President's FY14 Budget Today the President released his FY14 budget. This package of proposals is the Administration’s annual request to Congress. Congress will have the ultimate decision-making power over what programs get funded as they develop appropriations bills later this year. Many of the proposals in the budget will face a steep uphill climb in Congress. A short summary of the Key Proposals in the Administration's FY14 Budget for Transit, TOD, and Sustainable Communities is available here. John Robert Smith Comments On Budget A statement of John Robert Smith, President and CEO of Reconnecting America, on the Administration's Proposed FY14 Budget is available here. Reconnecting America provides occasional updates on federal activities related to transit, TOD, and sustainable communities. Updates may include key legislative or regulatory actions, grant opportunities, relevant resources, or original…

Editor's Note: In this excerpt from Are We There Yet? we return to the Moving section and address automobile use and the critical need to provide alternatives for the aging Baby Boomers, who represent 20 percent of the nation's population. (Read the Moving chapter introduction: Getting Out Of Gear)  
Visit the Are We There Yet? home The situation of older Americans is more difficult since most want to “age in place,” according to AARP, which means they want to live independently in their homes and communities for as long as possible. The problem is that many of the communities in which they live do not provide alternatives to the car: three AARP surveys of older adults in 2010 found that almost 40 percent of the respondents did not have adequate sidewalks near their homes; 60 percent do not live within a 10-minute walk of public transportation; and 38 percent…

CTOD Comments On FTA's Proposed Circular On Joint Development Projects Reconnecting America, Strategic Economics and the Center for Neighborhood Technology have released comments on the Federal Transit Administration's proposed circular on joint development. The three are partners in the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, the only national effort dedicated to providing best practices, research, and tools to support equitable market-based transit-oriented development (TOD), and therefore uniquely qualified to discuss the FTA's proposed guidance to transit agencies on joint development projects. Joint development projects are undertaken by transit agencies and public, private, or nonprofit entities to create transit-supportive development near transit stations. Joint development projects often take place on land owned by the transit agency, and can be stand-alone projects or part of larger TOD efforts. Transit agencies' contribution to TOD through joint development activities…

A 2012 report on the return of tramways to France by the Ministry for Ecology, Stustainable Development and Energy has been added to the Research Center best practices database.

Editor's Note: This week's excerpt from Are We There Yet? explores why communities need to pay attention to the ongoing reorganization of job markets in order to provide people of all skill levels with the transportation choices they need to access opportunity. This is what will make regions more competitive nationally and globally.
Visit the Are We There Yet? home [N]ot everybody works for Google or has the option of using transit. Even though transit ridership has been at record highs — transit use has increased 38 percent since 1995 — transit agencies across the country are facing unprecedented fiscal crises in this recession, and they are laying off workers, cutting back service and raising fares at the worst possible time. The transit riders who are being left stranded tend to be older, African-American or Latino. “As employers and commuters everywhere know only too well, public transportation is an essential…

The Transportation for America (T4America) campaign is seeking a smart and motivated individual to jump into a vibrant national campaign and be a high performing Field Director to direct the day-to-day operations of a diverse coalition of prominent leaders from a multitude of constituencies working to reform transportation policy.

The March 2013 draft of a report from Enterprise Community Partners and Low Income Investment Fund on financing equitable transit-oriented development has been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

Visit the Are We There Yet? home Some places just don’t have the density of jobs and residents and intensity of activity that justifies an investment in rail transit. Many of these communities are investing in bus and shuttle service as well as in programs that make it easier and more pleasant to carpool, walk and bike to jobs in an urban or suburban downtown, and to get healthier while doing it. Des Moines, for example, which has a population 400,000, has been investing nearly $2 million a year to make the downtown more walkable and create a network of bike lanes and trails. Google — which offers job perks that are the envy of Silicon Valley, including chef-prepared food at all hours — is trying to make commutes as painless as possible by ferrying its pampered workers on shuttles that run on biodiesel, with leather seats, wi-fi, and even room for dogs. The Google shuttle carries a quarter of the company’s…