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ANDRIANA ABARIOTES JOINS RECONNECTING AMERICA BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Reconnecting America CEO John Robert Smith cites her outstanding skill set in the arena of community development and affordable housing

LEVERAGING FEDERAL TRANSIT FUNDS TO PROMOTE JOB CONNECTIVITY, AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Reconnecting America offers ideas on how to improve federal New Starts and Small Starts project justification criteria

RECONNECTING AMERICA ENDORSES LIVABLE COMMUNITIES ACT AMENDMENT
Letter from RA, Transportation for America and LOCUS backs creation of funding tools for TOD infrastructure

Best Practices 
Case Studies on Transit and Livable Communities in Rural and Small Town America
Offers a dozen examples of small towns and rural regions working to make their communities more livable · PDF

Bus Rapid Transit and Transit Oriented Development: Case Studies on Transit Oriented Development Around Bus Rapid Transit Systems in North America and Australia
Provides examples of BRT-based TOD along corridors Brisbane, Australia; Cleveland, Ohio; Boston, Mass.; and Ottawa, Ontario · PDF

Bus and Rail Transit Preferential Treatments in Mixed Traffic
This synthesis series reports on current knowledge and practice, in a compact format, · PDF

Projects  Feed-icon-12x12
MAKING THE TWIN CITIES MORE WALKABLE
New CTOD report provides methodology for assessing and boosting the walkability of a place

CAPTURING THE VALUE OF TRANSIT
New report by Center for Transit-Oriented Development released

FINANCING TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
Policy Options and Strategies in the San Francisco Bay Area

Reconnecting America and the Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD)

For media inquiries, contact
Rebecca M. (Becky) Sullivan
Communications Director
Reconnecting America
1707 L Street, N.W., Suite 210
Washington, D.C. 20036
(w) 202-429-6990, ext. 206
(f) 202-315-3508
(c) 202-412-5573
bsullivan@reconnectingamerica.org

Andriana Abariotes Joins Reconnecting America Board of Directors.

Andriana Abariotes Joins Reconnecting America Board of Directors.

Reconnecting America CEO John Robert Smith cites her outstanding skill set in the arena of community development and affordable housing

Reconnecting America CEO John Robert Smith announced today the addition of Andriana Abariotes to the organization’s Board of Directors.

(August 26, 2010)

Reconnecting America CEO Addresses Southern High-Speed Rail Commission

John Robert Smith was in New Orleans for the commission’s Intercity Passenger Rail Transportation Summit

John Robert Smith, President and CEO of Reconnecting America, recently addressed a meeting of the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission (SHSRC) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Smith was in New Orleans for the Commission’s Intercity Passenger Rail Transportation Summit. Smith spoke on the economics of high speed rail, both from a national and local perspective. “With the federal government committed to high-speed rail, the New Orleans-Baton Rouge corridor is a good candidate for investment,” Smith said. “High-speed rail provides not only economic development opportunities but accessibility for all citizens in their everyday lives, as well as in times of a natural crisis.”

(July 20, 2010)

CTOD Releases TOD Tools For Metropolitan Planning Organizations

CTOD Releases TOD Tools For Metropolitan Planning Organizations

Guide highlights best practices related to regulations, funding, information sharing and partnerships

The Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) has released a guide, “Transit-Oriented Tools for Metropolitan Planning Organizations” to aid Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in taking a more proactive role in planning and promoting compact growth along transit corridors. Funded through a cooperative agreement between Reconnecting America and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the guide highlights best practices related to regulations, funding, information sharing and partnerships.

(April 12, 2010)

CTOD Creates  Citywide Toolkit For TOD In Los Angeles

CTOD Creates Citywide Toolkit For TOD In Los Angeles

Report assesses opportunities to improve land use and transportation linkages in communities surrounding 70 existing and planned transit stations

The Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) has released the "Creating Successful Transit Oriented Districts in Los Angeles: A Citywide Toolkit for Achieving Regional Goals" report, which assesses opportunities to improve land use and transportation linkages in communities surrounding 70 existing and planned transit stations in the City of Los Angeles. The report identifies strategies to help communities around transit stations achieve high transit ridership, increase mixed-income and mixed-use housing opportunities and create sustainable neighborhoods while offering its residents a wealth of travel options.

(March 31, 2010)

Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development Action Guide

Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development Action Guide

FTA and HUD unveil website built by Center for Transit-Oriented Development to help communities create mixed-income housing near transit

The Federal Transit Administration has unveiled a new Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development Action Guide created by the Center for Transit-Oriented Development. The guide comes in the form of a website and is the first "publication" by the FTA to be completely paperless. The website can be accessed at www.fta.dot.gov/livability/mitod or directly at mitod.org

(March 29, 2010)

Reconnecting America CEO Calls For Bold New Agenda For Small-Town America

Reconnecting America CEO Calls For Bold New Agenda For Small-Town America

John Robert Smith tells Senate panel safe, strong and efficient transportation systems in small towns and rural areas are needed to grow economy and pursue the American Dream

As the Senate continues to develop a revitalized, long-term federal transportation program, Reconnecting America CEO John Robert Smith called on senators to support a bold new agenda for rural transportation that would spur economic development in small towns and cities across the United States.

(March 18, 2010)

TIGER Grants Fund Wave Of Transportation Innovation

TIGER Grants Fund Wave Of Transportation Innovation

TIGER program demonstrates Administration’s continued commitment to livability, says Reconnecting America CEO John Robert Smith

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was in Kansas City, Missouri today, February 19, to announce that 51 projects in 41 states and the District of Columbia have been awarded $1.5 billion in TIGER Discretionary Grants. The TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) program was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and funding was awarded on a competitive basis to transportation projects of national or regional significance that also create jobs and provide economic benefits.

(February 17, 2010)

Obama Administration Charts New Course For Transportation, Housing Investments

Obama Administration Charts New Course For Transportation, Housing Investments

Emphasis on coordination and collaboration, sustainability and livability

The Obama Administration is clearly charting a new course for policy and investments in housing and transportation with announcements in recent weeks by U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. The three agencies have formed an interagency partnership that signals an unprecedented level of collaboration among the agencies, with the goal of achieving sustainability and livability through coordinated transportation and housing policies and investments. Reconnecting America’s analyses of these developments is provided at the links below.

(February 5, 2010)

President Signals Support For Livability, Transit And Jobs

President Signals Support For Livability, Transit And Jobs

Reconnecting America has long advocated the kind of funding and programs supported in the President’s budget

President Obama released his fiscal year 2011 budget proposal Feb. 1, 2010, signaling a clear commitment to the Sustainable Communities Initiative he announced last year as well as his continuing support for the federal interagency partnership between the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The proposed budget, the Obama Administration’s first, includes several new programs supporting livability, sustainable communities and transportation choices including investments in high-speed rail and public transportation. The budget comes less than a week after the President’s announcement of $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, and an additional $1 billion a year for five years. A few of the programs in the budget are listed below; there is more description of these programs in the analysis provided at the bottom of this story.

(February 1, 2010)

Realizing The Potential for Sustainable, Equitable TOD

Realizing The Potential for Sustainable, Equitable TOD

Reconnecting America White Paper makes recommendations to federal partnership on sustainable communities

In June 2009, the Obama Administration announced a new interagency partnership on sustainable communities between the Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency. To help inform the work of the Interagency Partnership, Reconnecting America today released a new white paper, “Realizing the Potential for Sustainable, Equitable TOD: Recommendations to the Interagency Partnership on Sustainable Communities”.

(November 18, 2009)

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