Transportation for America is crunching the numbers on how the Trump administration has shifted transportation funding programs since it took over the TIGER grant program and made it into the BUILD grant program.
"Following the announcement in April 2019 of an 11th round in BUILD competitive grants ($900 million) available to almost any public entity for transportation projects, Transportation for America released a comparative and constructive critique of USDOT’s BUILD program (formerly known as TIGER)," according to Transportation for America.
The full "Taming the TIGER" report is available for download, but Transportation for America has also published an online preview of the first three sections of the report. One post in the blog series focuses on how the BUILD program has become another federal roads program, mostly just for rural areas.
The opinions of Transportation for America about the Trump administration are clear throughout the presentation of the report, but for interested parties looking for analysis of recent transportation funding announcements by the federal government, Transportation for America is revealing the realities of the federal government's current approach to transportation funding. The big takeaways: the Trump administration has shifted funding to traditional road projects, away from transit, and the Trump administration is spending more on new roads, rather than repairing existing roads. "The first year of BUILD (round X) set two records: not only was a record share of total funding devoted to roads, a record percentage of that funding (70 percent) was dedicated to capacity expansion," according to Transportation for America.
FULL STORY: Taming the Tiger
How RAISE Grants Promote Car-Free Mobility
While there are many reasons to break away from automobile dominance, the RAISE grant program is the only federal effort fully reflecting a public transit and active transportation priorities.
New RAISE Grant Program Replaces BUILD Grants at the U.S. Department of Transportation
The policy whiplash from the Obama administration to the Trump administration and now to the Biden administration continues.
Notes on the Buttigieg Confirmation Hearing
Takeaways from last week's Senate confirmation hearing for the nominee to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association