In March 2024, the Office of the Secretary at USDOT announced awards for the Reconnecting Communities Program. This program is intended to improve access to daily needs and repair past harms by removing or mitigating divisive infrastructure, particularly in disadvantaged communities. This year, funding was expanded from last year’s awards, but will these funds meet the program’s goals? The Reconnecting Communities Program presents an opportunity to address past harms. (Unsplash, Judah Estrada) As we explained in our report Divided by Design, low-income communities and communities of color have ..read more

Quick-build projects prioritize affordable, rapid, and temporary solutions to inaccessible and unsafe streetscape conditions. Through this approach to project implementation, communities are able to set an example that establishes the need and precedent for continued change in their urban environment. Short-term, low-cost projects can deliver valuable insights and bring the community together. (City of Fayetteville, AR)What are quick builds? Smart Growth America has a variety of resources on how quick builds develop and what they can achieve. Access them here. In recent years, the practice o ..read more

54 years since the first Earth Day, the US is still focusing on highway expansion. In light of increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, due in part to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Transportation for America and its partners engaged the Future of Transportation Caucus to brief Congress on transportation decarbonization. We explained that to truly decrease emissions we need to electrify transportation systems and support travel options beyond private vehicles. The U.S. Capitol at sunrise. (Wikimedia Commons) In a briefing on Capitol Hill, T4A Policy Associate Corrigan Sal ..read more

The environmental impacts of the Interstate Highway System continue to harm communities of color through health hazards, pollution, and displacement. A highway snakes through Seattle, Washington (Flickr photo) The sprawling roadway network of the Interstate Highway System (IHS) is a ubiquitous feature of life in America. Long drives along vast stretches of freeway have come to symbolize mobility and freedom in cultural memory, obscuring the insidious nature of the creation of the highway system and its legacies of environmental racism and inequality. These legacies are not abstract; they have ..read more

Across the country, municipalities and transit agencies are beginning to embrace electrification in local transportation. They’re showing that the future of transportation does not have to be just electrified cars. And thanks to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, there’s a new funding opportunity to help local communities go electric. Flickr photo by WORT News In our Smart Growth and EVs series, we outlined some of the electrifying strategies that work hand-in-hand with the existing benefits of smart growth development. Among them, we singled out e-bikes/e-micromobility, carshare ..read more

A new survey created in collaboration with Smart Growth America, the International Parking & Mobility Institute, and the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund aims to collect the experiences of people with disabilities navigating our streets. This information will contribute to best practice guidelines illustrated in our upcoming Accessible Streetscapes Design Guide. The survey will remain open through May 24—share your experience today. Photo by Rasmus Gerdin on Unsplash From the parking meter and beyond: The origins of the Accessible Streetscapes Design Guide In 2018, Transpor ..read more

Two recent developments at the federal level can help propel passenger rail expansion in the South and across the country.  An Amtrak Crescent line train heads south. Wikimedia Commons photo.Interstate Rail Compact Grant The states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana make up the Southern Rail Commission (SRC), which has been steadfastly committed to expanding passenger rail service in the South for the past 40 years, most recently achieving success for the restoration of service on the Gulf Coast. On March 14th, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced that the SRC, along wi ..read more

On Tuesday, May 14 from 2 – 3 p.m., we’re partnering with the International Parking & Mobility Institute to offer a free webinar exploring smart growth strategies. Register here. Many climate advocates and pro-climate decision-makers are focused on electrification as the primary, or even only, emissions reduction solution in the transportation sector. As transportation advocates and professionals, we know that electrification is essential but insufficient to achieve our greenhouse gas reduction goals. How do we push transportation electrification forward in a way that supports essential sm ..read more

Despite substantial federal funding available to address “crumbling roads and bridges,” our infrastructure’s state of repair is an ongoing issue, and climate change is only adding to the problem. The I-5 Bridge over the Skagit River collapsed in 2013 after a truck hit its trusses. Wikimedia Commons photo. You don’t have to look far in history to see major infrastructure failures around the country. The same day as the Key Bridge collapse (a tragedy that was likely not due to a state of repair issue), in the Greater New Orleans metro area, the Chalmette Paris Road Bridge was closed due to hazar ..read more

The Federal Transit Administration is working hard to ensure that the next rounds of the Low or No Emissions Grant Program and Buses and Bus Facilities Program do the most for riders—and the climate. Here’s how. Read our original letter and our thank you to the FTA. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA)’s Low or No Emissions Grant Program (Low No) and Buses and Bus Facilities Program have been delivering new transit vehicles to communities across the country since 2016. But when the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, or the 2021 infrastructure law) passed, the bill supercharged ..read more