Stop Funding Transportation Like It's the 1980s - Bloomberg

While advances in technology mean we can track our pizza delivery from the moment it leaves the oven, for millions of people reliant on public transit, waiting outside for a bus with no way to know when it will arrive is an all-too-common experience. Today only a small fraction of public transportation budgets are allocated to innovation and technology, lagging significantly behind other sectors. This doesn’t have to be the case. 

We are founders of transit technology companies whose software powers public transportation systems in hundreds of cities across the world. We know that the technology to meaningfully enhance mobility, advance equity and economic opportunity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is readily available today. But the U.S. lacks the policies and funding mechanisms to encourage and enable cities to access these innovations at scale. President Joe Biden has identified four urgent challenges facing the U.S.: the pandemic, the economy, climate change and racial equity. Transportation is fundamental to addressing every one of these challenges. To do so, the federal government must radically rethink its approach. 

Today, the zip code you are born into continues to be one of the strongest predictors of economic mobility. Far too many Americans lack access to the transportation needed to reach the job that might help them climb the ladder of opportunity. For example, only 11% of workers in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, home of the Pittsburgh metro area, are able to access job opportunities via public transit in less than 60 minutes of commute time. The alternative — the private car — can represent an enormous financial burden for many households: Vehicle ownership serves as the second-highest household expense after housing, and it’s a source of increasing debt.

Those who can afford a car contribute to a different problem: Transportation is now the leading source of carbon emissions in the U.S. Without more affordable, convenient and environmentally friendly public transit, we will significantly hamper our ability to support the pandemic recovery, address systemic inequities and tackle climate change. 

Despite pockets of progress, for every city and transit agency that has been able to take advantage of new technologies, there are hundreds more that are unable to access the money needed to implement these innovations. Communities that have been successful at launching new solutions for their residents often lack the funding to grow and expand their services. If we want to make real progress in creating a new vision for American mobility, the Biden Administration and Congress will need to stop funding transportation like it’s the 1980s. It is time to move past our excessive focus on large highway capital projects and remove limitations that constrain how cities and rural communities deploy public transportation.  

The good news is that the technology needed to drive this change is already up and running in hundreds of communities across the country: big and small, urban and rural, red and blue. Today we can plan smarter transit networks, build safer streets, and launch more nimble services designed to immediately enhance transportation for those who need it most. But without changes to the way we approach transportation funding, cities will be unable to leverage these innovations. 

Here’s how we can fix it: 

1. Create dedicated funding and policies to drive innovation: While it’s undeniable we need to invest in improving our roads and bridges, it is equally important we create new funding mechanisms to support investment in digital and data infrastructure. In particular, competitive federal grant programs can play a key role in helping our transit systems rapidly transition into the 21st century. Such grant programs have the ability to accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions — from relatively simple real-time bus tracking, to sophisticated flexible and dynamic networks that adapt to passenger demand — and meaningfully improve the convenience and efficiency of our public transportation. 

2. Tie funding to outcomes: For too long, communities across the U.S. have seen transportation costs rise while their quality and reach of service declined. Today, the federal government allocation of automatic or “formula” funds to transit agencies rewards how many miles a bus travels, instead of how well they are meeting the needs of the community. Tying both grant and formula funding allocation to key outcomes, such as expanding access to jobs, improving cost efficiency, driving equity and reducing carbon emissions, will ensure that transportation goals are aligned with broader national priorities and that federal transportation funds are being used to deliver meaningful results.   

3. Fund transit operations, not just equipment: Congress has long funded transportation with an “80-20” split, dominated by spending on highway capital projects and big-ticket infrastructure. Within the 20% that transit receives, rules governing how this funding can be applied encourage cities to buy large and expensive buses, leaving a significant gap when it comes to the money needed to operate their services. If that same pool of funds could be allocated by state and local authorities more flexibly, with a reduced emphasis on capital expenses, more federal dollars could be directed towards programs that can better serve our communities. For example, the CARES Act allowed funding to be used flexibly for agency operations and not restricted to only capital uses (like buying new vehicles), enabling agencies to rapidly deploy underused vehicles to better service essential workers. There’s no reason these types of programs can’t be the new normal.

The last 50 years of U.S. transportation spending and projects have largely been dominated by a car-centric perspective. The result: hours wasted in traffic, a dramatic rise in tailpipe emissions, and gross inequalities in access to opportunity. We agree with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that “good transportation policy can play no less a role than making possible the American Dream.” Expanding transit access should be the cornerstone of how we build back better in every community, but doing so requires new ways of funding, a new emphasis on innovation and rethinking our measures of success. 

Tiffany Chu is the CEO & co-founder of Remix and a commissioner at San Francisco’s Department of the Environment. 

Daniel Ramot is the CEO and co-founder of Via. 

Adblock test (Why?)

"like this" - Google News
May 17, 2021 at 08:05PM
https://ift.tt/3ytwSH0

Stop Funding Transportation Like It's the 1980s - Bloomberg
"like this" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2MWhj4t
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update