Contact: Steve Hansen (Director of Communications) (202) 225-7749
Email: Steve.Hansen@mail.house.gov
Justin
Harclerode (Deputy Director of Communications) (202) 226-8767
Email: Justin.Harclerod@mail.house.gov
To: National
Desk/Transportation Reporter
July 23, 2002
“Quality Of Life” Community Transportation Programs To Be Focus Of Congressional Hearing On TEA 21 Reauthorization
Washington, D.C. - A wide variety of witnesses will testify before a Congressional subcommittee on Thursday on a number of non-traditional transportation programs included within the scope of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21).
The hearing by the U.S. House Highways and Transit Subcommittee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI), is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 25th in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building. Live audio and video broadcasts of the hearing will be available at the Committee’s website:
Thursday’s Tentative Witness List
Background Information
The witnesses represent a gamut of interests, ranging from the very broad to the very specific. The transportation needs of older Americans, people with disabilities, school children, leisure travelers, bicyclists, recreational trail users, and motorcyclists will be explored. There are a number of TEA 21 authorized programs that support these needs, often with considerable overlapping between programs and interest groups.
While this hearing will address many non-highway and enhancement programs, it is important to remember that public roads carry over 90 percent of all passenger trips, whether these trips are commuter, school transportation, travel and leisure, or everyday errands. Without adequate and safe roads, quality of life is dramatically reduced on every level.
Some likely topics for Thursday’s hearing include:
Transportation Needs Of Older Americans
Transportation provides the link
between home and community and serves as the bridge to the goods, services, and
opportunities for social engagements important to the elderly. Most older
Americans strongly prefer to continue driving for as long as possible. The
hearing will explore ways to help older drivers drive safely longer, through
improved road design and by tailoring driver education to their needs. At
some point, many aging drivers do need to transition to alternative
transportation, and the strengths and shortfalls of those alternatives will be
explored..
Transportation Needs Of Persons With Disabilities
America is home to more that 54
million people with disabilities. In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), the civil-rights law that ensures individuals with
disabilities access to employment, education, state and local government
programs and services, businesses, telecommunications, and public
transportation.
The Easter Seals Project ACTION was authorized in both ISTEA and TEA 21, and receives funding through the Federal Transit Administration. The group’s primary activities are to assess the transportation needs of people with disabilities in local communities, provide outreach and marketing strategies to transportation providers, and research technologies that eliminate barriers to transportation accessibility.
School Transportation Safety
TEA 21 mandated a Transportation
Research Board (TRB) study on the relative risks of school travel, comparing
modes of travel. The study, which was released in June 2002, found that the
safest mode of school travel, by far, was by school or transit bus. Each year
approximately 800 school-aged children are killed in motor vehicle crashes
during normal school hours. A disproportionate share of passenger
vehicle-related deaths occur when a teenager is driving. Walking or bicycling to
school is also more risky than expected on the basis of exposure data - 22
percent of fatalities for children traveling to and from school between 1991 and
2001 occurred when children were bicycling or walking.
Infrastructure Programs
Many infrastructure programs
other than the core highway apportionments to States will be addressed by
witnesses at the hearing.
Trails: Two witnesses will testify on trails programs - both recreational trails that are funded by fuel taxes and are available for both motorized and non-motorized recreational users, and bike and pedestrian trails that are funded through Transportation Enhancements and other funds.
National Scenic Byways: The National Scenic Byways Program provides for the designation of and improvements to roads that have outstanding scenic, historic, cultural, natural, recreational, and archaeological qualities as All-American Roads or National Scenic Byways.
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