$code Communities across the country have used the Center for Neighborhood Technology's (CNT) Housing + Transportation (H+T)® Affordability Index to more fully grasp and act on the relationship between development patterns, transportation behavior and household transportation costs. This training and discussion explored how to effectively use the H+T Affordability Index for performance measures and in support of regional transportation planning under MAP-21. The training was held Sept. 30 in New Orleans, LA, by the Center for Planning Excellence and the Louisiana Public Health Institute and made available via webinar. The two main goals of this session: To demonstrate how H+T Affordability data and metrics may be used in the development of performance measures for regional transportation plans; and To explore how MPOs and state DOTs might make effective use of H+T data and metrics for walkability, transit access, employment…

$code The presentation/slides begin after the introduction at minute 2:30.   This is the first of two sessions offered by the Center for Neighborhood Technology as part of Transportation for America's technical assistance program. In this session, CNT trained MAP-21 subgrantees on the most effective use of the H+T Index in their advocacy for better planning at the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) and state levels. The session focused on: How to use the "State of the Region" Fact Sheets produced by CNT, including accurate interpretation of the data and metrics. How to talk about the H+T Index with MPO staff and other stakeholders How coalition members might frame the data and metrics for their region and with their MPO This training session was conducted Aug. 26 in Detroit at Wayne State University and broadcast to other subgrantees via webinar.

$code This video is from the August 14 webinar. Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are critical sustainability partners and play an important role in planning and programming federal and state transportation funds. Current federal surface transportation legislation, referred to as MAP-21, includes several provisions that allow regions to advance sustainability projects such as transit-oriented development (TOD), bicycling and pedestrian trails, joint development, placemaking, and complete street policies, among other investments. This webinar explores provisions within federal transportation funding that regions can use now to begin implementing their sustainability plans. The mysteries behind acronyms such as CMAQ, STPP, TIP and TAP are revealed, including how these can each be used to support sustainability investments. Examples of MPOs utilizing the authority and flexibility within were shared, together with examples of how state and local funding are also being tapped to…

DC.StreetsBlog.org described the day's fireworks with the headline "Amtrak Foe Mica Meets His Match in John Robert Smith."  Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor Tanya Snyder offered a detailed summary of the exchange between Smith and MIca, the "self-appointed Amtrak bully-in-chief."

The American Public Transportation Association will hold its 2013 Sustainability and Public Transportation Workshop in San Francisco July 28-30. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and the San Francisco Bay Area Transportation District (BART) will host the event at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in Union Square.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Countywide Sustainability Planning Policy was adopted by the Metro Board in Fall 2012, and is based on  work by Metro staff and a consultant team led by ARUP, and including Center for Transit-Oriented Development partners Reconnecting America and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, as well as Fehr and Peers and Barrio Planners. We at Reconnecting America want to congratulate Metro on getting recognition for this huge step forward in sustainability planning. Separate Metro policies address sustainability in operations and construction.

Editor's Note: Many voters across the country have willingly taxed themselves in order to fund major expansions of transit systems in recent years. This week's excerpt from Are We There Yet? explores this trend and the examples of Denver and Los Angeles. Unfortunately, as the report explains, in many places the dollars for construction have not been matched by funding for operations, a problem proving particularly hard on systems serving low-income, transit-dependent populations.
Visit the Are We There Yet? home Voters have proved to be enthusiastic supporters of transit ... and have stepped up to tax themselves in order to make up for the shortfall in state and federal funding. Twenty-three sales tax measures for transit were passed in 16 states in the 2008 election. These sales tax measures are sometimes criticized as regressive because they impose a greater burden on lower-income families. Many states mitigate this by…

Editor's Note: Transit ridership is growing and communities across the nation have been responding with new transit systems and major expansions, with mayors often leading the way. But as this week's excerpt from Are We There Yet? illustrates, and recent updates to the Transit Space Race underline, federal funding is falling further behind what is necessary.
Visit the Are We There Yet? home Interest in transit has boomed during the past two decades, and transit ridership is up 13 percent since 2000. The American Public Transportation Association, in its 2011 analysis of transit use, found that “Americans took 10.4 billion trips on public transportation in 2011, the second highest annual ridership since 1957. Only ridership in 2008, when gas rose to more than $4 a gallon, surpassed last year’s ridership.” Regions across the country are responding by building new…