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City of Missoula, Montana Item to be Referred to City Council Committee Committee: Public Works Item: Considering joining as partner to T4 America Date: August 15, 2010 Prepared by: Stacy Rye Initiated by: Stacy Rye Action Required: Council action to Recommended Motion: I move the City Council join Transportation for America Coalition along with 43 other partner organizations in and around Missoula. Timeline: Referral to committee: August 15th 2010 Committee discussion: August 18th, 2010 Council acts to set hearing: None Public Hearing: None Deadline: August 23rd 2010 Background and Alternatives Explored: Transportation For America Transportation for America (T4America), is a coalition that SmartGrowth helped form that is focused on creating a new national transportation program. T4America is working on four critical reforms in the future: 1. To see Congress articulate a national transportation program and hold state and local transportation agencies accountable for demonstrable progress towards national goals including safety, efficiency, environment, health and equity. This federal transportation program should be restructured and consolidated for greater modal integration. 2. To have more transportation options for all Americans and create seamless transportation systems that meet the unique needs and connect metropolitan regions, small towns, and rural areas across the country. 3. To see Congress empower the states, the regions and the cities with direct transportation funding and greater flexibility at the lowest possible level to select projects. 4. To reform how to pay for the transportation system and create a unified transportation trust fund that would achieve balanced allocations of federal funds and a portfolio of rail, freight, highway, public transportation and non-motorized transportation investments. A goal of the T4America campaign is to familiarize the Council with the coalition and ask that the City join the coalition. Mayor Engen was one of the first elected officials to sign on as a coalition member. A recent survey done last year (available at www.T4America.org) showed that 68% of the public felt that more money be allocated to public transportation. Currently it’s an 80/20 split between highways and public transportation and they would like to see a more equitable share for public transportation. ---PAGE BREAK--- Goals for next bill include rail; national transportation objectives, such as safe places for people to walk and bike; devolution of authority over federal dollars to localities and giving local MPOs more of a say in how money is spent; and finding new sources of funding for transportation since the highway trust fund is now broke. The T4 America campaign is working on is reauthorization and reforming the federal policy and funding formulas. They are supporting a Green Freight Bill, a Rural Transportation Bill to help non-MPOs and smaller communities, an Emergency Transit Funding Bill; and a bill called the Livable Communities Act. Financial Implications: None Attachments: Website: www.t4America.org