Our Cities Need Bold Federal Investment in Transit
By Austin, TX Mayor Steve Adler; Milwaukee, WI Mayor Tom Barrett; Baton Rouge, LA Mayor Sharon Weston Broome; Scranton, PA Mayor Paige Cognetti; Cincinnati, OH Mayor John Cranley; Topeka, KS Mayor Michelle De La Isla; Phoenix, AZ Mayor Kate Gallego; Mesa, AZ Mayor John Giles; Oklahoma City, OK Mayor David Holt; Chattanooga, TN Mayor Tim Kelly; Philadelphia, PA Mayor Jim Kenney; Charlotte, NC Mayor Vi Lyles; Houston, TX Mayor Sylvester Turner; and Dayton, OH Mayor Nan Whaley
As mayors, we’ve seen what localities across the country have done while waiting (and waiting) for federal action on infrastructure. Since 2016, local communities have passed legislation and ballot measures to raise hundreds of billions in new funding for infrastructure, and those dollars are already hard at work in our communities. So when it comes to passing a robust federal infrastructure package, we urge our leaders on Capitol Hill to consider the impressive return from infrastructure investment that is happening right now in America’s cities.
This is a transformational moment for our country. Our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the foundation we leave for the next generation of Americans is at stake. We’ve seen the results, and there is no better way to rebuild our middle class and accelerate our recovery from COVID-19 than through the millions of careers that will be directly created by a bold national investment in our infrastructure.
The new Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (BID) would represent the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century. While not as large as President Biden’s proposed American Jobs Plan, the BID lays the foundation for long overdue infrastructure investment that our local communities desperately need.
Critically, the BID will modernize and expand transit and rail networks across the country, representing the largest federal investment in public transit in history and the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak. It will bring bus and rail service to new communities and neighborhoods, especially those that have long been excluded from resources and opportunity. We know that households that take public transportation to work experience twice the commute time, and households of color are twice as likely to take public transportation. Better transit in our communities will expand the talent pool available to employers, will ease traffic congestion, and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
You can see the results in the Cincinnati, Ohio metro area, where Hamilton County voters last year approved an investment of $130 million to improve and expand transit service and transit-related infrastructure so that their transit system was no longer built around employment centers that no longer exist.
In Phoenix, Arizona, voters stepped up to support the city’s comprehensive transportation infrastructure plan. The initiative passed with a majority support of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Transportation 2050 provides a dedicated local funding source, dramatically expanding investment in Phoenix for bus service, light rail construction and street improvements. The plan significantly upgrades the city’s aging 5,000-mile street network and has a citywide impact on street needs by providing new pavement, increasing maintenance on existing streets, and adding bike lanes, sidewalks and ADA accessible/compliant upgrades. The light rail system that is already serving 50,000 people a day has also stimulated billions of dollars in public and private investment along its rail lines.
In Los Angeles, voters overwhelmingly supported Measure M in 2016 which will support the creation of more than 778,000 jobs, reduce pollution, ease traffic congestion, make public transportation more accessible, and, with projects like the $2.24 billion Crenshaw Northern Extension, make L.A. a more interconnected city. Expanding transportation infrastructure is critical for L.A. County, which is projected to grow by 2.3 million people over the next 40 years.
In Austin, TX, voters passed Project Connect in 2020 to invest more than $7 billion to improve transit, ease congestion, and create a better working and living environment. Roughly 150 people move to central Texas every day, bringing 70 new cars to the road daily.
In San Antonio, TX, Proposition A passed in 2020 with 68% of the vote to invest nearly $40 million each year to expand and enhance their mass transit system, which serves more than 30,000 riders a year, providing connectivity and increased access to economic opportunities for communities that need it most.
In Oklahoma City, the MAPS 4 public improvement program — which invests $1 billion to overhaul the city’s infrastructure — passed in 2019 with more than 70% of the vote. MAPS 4 allocates $87M to improving and expanding public transit throughout the city, especially to neighborhoods that lack reliable transit options.
In Baton Rouge, Mayor Broome is leading the charge to implement a new nine-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor in East Baton Rouge Parish — funded by a $15M Department of Transportation grant — to expand transit access, reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and provide affordable transportation to residents and visitors. The City of Baton Rouge is providing additional funding for planning, design, and construction through its $1B MOVEBR infrastructure improvement program, the largest transportation infrastructure investment in East Baton Rouge Parish history.
Along with historic investments in transit, bridges, waterworks, and broadband, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal represents an incredible opportunity for us to build the electric vehicle infrastructure necessary to meet both our climate goals and the direction our auto industry is already headed. Electric vehicles are no longer fringe — they are the certain future. The only question is how fast we get there. The first electric Ford F150 pickup was unveiled this year. General Motors plans to have an all-electric model lineup by 2035, with 40 percent of its models all-electric by 2025. The American Honda Motor Company estimates that all of its sales will be zero-emission, electrified vehicles by 2040. Just last week, President Biden signed an executive order to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric. American cities are electrifying their bus fleets and American delivery companies are electrifying their truck and van fleets. We must get started now on building out our EV charging infrastructure to support these historic investments. The BID would invest $7.5 billion to build out a national network of EV chargers and would represent the first-ever national investment in EV charging infrastructure in the United States.
In communities across the country, elected leaders and voters themselves are digging into their own pockets to invest in infrastructure because they know the returns, on so many levels, are there. America’s cities are not asking for a hand out from Washington — they have already been generating their own revenues to bring their own money to the table.
To Congress we say: Let’s do more, together.
Accelerator for America Action is a 501(c)4 that engages in advocacy work to help localities invest in transit and infrastructure. We provide expert counsel, support critical polling and policy research, and build coalitions between local and national leaders to increase the chances for success at the ballot box or through legislation.
