By Ron Thaniel
September 29, 2008

Testifying before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit hearing on Transportation Planning on September 18, U.S. Conference of Mayors Transportation and Communications Chair Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper called for fundamental reform in the transportation planning process, the creation of a metropolitan mobility program, and investments that reflect energy and climate priorities.

Congress is preparing for the successor legislation to the surface transportation law - the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which expires September 30, 2009. The State Department of Transportation seems incapable of responding to America’s escalating transportation challenges. Hickenlooper told members of the Subcommittee that the vitality of our metro areas and America’s ability to compete in an increasingly global marketplace is being threatened by deteriorating infrastructure, increasing congestion, poorly integrated modes, and investment that does not focus on maximizing our existing assets.

Hickenlooper highlighted the need for a Metropolitan Mobility Program that fully empowers local elected officials in metro areas to allocate available resources and make project selection decisions among all surface transportation modes. He said the share of federal transportation resources to states and/or within states should be calibrated to the economic output of these metropolitan areas. “The federal funding system currently follows processes and creates incentives that do not direct resources to the geographic regions or types of transportation solutions that yield the greatest cost-benefit impacts and are central to national economic prosperity and growth. Of the federal transportation resources provided to the states, only a small portion is definitively committed directly for local decision-making in metropolitan areas – $54 million of $438 million in spending authority under the core highway program categories in Colorado last year, even though Metro Denver represents half of the state population and 60 percent of economic output,” Hickenlooper said.

He added, “Transportation planning processes in our metro areas cannot be meaningful if there is little connection between those plans and control of resources to implement them.“

Calling for modal neutrality, Hickenlooper pointed out that, “The disparity in planning requirements for transit versus highway projects promotes road investments and disadvantages the urban core that most benefits from public transportation.”

Linking transportation planning and land use, he said, “In Denver, this means that our transportation decisions are tied to promoting livable urban centers and sustainable development broadly. The FasTracks project is the unifying element in our regional community planning efforts, a $4.7 billion, 12-year plan linking the region with comprehensive mass transit service through 119 miles of new light rail and commuter rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, 21,000 new parking spaces at rail and bus stations, and expanded bus service. All of these transportation plans are tied to our zoning decisions centered on transit-oriented development (TOD), building neighborhoods around FasTracks stops so that housing, offices, and shopping are all within walking distance.”

“While there is general consensus that the “TEA-era” is coming to an end, the next surface transportation bill must strengthen the metropolitan planning process, enhance the role of local elected officials, require greater stakeholder involvement, and encourage movement away from stovepipe thinking towards integrated, multimodal strategies to improve passenger and freight mobility and access,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (MN).

Joining Hickenlooper on the panel were James Ritzman, Deputy Secretary for Transportation Planning, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation; Andrew Chesley, Executive Director, San Joaquin Council of Governments, Stockton (CA); Charles Howard, Transportation Planning Director, Puget Sound Regional Council, Seattle (WA); Keith Selman, AICP, Planning Director, Laredo (TX); and Neil Pederson, Chair, Executive Board, I-95 Coalition, Baltimore (MD).

Hickenlooper’s full testimony is available at www.usmayors.org.