail from ferries. We intend to change that.

The good news is, we have a model for this in the $1.5 billion discretionary TIGER grant program funded through the Recovery Act.

TIGER grants will not be arbitrarily divided between highways and transit. Instead, we’re asking communities to put outcomes first. Only then can we determine the type of transportation infrastructure that works best to meet those outcomes.

Right now, counties and cities have only a modest say in how DOT dollars are spent. Down the line, we'll build on programs like our TIGER grants and transform the way DOT operates, with more direct relationships between our Department and local governments. Then we’d fund them directly.

We think this will empower counties and cities and other stakeholders to make their priorities a reality. We think this will help us connect people and goods with the places they need to go, whether by plane, train, car, truck, bus, bicycle, or their own two feet.

What’s important here isn’t the size of a project or a jurisdiction; it’s whether we invest in transportation projects that enhance our quality of life and help us compete economically.

The President and I are committed to doing just that.

Comments

[Peter Muller]

Along these lines, we recently had a community rate the characteristics they sought in a transportation system. The most desired characteristic was reliability.

When we applied the ratings to a broad range of transportation systems (bicycles to high speed rail) the results were stratified into three clear groups: Small, personal-use systems were preferred over rail-based systems which, in turn, were preferred over bus-based systems.

Results will probably differ in other communities - the point is that studies like these can help communities better understand what they are looking for in a transportation system.

[venkat]

i would really agree your speach and that article was very nice and use information to others

[Michael E. Bailey]

This is a great idea. Roads will continue to stary a part of the transportation infrastructure. But giving more importance to commuter rail and bus transit will help lessen dependence on cars so that new freeways will not have to be built. Modernization can replace wholy new construction. We should no longer allow something like building a major toll road through an important state park as was tried here last year but stopped. OCTA has built alternate fuel fueling centers at their bus bases and invested heavily in alternate fuel busses. The tax credit fohr that project is going away in December and needs to be replaced by grants or tax credits. We need to convert our minibus fleet from diesel to alternate fuels. Thank you and best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[Christina Bowen]

This is certainly good news for those of us in Colorado, where there is a critical transportation funding shortfall. I'm curious though about how you see regionalism fitting into this approach.

[J. Lucas McKay]

Yay counties! Man - if less DOT money here in metro Atlanta was bottlenecked through the State system, we'd have way more options. But here in Georgia, there's no funding mechanism for anything but roads. It just doesn't work for cities.

[Joe Minicozzi]

Secretary LaHood:
Thank you for opening a blog and doing what you do. It is refreshing that our department of transportation is moving toward a broader inclusion of mobility options such as mass transit and non-oil burning bike modes. And it is especially encouraging to see transportation moving toward accommodating our free transit - our feet. Anyhow, in order to stay on message I would suggest that you reconsider the title of your blog and the image that appears next to it. The "fast lane" of highways is contradictory to the main message of multi-modality.

[OC Webdesign]

I like the name "Fast Lane" for your blog. At rush hour here in Orange County California, the "fast lane" is often the bike lane!

Sincerely,
The Boys at White Ink Studio

[DCKAP]

I feel a lot more people in Colorado need to read this, very good info!

Sincerely,
DCKAP Inc
http://www.dckap.com

[Mark]

Ah I like this....

[Archaeology Excavations]

Transportation plays a major role in all part of the countries and it is best to invest the most part in transportation, and in the United States the people relies on both personal and commercial transit. As said, by encouraging public transportation we can reduce the dependence on private vehicles. Countries must use the DOT funds properly and should spend them in a best way for transportation policies. I hope, soon there will be some changes in countries transportation policies.

[Dino Wold]

Traffic congestion in rush hours is the problem in many countries of the USA and a report says that, Americans are wasting 2.8 billions of gallons of fuels each year due to congestion. Pollution is created due to congestion and we need to be protected from global warming, so there should be some changes in transportation policies. For the sake of countries benefit, size of the project doesn’t matter and there should be some changes in federal laws. Countries should feel free to put the outcomes first and if they do we can find some changes in transportation policies and can work on the best part of it.

[Term Life Insurance Rockstar]

Outcomes first?

Do people not usually put outcomes first? I guess not. Just short term solutions. Tunnel vision view?

Perhaps because the funding is a TIGER grant, outcomes will be able to come first.

Usually when projects are coming out of some guy's pocketbook, corners get cut that aren't super apparent at first but end up having a bad outcome.

[Oil Rig Jobs]

This is good news for those of us in Colorado Roads. It will continue to stary a piece of the transportation roads. But giving more importance to traveler rail and bus transit will help lessen dependence on cars so that new freeways will not have to be build.