Transportation
Congressman Blumenauer is a strong advocate on Capitol Hill for increasing the number and variety of transportation choices available to help build more livable communities.
As a Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (link to committee website http://www.house.gov/transportation/ ) Congressman Blumenauer is an active supporter of increasing transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities. His Committee assignments include working on the Water Resources Subcommittee and the Railroad Subcommittee, where he is actively engaged in legislative efforts to increase federal funding for freight and passenger rail.
Federal transportation policy is a powerful tool for building more livable communities - those where people, businesses and neighborhoods have access to a variety of transportation choices. Transportation plays a major role in quality of life, influencing everything from access to economic opportunities to environmental quality and community safety. Vibrant transportation systems are vital to moving goods and freight, and also in providing people with choices in how they travel. Having transportation choices means not only federal funding, but the flexibility to use transportation dollars to best fit local needs such as building light rail and streetcar systems, redesigning neighborhood streets and sidewalks to be more pedestrian friendly, or reducing environmental damage caused by road projects. These are all examples of local transportation solutions that help to build more livable communities.
For more specific information on federal transportation policies, programs and funding, visit the U.S. Department of Transportation's website: www.dot.gov For more information on Oregon transportation policies, programs and funding, visit the Oregon Department of Transportation's website: http://www.odot.state.or.us/
Federal Transportation Reauthorization
In 1991, Congress passed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). This legislation revolutionized transportation policy at all levels by ending the almost exclusive focus on completing the Interstate Highway System and instead broadening transportation policy through a greater emphasis on other modes of transportation, increased planning and coordination of investments, an improved linkage with environmental goals, and a stronger role for community interests. The result was increased power for communities to shape their transportation systems and provide greater mobility choices.
Congressman Blumenauer actively participated in the reauthorization of this legislation in 1998. This second bill, the Transportation Equity Act of 2001 (TEA-21) is the current law guiding federal transportation policy and investment. In 2003, TEA-21 will be reauthorized and Congressman Blumenauer is already working with a broad coalition of interests to help shape the new law to strengthen its role in promoting more livable communities.
You are invited to be part of the reauthorization process. In addition to providing federal resources for highways, bridges, bicycles, pedestrian facilities, and transit, the reauthorization process is an opportunity to consider ways that transportation funding can help leverage and address environmental, housing, and economic development challenges. Organized labor, community developers and realtors, tribal governments, environmentalists, educators and health care providers, to name only a few, --- all have a potential stake in federal transportation policy.
If you would like more information on TEA-21 or would like to share your ideas or interests on the next transportation bill, please contact Congressman Blumenauer
A good source for information on federal transportation legislation and the reauthorization process can be found at the Surface Transportation Policy Project's website http://www.transact.org
Amtrak and Rail Infrastructure
Amtrak, the country's national passenger railroad, is facing a serious funding crisis and its future hangs in the balance. Congressman Blumenauer is a strong supporter of Amtrak and passenger rail. He is working hard to ensure that we do not lose our national passenger railroad, and is strongly advocating for opportunities to expand high-speed rail corridors in the Pacific Northwest and nationally.
Among his efforts to preserve passenger rail, Congressman Blumenauer has
- Spearheaded the effort within the House of Representatives to request more funding for Amtrak. Congressman Blumenauer successfully got 161 Members to join him in requesting the Appropriations Committee provide $1.975 billion for Amtrak in Fiscal Year 2003. This is the strongest showing of Congressional support that Amtrak has ever received.
- Organized additional Congressional support requesting the Administration to provide an emergency $200 million loan to Amtrak in order to prevent a shutdown of the railroad this summer. Congressman Blumenauer is seeking emergency supplemental funding for Amtrak, and is an original co-sponsor of HR 5024, legislation requesting the Bush Administration work with Congress to provide a loan guarantee to Amtrak.
- Sponsored legislation (HR 4545) that would reauthorize Amtrak for an additional year and provide $1.975 billion in funding to meet capital and operating costs. In addition the bill provides much-needed funding for safety and security improvements, particularly along the highly traveled Northeast Corridor. Next year Congressman Blumenauer will be actively engaged in the long-term reauthorization of Amtrak.
Freight railroads are another important part of our transportation system, carrying over 40% of all goods moved in this country. Rail provides an important alternative and in many cases, a compliment to moving freight by air or road often moving goods more cheaply and with fewer environmental costs. Congressman Blumenauer is a co-sponsor of several important rail bills that would facilitate easier access to capital for developing high-speed rail corridors and for shortline railroads and larger rail carriers such as Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
- HR 2329, the High-Speed Rail Investment Act, would provide $12 billion to states over 10 years to develop regional High-Speed Rail regional corridors through tax-credit bonds.
- HR 1020, Railroad Track Modernization Act, would provide loans to cover the cost of credit risk premiums needed by shortline railroads in order to apply for and qualify for federal infrastructure financing. This bill is the first of its kind to deal directly with the unique and growing financial problems that shortlines are facing and the threat of continuing to lose rolling stock and rail lines. This is important for Oregon, where over half of our state's rail infrastructure is owned and operated by shortlines.
- HR 2950, the Rail Infrastructure Development and Expansion Act for the 21st Century (RIDE-21) is a comprehensive rail financing bill. It would authorize $71 billion for high-speed rail and increase access of freight railroads to federal loan guarantees and financing. Congressman Blumenauer successfully included amendments to the bill that give higher priority to states such as Oregon that have already made a substantial local commitment to funding rail corridor improvements. He is working to address some important labor provisions in the bill before co-sponsoring this bill.
Airline Security
Congressman Blumenauer has engaged in a series of discussions to develop legislation that would provide the needed tools to increase security at our airports and in the skies. He supported the Airline Security Conference Report (HR 3150) because of its emphasis on creating a stronger federal role to ensure proper and much-needed passenger and baggage security measures, increased on-board safety upgrades including strengthening cockpit doors, and a strengthened Sky Marshal program. Increasing airline safety measures is one of the most important measures Congress can do to provide relief to the industry, return the American public's sense of security, and help stimulate our economy.
Bike and Pedestrian Issues
We have an entire page devoted to this important subject! Please click on the link above.
Transportation Highlights from Portland, Oregon
The growth in transit ridership and system construction since the passage of TEA-21 is truly impressive. Public transportation ridership levels continue to increase for the sixth consecutive year. While overall ridership numbers are up, one of the most interesting trends to note is the increase in ridership in the off-peak hours. Non-work trips are experiencing the greatest growth rates, but unfortunately this trend is overlooked by our traditional governmental measurement, the US Census, which only measures trips to work.
In Portland, ridership has steadily increased on both rail and bus routes. This increase is the reflection of substantial investment by the region and federal government in providing high quality transit service. In the past year, two new rail transit lines were completed - an extension of our MAX light rail transit (LRT) system to the airport, and a new streetcar connecting urban neighborhoods to the downtown. Both were done without federal rail transit funding; both leveraged tremendous local and private financing, and both benefited from flexibility in the design and construction process.
Our local transit agency, Tri-Met, link to http://www.tri-met.org/ has an existing Full Funding Grant Agreement with the Federal Transit Administration link to http://www.fta.dot.gov to construct Interstate MAX, a $350 million, 5.8 mile LRT extension that is scheduled to open in 2004 and is already over half completed, under budget and ahead of schedule.
As Portland has worked to build a regional rail network we have utilized a strong regional process of long-term planning, negotiations among regional partners, and the active engagement of the business community and those neighborhoods served by proposed lines. Consequently we have developed some innovative approaches for funding rail extensions that can be built more quickly and at a fraction of the price. One of the best examples is the Portland Streetcar, the first modern streetcar line in the United States, that opened last July. The 2.4 mile alignment connects Portland State University with thriving business, retail and entertainment districts as well as the highest density neighborhood in the city. The line was built and designed for $54 million, and construction occurred with minimal community disruption proceeding at the astonishing pace of 1 block every 3 weeks. The City of Portland link to http://www.trans.ci.portland.or.us/ and a non-profit organization, Portland Streetcar, Inc. link to http://www.portlandstreetcar.org/index.html manage operations. Average weekday ridership is already over 4,200 passengers per day.
Rail~Volution Conference: Building Livable Communities through Transit
Over a decade has passed since then City Commissioner Blumenauer first organized a rail conference in Portland, Oregon to look comprehensively at rail opportunities in the region that would help provide greater transportation choices, generate economic development and help rebuild neighborhoods. This conference has grown into an annual national event, celebrating the success of transit - streetcars, light rail, subways, commuter rail and bus rapid transit - in revitalizing communities across the country.
Rail~Volution will be celebrated this year in Washington, D.C. during October 3-6th. It is an opportunity for policy makers, community advocates, transportation professionals, developers, labor interests, and environmentalists to join together in thinking about opportunities for advancing livability in their communities and in the upcoming Transportation Reauthorization Process that will begin in 2003. For more information on the upcoming conference, visit the Rail~Volution website (www.railvolution.com).
