Reconnecting America's policy team has prepared a table summarizing the major changes to the evaluation criteria that the Federal Transit Administration is proposing for its project justification criteria for New Starts and Small Starts projects.

Reconnecting America today welcomed Chris Yake to its Washington, DC, staff. As project director, Yake will lead Reconnecting America's place-based work on the East Coast, working with diverse stakeholders in cities and regions to support transit-oriented development (TOD) planning and implementation. He will also lend his expertise to guide quantitative and qualitative research projects, managing multi-disciplinary teams working on subjects related to transit-oriented development, transit performance, urban form and travel behavior.

In response to the Senate's inclusion of local funding control language in its transportation bill, Reconnecting America President and CEO John Robert Smith issued the following statement:

"In the Administration's recently released budget for Fiscal Year 2013, which calls for increased investment in our nation's communities and infrastructure, there is good news for all Americans, whether they live in urban or rural areas and whether they travel by automobile, bus or rail. In particular, President Obama continued the Administration's support for alternatives to highway transportation, such as increased funding for transit systems, and new investment into expanding inter-city and high-speed passenger rail. This affords all citizens choices in how they will travel and is at the heart of the work that Reconnecting America does, connecting people to the places that matter," said John Robert Smith, President and CEO of Reconnecting America. "In addition, the Administration's proposed funding for the Sustainable Communities Partnership would allow even more places around the country to benefit from that highly successful initiative. For our country to remain competitive…

Reconnecting America's Policy Director Sarah Kline released the following update, which covers the president's upcoming budget, TOD and Livable Communities legislation, the Sustainable Communities Partnership and the New Starts changes. There has been a significant amount of federal activity related to transportation and TOD in the last several weeks.  Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are expected to vote on surface transportation reauthorization bills the week of February 13, and the President’s FY2013 budget request will be released that week as well.  Major bills have been introduced in the Senate on TOD and Livable Communities.  The Federal Transit Administration has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to change the way that New Starts projects are evaluated.  All of this is occurring against the backdrop of the 2012 elections, which can heighten partisanship in an already contentious Congress. Surface Transportation Reauthorization The previous surface…

The Center For Transit-Oriented Development held a webinar on "Making Joint Development Work: Perspectives from the Federal, Transit Agency and Business Roles." The webinar was co-sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration and the American Public Transportation Association.

February 2, 2012 Dear Chairman Camp and Ranking Member Levin: On behalf of the nation’s local elected officials and public transportation leaders, we are writing to express our strong opposition to H.R. 3864, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Financing Act of 2012, which includes a provision that would jeopardize the future of public transportation. Specifically, the proposal to redirect federal gas tax revenues away from public transportation would undermine years of investment in our nation’s transportation infrastructure and could prevent local governments and transportation providers from entering into multi-year construction contracts, jeopardizing jobs that are urgently needed. America is home to 7,700 public transportation systems, which range from three-van systems serving isolated seniors in rural communities to large urban systems serving millions of passengers each day. Taken together, these systems provide 400,000 direct jobs for American workers. Public…

 “This week the U.S. Congress has taken major steps toward building stronger communities through investment in public transportation and transit-oriented development,” said John Robert Smith, President and CEO of Reconnecting America. “We thank the leaders of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee for their tireless efforts to move legislation forward that will continue the federal government’s strong partnership with local transit providers.”