Discussion: Advocacy Group Says Stop Spending On New Roads | Online Homework Aiders

I’m stuck on a Political Science question and need an explanation.

Don't use plagiarized sources. Get Your Custom Essay on
Discussion: Advocacy Group Says Stop Spending On New Roads | Online Homework Aiders
Get an essay WRITTEN FOR YOU, Plagiarism free, and by an EXPERT! Just from $10/Page
Order Essay

Discussion: Advocacy Group Says Stop Spending On New Roads

2525 unread replies.2525 replies.

Transportation For America wants Congress to prioritize maintenance, safety, and job growth in its highway bill

By Aaron Short
Oct 7, 2019

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/10/07/advocacy-group-stop-spending-on-new-roads/ (Links to an external site.)

A major transportation-advocacy group is asking Congress to reallocate the roughly $40 billion a year it pours into new highways, bridges, and road projects that only to make Americans more dependent on their cars while stinting alternative modes of transit.

Breaking with transportation trade groups and other advocacy organizations, Transportation For America will no longer push Congress to increase federal funding for new roads; instead the Washington, D.C.-based, group will demand that federal transportation officials prioritize the maintenance of existing roads, street design that keeps pedestrians and other users safe, and a transit system that ensures people have access to good jobs and housing, it said in a manifesto released Monday.

“Putting more money into a cup with a giant hole in it is a fruitless endeavor and it is time for a reset,” T4A spokesman Stephen Davis told Streetsblog. “The era of money going up and up is over but now we need a vision about accomplishing as much as possible with what we have.”

The advocacy group, which includes planners, elected leaders, and government officials who work in transportation fields, gravitated to such fundamentals as maintenance, safety, and equity because they were both logical and measurable and because taxpayers want to know what they’re getting for their money.

“We feel like with these three principles get to what is most important about transportation in first place — taking long-term care about things we build and making sure safety is paramount in designing roads for safety,” Davis said. “I didn’t think you’d have to say moving people safely while alive from A to B needed to be said — but it does.”

In Transportation for America’s view, the federal government should dedicate its formula highway funding to cutting the country’s road maintenance backlog in half before paying for any new projects; that would take about six years.

Congress also should mandate that road designs put safety first, which may mean lowering speeds to 35 miles per hour and less on roads other than highways and interstates. And Congress should require the U.S. Department of Transportation to collect data in order to assess how Americans access housing and jobs — prioritizing transit funding in order to move people between work and home efficiently.

The group’s shift in public policy presents a stark contrast to the position of businesses, labor, and other transportation-friendly groups — which is that Congress must keep the highway trust fund solvent in order to pay for a growing list of infrastructure projects in every state.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, among other groups view a higher fuel tax as the most attractive option for the funding.

“We need Congress and the president to move past the current dysfunction and agree on federal legislation to modernize and fix our nation’s infrastructure,” the Chamber’s vice president of transportation and infrastructure Ed Mortimer told McClatchy.

But Transportation for America faulted that approach, saying that the country’s transportation goals haven’t been updated since the 1950’s — when Congress authorized the construction of our interstate highway system, forcing cities and region to plan neighborhoods to accommodate vehicles instead of people.

“Nearly seven decades ago we set out with a clear purpose: connect our cities and rural areas and states with high-speed interstates and highways for cars and trucks and make travel all about speed,” wrote Beth Osborne, director of T4A’s transportation arm. “We moved from the exponential returns of building brand new connections where they didn’t exist to the diminishing, marginal returns of spending billions to add a new lane of road here and there, which promptly fills up with new traffic.”

Congressional leaders have been lukewarm about raising the gas tax; a massive shift in how the surface transportation bill would fund transportation is not on most lawmakers’ radar. But advocates say their principles are garnering bipartisan support in Washington.

“This should fly with anyone, and if there’s a more fundamentally conservative goal than preserving existing assets you spent money on, I don’t know what it is,” Davis said. “Keeping people alive while getting where they need to go should not be a partisan issue while improving access for people with the lowest cost should have a lot of buy-in no matter where you end on the political spectrum.”

line.png

The actual announcement by Transportation for America (T4A) can be found via the link below.

http://t4america.org/2019/10/03/why-we-are-no-longer-advocating-for-congress-to-increase-transportation-funding/ (Links to an external site.)

line.png

So, yes, there is a third option: quit spending so much money without establishing explicit goals.

Your assignment for this activity is to read the article(s) above and comment on T4A’s position. For instance, is what they are asking (e.g. mandating a 35 MPH speed limit on roads other than highways) unrealistic, given the fast-paced society in which we live? What impacts do you foresee regarding changes to our transportation funding?

Place your order
(550 words)

Approximate price: $22

Calculate the price of your order

550 words
We'll send you the first draft for approval by September 11, 2018 at 10:52 AM
Total price:
$26
The price is based on these factors:
Academic level
Number of pages
Urgency
Basic features
  • Free title page and bibliography
  • Unlimited revisions
  • Plagiarism-free guarantee
  • Money-back guarantee
  • 24/7 support
On-demand options
  • Writer’s samples
  • Part-by-part delivery
  • Overnight delivery
  • Copies of used sources
  • Expert Proofreading
Paper format
  • 275 words per page
  • 12 pt Arial/Times New Roman
  • Double line spacing
  • Any citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard)

Our guarantees

Delivering a high-quality product at a reasonable price is not enough anymore.
That’s why we have developed 5 beneficial guarantees that will make your experience with our service enjoyable, easy, and safe.

Money-back guarantee

You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.

Zero-plagiarism guarantee

Each paper is composed from scratch, according to your instructions. It is then checked by our plagiarism-detection software. There is no gap where plagiarism could squeeze in.

Free-revision policy

Thanks to our free revisions, there is no way for you to be unsatisfied. We will work on your paper until you are completely happy with the result.

Privacy policy

Your email is safe, as we store it according to international data protection rules. Your bank details are secure, as we use only reliable payment systems.

Fair-cooperation guarantee

By sending us your money, you buy the service we provide. Check out our terms and conditions if you prefer business talks to be laid out in official language.