In October 2010, the Center for Transit-Oriented Development published a report exploring the role community development finance institutions could play in promoting equitable transit-oriented development. This document is an initial effort to frame the context of TOD and equity, and to encourage a more robust discourse on the connection between the agendas of CDFIs and TOD.

International Association of Public Transport has published an article co-authored by Reconnecting America President and CEO John Robert Smith and Policy Associate Alia Anderson in its bimonthly joural, Public Transit International.

Reconnecting America President and CEO John Robert Smith applauded today's award of nearly $600 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II construction and planning grants.

The Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) today launched a first-of-its-kind web database to provide access to comprehensive information about more than 4,000 transit zones across the United States. The web tool will help developers, investors, and city officials make planning decisions that take advantage of development opportunities around transit nodes.

Welcome to the Fall 2010 issue of Platform. The staff of Reconnecting America has been busy all year. We have gone through a rebranding process and are currently overhauling our website, and have a number of accomplishments in transit-oriented development and policy work. In addition, we have expanded our talent roster to fulfill our mission of transforming promising ideas into thriving communities.

A working group of major philanthropic and financial institutions, Investors for Sustainable Communities, has announced an effort to coordinate up to $150 million in investments to build stronger communities grounded in more resilient, regional economies that provide opportunity to all residents and that firmly embrace environmental stewardship.

Reconnecting America today applauded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) award of nearly $100 million in historic Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grants. The program is part of an unprecedented partnership announced last year between HUD, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. These grants will allow public agencies and communities in 45 regions to plan for the integration of housing, transportation, infrastructure and environmental improvements. “I commend the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Obama Administration for recognizing that the federal government needed a new approach to stimulate innovation and help jump-start regional efforts to plan for a better future," said John Robert Smith, president and CEO of Reconnecting America. "Federal support for coordinated, regional planning and implementation, will create more housing and transportation choices, a better quality of life,…

Monday, President Obama renewed the call for investment in our nationʼs infrastructure, bringing with him the voices of a bipartisan group of governors, mayors, and policy experts to underscore the urgency of action. The Miller Center for Public Affairsʼ Bipartisan Conference, led by former Secretaries of Transportation Norman Mineta and Samuel Skinner, and the Council of Economic Advisors along with the Department of Treasury, set the groundwork for this discussion with recently released analyses of investment options.