1–9 of 9
results
Reconnecting America in the news
September 30, 2008|President CEO Shelley Poticha is interviewed for MassTransit Magazine
More News & Resources:
Shelley Poticha, President and CEO of Reconnecting America, is featured in an article on MassTransit magazine that profiles transportation professionals.
Here's some of what she had to say:
* * *
“Not only are people ready for change, we actually know what to do. We have been practicing these ideas in communities around the country for years and we hear about them at our sustainability conferences, all of the innovations that are starting to take place where developers are recognizing that there is a tremendous shift in the marketplace.”
* * *
“We created the Center for Transit-Oriented Development because what we were finding was that each agency had to do all of the research themselves about what is happening in transit-oriented development. We basically created a clearinghouse of information that practitioners can link into about whatever stage of that process they are in.”
“When we started five years ago…
Florida county may scrap road building and focus on bus rapid transit
September 29, 2008|Proposal includes "mobility fee" that penalizes suburban sprawl
More News & Resources:
Florida's Alachua County is considering scrapping its extensive roadwork expansion plans and instead focusing all of its efforts on bus rapid transit. The plan envisions a network of bus rapid transit lanes and stations along major corridors that would link outlying areas to urban Gainesville. If adopted, the plan would a first of its kind in Florida, according to the Gainsville Sun story Sept. 28. County staff suggest paying for the dedicated bus lanes and bridges restricted to buses, bikes and pedestrians with fees on new growth and incentives for developers to build at greater densities and with a mix of homes and shops. The proposed fees include a first-ever "mobility fee," which would be greater for developments in car-dependent suburbs and less for those closer to town and access to transit. Florida law currently does not allow for mobility fees.
Read more at
Encouraging transit-oriented development
September 25, 2008|Tri-State Transportation Campaign announces grant program
More News & Resources:
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign, supported by the One Region Fund, a partnership of private funders from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, has created a TOD Grant Program to support initiatives in municipalities that are interested in retail, mixed-income housing and open space that foster walkable, compact and vibrant communities centered within one-quarter to one-half mile of a transit stop. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a non-profit advocacy and policy organization working for a
more balanced, equitable, and environmentally friendly transportation system in New York, New Jersey,
and Connecticut.
Read more
The route to increased federal transit funding
September 23, 2008
More News & Resources:
The Sept. 22 issue of Rollcall magazine includes a lengthy article on Reconnecting America and Smart Growth America's efforts to boost transit funding in the upcoming federal transportation bill and the plans of the Transportation for America coalition to wage a grass-roots campaign to generate support.
Writes T.R. Goldman:
It comes around every half-dozen or so years, but this time, when the gargantuan transportation bill is written, “smart growth” advocates are determined to play a prominent role — muscling aside the bill’s traditional highway heavy hitters. ...
“The onus is off us to make them pay attention,” said Geoff Anderson, president of D.C.-based Smart Growth America, which is co-managing the new coalition along with Oakland, Calif.-based Reconnecting America. “They’re paying attention.”
But the prominence of the smart-growth community in next year’s transportation bill, which could balloon to as much as $500…
Cities rethink parking standards
September 22, 2008|Do 1950s-era standards meet today's needs?
More News & Resources:
Do 1950s-era parking space mandates serve 21st century needs? That's the question that Associated Press reporter Sarah Karush explored in a Sept. 22 article, "Cities rethink wisdom of 50s-era parking standards." Cities are considering reducing offstreet parking requirements in hopes of encouraging walkable, transit-oriented development. But opponents argue that parking can't be the sole focus. Ken Jarboe, a neighborhood leader in Washington, D.C., said the way to reduce traffic is to continue improving transit and to create other incentives not to drive. "Simply saying, 'Let's make it more painful to park — it doesn't get you where you want to be," Jarboe said. Proponents of the change counter that subsidizing the cost of parking by requiring excess space just encourages more people to drive.
Read the full story here.
Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence
September 22, 2008
More News & Resources:
The Rudy Bruner Award is given to urban places that demonstrate the successful
integration of effective process, meaningful values and good design. Winners
are distinguished by their social, economic and environmental contributions to the
urban environment, and often provide innovative solutions to our cities most
challenging problems.
Trends favor renewed interest in transit-oriented development
September 19, 2008|Multi-Housing World Conference in Denver takes on Transit-Oriented Development
More News & Resources:
Senior editor Eugene Gilligan at Commercial Property News reports that a panel at the Multi-Housing World Conference in Denver took up the topic of transit-oriented development Sept. 19, concluding that a number of factors -- changing tastes, gas prices and commute woes -- are forcing developers to turn away from sprawl and focus instead on sustainability and creating livable neighborhoods.
With mass transit gaining ground even in car-centric Los Angeles and sustainability a key selling point for many projects, builders are finding new impetus to work through the resistance to denser occupancy rates and unnecessary parking space requirements that typically work against transit-oriented developments.
Panel: Bright Future for Transit-Oriented M-F Developments
Transit and the economy
September 17, 2008|APTA and Brookings testify before Senate committee
More News & Resources:
Transit and its role in helping Americans cope with increasing fuel costs were the topic of a hearing Sept. 9 before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Among those providing testimony were William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association, and Robert Puentes, fellow and director of the Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative at the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program.
The following are highlights from Millar's presentation "On Strengthening The Ability Of Public Transportation To Help Americans Escape High Fuel Costs."
In the second quarter of 2008 as the price of gasoline rose steadily, Americans took more than 2.8 billion trips on public transportation vehicles. This is almost 140 million more trips than last year for the same time period or 1.5 million more each day.
Americans are changing…
Decades-old plan for light rail connection between St. Paul and Minneapolis reaches milestone
September 16, 2008
More News & Resources:
Minnesota Public Radio has a progress report on a proposal to link the Twin Cities with rails. The new light rail service from St. Paul to Minneapolis could be Minnesota's largest public works project ever. // -->Read full story.