On December 12, at a gala dinner event held at the J.W. Marriott in Washington, D.C., top Congressional and Administration officials, transportation industry representatives and reform advocates from across the country joined together to celebrate the transportation reform movement. 

Organized by STPP and co-sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the American Public Transportation Association, the Transportation Funders' Group, and the US Conference of Mayors, the dinner marked the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA).  Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) presented the John H. Chaffee Lifetime Transportation Leadership Award, named in honor of Senator Chafee's father, to former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta accepted the STPP Transportation Public Service Award for his distinguished service in promoting an efficient and diversified transportation system.

Significantly, Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee -- which is responsible for the transportation bill -- declared in his remarks that the event marked the beginning of the reauthorization process for the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21).  He also announced the EPW hearing schedule for the coming year in preparation for the reauthorization [See Below].

Also speaking were Senators Hilary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), who holds the seat formerly occupied by Moynihan; Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), who chairs the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over transit, Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI), and Mayor Marc Morial of New Orleans.  Six other members of Congress attended the dinner, as well as many top staffers for members and committees involved in transportation issues.  Administration officials in attendance included Jenna Dorn, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, and Mary Peters, Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration.

Over thirty grassroots transportation advocacy groups that were in town to launch the Alliance for a New Transportation Charter (ANTC) attended, including the North Carolina Alliance for Transportation reform, the Just Transportation Alliance of Texas, West Harlem Environmental Action, the Richmond (Calif.) Improvement Association, the Mississippi Equity Coalition, and the Montgomery (Ala.) Transit Coalition.

In honor of the 10-year anniversary of the passage of ISTEA, STPP released Ten Years of Progress: Building Better Communities Through Transportation. The report profiles more than 70 innovative transportation projects around the country.  It provides a summary of national statistics documenting how transportation has changed since passage of the landmark federal transportation law ten years ago.

"The evidence is in: American communities are already turning toward creating a diverse transportation system that gets them where they need to go while making their community better places to live," said David Burwell , President of STPP .   "This report shows the many ways that transportation can achieve both goals." 

The report profiles a wide variety of transportation projects that are enhancing health, safety, and security; conserving energy and enhancing the environment; creating equitable and livable communities; and promoting economic prosperity.  However, the report also points to statistics and polls that indicate that more change is on the way.  Use of transit and bicycles are both on the rise, and national polls show between 60 and 80 percent of Americans favor more transportation options.  Many places have not taken full advantage of the potential of ISTEA, and a growing number of problems have been associated with automobile-oriented development, including the epidemic in obesity and a drain on family budgets.

The 48-page, full-color Ten Years of Progress report is available through STPP for $15, by calling (202) 466-2636.  An indexed version can be found at STPP 's website, http://www.transact.org/. 

In remarks at the "Ten Years of Progress" event celebrating the 10th Anniversary of ISTEA, Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) announced his panel's hearing schedule on TEA-21 renewal issues.  Jeffords, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the panel that oversees the highway programs of TEA-21, called for 11 hearings to be held during 2002.  Hearings will build the record for legislative proposals for the renewal of TEA-21, which expires October 1, 2003 .

"Beginning early next year, we will assemble our partners from around the country, from industry and government, representing the best minds in the field of transportation, to explore the lessons learned over the last ten years and to discuss fresh ideas for moving forward," he said.

The hearing topics are:  Partners for America's Transportation Future; FY 03 Budget and the Highway Trust Fund; Mobility, Congestion and Intermodalism; Operations and Security in Metropolitan Areas; Transportation Planning and Smart Growth; Innovative Finance; Transportation and Air Quality; State of the Infrastructure; Project Delivery and Environmental Stewardship; Freight and Intermodal Facilities; and Rural Transportation.

STPP made a major investment this year in reaching out to and working with local groups to build broad national support for transportation reform and articulate a common vision.  One of the products of that outreach process is a document declaring the need to make ISTEA truly work for communities, a New Transportation Charter.  The Charter states, "While many states have embraced ISTEA's tenets of community involvement and empowerment of local decision-makers, no state has yet implemented ISTEA to its full potential."  The intended audience is transportation and political decision makers and the general public. 

The Charter was produced with the input of four Washington D.C.-based Issue Teams made up of dozens of national organizations, together with the input of over 350 participants at 5 regional meetings sponsored by the STPP coalition.  A more detailed policy platform "blueprint" for T3 will be developed over the next several months, reflecting the vision and principles of the Charter. 

Over 300 national and local groups endorsed the Charter in time for its public launch on December 13 in Washington DC .  Together, endorsers of the Charter comprise the Alliance for the New Transportation Charter, a broad-based coalition working to make transportation better serve communities.  By defining our campaign as an alliance we both (1) highlight the one feature that makes this campaign different from our ISTEA and TEA-21 campaigns-our broader partnership, and (2) create a forum where our new partners can sign up for the campaign without necessarily joining the STPP coalition.  The idea is to create a "comfort zone" for new partners who agree that transportation is not serving their interests, but are not yet ready to become active.  Endorsing the Charter makes one a member of the Alliance , but there are no further obligations.   ANTC members will receive STPP 's newsletter, Progress, and remain informed of transportation issues and further opportunities to be engaged in the reform effort. 

Please join the growing coalition in taking a stand for a new approach to transportation on the national scale by endorsing the New Transportation Charter.  Endorsers are encouraged to continue circulating it, particularly for the endorsement of state and local elected officials, and local government.  STPP can provide a model resolution for cities and counties to consider. 

The full text of the Charter, the list of endorsements, and the endorsement form are on the front page of STPP 's website, http://www.transact.org/.

For more information, contact Andrea Broaddus at 202-466-2636.

STPP has prepared support materials as part of this effort, available upon request (hard copies may cost money):

-Ten Years of Progress report, 47 pages bound, full color glossy

-Sample news release and talking points

-Advocacy Packet for meeting with Member of Congress, other elected officials, and editorial boards with draft letters and talking points

-Model resolution for local governments to endorse the New Transportation Charter

  The report, the Charter, and the list of founding members of the Alliance are on our website, http://www.transact.org/ , or email Andrea Broaddus at abroaddus@transact.org  to request the Advocacy Packet or model resolutions.  Hard copies of the report may be requested on the website, or by calling 202-466-2636.   Please help us keep track of visits by reporting back about your meetings and events. 

Senator Moynihan earned his award not only for his leadership, along with former Senator John Chafee, in crafting ISTEA and guiding its enactment through Congress, but for his lifetime advocacy on behalf of balance and choice in transportation systems development.  In 1960 he was among the first to express public alarm at what the newly enacted Interstate Highway Program would do to our cities and our landscape. "It is becoming increasingly apparent," he wrote in his article 'New Roads and Urban Chaos,' that American government, both national and local, can no longer ignore what is happening as the suburbs eat endlessly into the coutryside.  Since the spreading pollution of land follows the roads, those who build the roads must also recognize their responsibility for the consequences."  Forty years later, those consequences are all too apparent, and are belatedly being addressed through reforms mandated by ISTEA and its successor law the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).

Senator Moynihan, in accepting the award, described his boyhood fascination with cars and highways when he attended the GM "Futurama" exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair in New York with cars gliding effortlessly across landscapes and through mountains, and it was only when the system became reality that the impact on urban form became obvious.  He made a personal decision to do something about it and, as Chair of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in 1991, he did. "Senator John Chafee and I got together and just decided that, with the completion of the Interstate System, we were going to do something different. We supported each other." he stated.