Translation Paper
Number Six
August 2001
*Smart Growth America is
America’s nationwide smart
growth advocacy coalition, pro-
moting more sensible growth
through policy development,
communications, research and
coalition building. More infor-
mation on Smart Growth
America can be found at
www.smartgrowthamerica.org.
**The Surface Transportation
Policy Project (STPP) is the
advocacy coalition that
launched the national trans-
portation reform movement in
1990. STPP works to ensure
that transportation policy meets
community needs. More infor-
mation on STPP can be found
at www.transact.org.
© Copyright 2001 by the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, Smart Growth America, and The Surface Transportation Policy Project
Transportation Reform
and Smart Growth:
A Nation at the Tipping Point
This paper was written by Don Chen of Smart Growth America* and Nancy
Jakowitsch of the Surface Transportation Policy Project** in collaboration with
the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. It is the
sixth in a series of translation papers published by the Funders’ Network to
translate the impact of suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment on issues of
importance to America’s communities and to suggest opportunities for pro-
gress that would be created by smarter growth policies and practices. Other
issues addressed in the series of translation papers include social equity, work-
force development, parks and open space, civic engagement, agriculture, edu-
cation, aging, public health, the environment, arts, and community organizing.
Abstract
some have predicted, but instead monu-
Current transportation policies are not
moving our nation toward improved com- mental change.
munity outcomes. In light of this reality,
implementing transportation reform at the Embracing this new vision for our trans-
national, state, and metropolitan levels is portation system – where everyone has
fundamental to making progress toward real transportation choices – is essential
smarter and more livable communities. to the full realization of our nation’s socie-
This paper discusses the origins and tal, economic and environmental goals.
achievements of the transportation reform
movement, argues that we find ourselves in
an unprecedented climate for positive
change, and recommends steps that can
translate this tremendous potential into
action.
Moreover, the paper posits that our coun-
try is on the verge of a ‘tipping point" for
transportation reform and smarter
growth. The transportation reform move-
ment faces a set of converging circum-
stances that can catapult efforts to a
whole new level—not incremental as
 Page 2
Introduction
Since the 1950s, America’s surface
transportation policy has focused on
The goal of provid- easing mobility for motor vehicles,
ing transportation originally to "get farmers out of the
accessibility has been mud" and move goods to market.
This policy has produced an interstate
eclipsed by a narrow- highway system that has delivered
er focus on boosting impressive economic productivity
gains by providing basic linkages
vehicle speeds, which between towns and cities, and from
has permeated trans- coast to coast.
portation policies all
But along the way, the goal of provid-
the way down to the ing transportation accessibility has
neighborhood level. been eclipsed by a narrower focus on
boosting vehicle speeds, which has
permeated transportation policies all
the way down to the neighborhood
level. We have planned and built our
streets and roads to function like our
highways—straight, wide and fast.
The building blocks of our regions—
residential neighborhoods, shopping
and commercial areas, and recreation-
al facilities—have been reorganized
around motor vehicle traffic. And
many industry practices—retail, insur-
ance, and real estate finance—have
been developed to support automo-
bile-oriented communities.
Today, people are starting to realize
Large highways and that a one-size-fits-all policy to build
big roads and boost vehicle speeds
roads have also facili- conflicts with many local priorities.
tated sprawl, leading For example, cars kill over 5,000
pedestrians and cyclists every year,
households, businesses largely because of the lack of safe
and public services to places to walk and ride.1 The overem-
move out of older phasis on road construction has led to
a neglect of public transportation, not
communities. only in investment but also because
we have not designed neighborhoods
to take advantage of transit services.
Large highways and roads have also
facilitated sprawl, leading households,
businesses and public services to
move out of older communities. In
too many cities, lower-income families
have been left behind without ade-
quate transportation access to jobs-
rich suburban areas.
We are also finding evidence that the
benefits of highway construction are
diminishing. Though the economic
gains from building the Interstate
Highway System were initially substan-
tial, adding more capacity to today’s
mature highway network generates
negligible productivity benefits.2
Traffic managers long ago discovered
that regions can’t build their way out
of congestion, and that building more
road capacity typically begets addition-
al traffic.3 Safety officials are now
questioning whether "highway improve-
ments" that widen and straighten
roads decrease vehicle crashes and
fatalities.4 New research on vehicle
emissions and traffic congestion also
is debunking the long-standing belief
that building new highways can clean
up the air by increasing travel
speeds.5
These are signs that the nation’s
transportation policies are failing to
deliver what people want. Our toler-
ance for such shortcomings is waning.
Increasingly, Americans want trans-
portation policies to deliver improved
community outcomes, such as a more
equitable society, stronger communi-
ties, better air quality, a healthier pop-
ulation, improved public safety, and a
more robust economy. To meet these
challenges, a growing advocacy move-
ment is starting to reform the trans-
portation sector to produce better
results.

The Challenge for the 1990s: Reform Federal Transportation Policy
Today’s transportation paradigm can
be traced back to the enactment of
the National Interstate Highway and
National Defense System Act in 1956.
There is much to praise about the
Interstate System, which immediately
set an international standard for the
engineering and financing of highways.
But it also established the practice of
closed-door, engineering-driven deci-
sion making by bureaucrats who
lacked familiarity with community
transportation needs. In creating the
Interstate System, the federal Bureau
of Public Roads did not consult with
cities and communities and finalized
the design of the entire 44,000-mile
network in eight months—in fact, only
three months after design criteria
were developed. They accomplished
their feat by merely drawing lines on a
map to show members of Congress
where new highways were to be built,
thus garnering their support.6 Most
federal and state transportation deci-
sion-making has reflected this
absence of community input ever
since.
In large part, the transportation reform
movement has been a reaction
against this legacy of top-down trans-
portation planning. Instead of prioritiz-
ing vehicular movement, advocates
have worked to ensure that trans-
portation policies and practices serve
the needs of people and communities.
In the decades since 1956, there
have been many attempts to accom-
plish this goal. Chief among them
were the highway fights of the 1960s
and 1970s which featured civil rights
groups, downtown business associa-
tions and environmentalists working
to save neighborhoods and open
space from being destroyed by road-
way construction. While these battles
sometimes succeeded, they were typi-
cally reactions to misguided policies—
often driven by "not in my backyard"
(NIMBY) concerns—and did not seek
to set a new agenda.
Page 3
In 1990, this started to change.
Thanks to dedicated foundation sup- ISTEA has resulted
port, a number of transportation
reform advocates were able to form in a shift of roughly
an unprecedented national coalition to $20 billion from
set a new course for American trans- federal highway pro-
portation policy. This coalition, the
Surface Transportation Policy Project grams to support
(STPP), was created as an alliance of non-highway trans-
environmentalists, social equity
activists, bicycling advocates, transit portation since 1991,
supporters , architects, planners , com- with transit spending
munity groups, the elderly, and others increasing 5.6 percent
who have spent many frustrating years
watching their interests get under- annually and bicycle
mined by poorly conceived transporta- and pedestrian spend-
tion policies.
ing growing to be
Why did such an assortment of groups thirty times what it
come together to form this coalition? was in 1990.
It depends on whom you talk to.
Environmentalists, for example, cared
about the impacts that cars and high-
ways have on everything from habitats
to air quality. Labor activists demand-
ed better transit service for low-wage
workers who otherwise have little
access to regional job centers .
Community development groups
understood the need for high-quality
transportation access but also knew
the impacts bad highway projects can
have on viable neighborhoods.
Bicyclists and pedestrians wanted to
be able to get about in a manner that
is safe, convenient and efficient.
Others simply wanted more trans-
portation choices. Each of these
groups had separate motivations, but
in coalition they all sought a funda-
mental paradigm shift in U.S. trans-
portation policy: more equitable trans-
portation outcomes, better environ-
mental quality, improved public health
and safety, stronger communities, and
a thriving economy. 7
The coalition’s plan was to influence
the federal transportation law that was
to be reauthorized in 1991 because it
represented the most powerful way to
restructure the financing of transporta-
 Page 4
tion projects, reestablish national
goals, and create a new process by
which priorities would be set. With
better community outcomes in mind,
STPP crafted and successfully advo-
cated for a new law titled the
"Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act of 1991" (ISTEA), which
provided unprecedented amounts of
funding to support public transit, walk-
ing and cycling, and gave states and
regions the discretion to transfer even
more of their highway dollars to these
needs.8 ISTEA also included public
involvement requirements, called for
regional planning, and created dedicat-
ed funding programs to improve air
quality, reduce congestion, support
community economic development,
build new transit systems, and main-
tain existing infrastructure.
The Growing Transportation Reform Movement
Since the passage of ISTEA, there has
During the last been tremendous growth in the move-
decade, transportation ment. There are now over 800 groups
that have an interest in transportation
reform groups have reform nationwide, and the number
demonstrated bold keeps growing. Allied coalitions have
leadership at the also strengthened, including the
Environmental Justice Networks, the
regional and state lev- Thunderhead Alliance (bicyclists), the
els, generating a string Transportation Equity Network, Smart
Growth America, the Community
of successes and Builders network, the Growth
tremendous opportu- Management Leadership Alliance, and
nities to learn from the National Neighborhood Coalition.
one another. During the past decade, these groups
have demonstrated bold leadership at
the regional and state levels, generat-
ing a string of successes and tremen-
dous opportunities to learn from one
another. For example, several groups
have had great success with state
campaigns:
• In New Jersey, the Tri-State
Transportation Campaign convinced
the Legislature to enact an unprece-
dented "Fix-It-First" transportation law
that prioritizes the maintenance of
The funder investment in this coalition
has generated promising returns.
ISTEA has resulted in a shift of rough-
ly $20 billion from federal highway pro-
grams to support non-highway trans-
portation since 1991, with transit
spending increasing 5.6 percent annu-
ally and bicycle and pedestrian spend-
ing growing to be thirty times what it
was in 1990. At the state and local
levels, the investment shift was $5-to-
$10 billion. Also, when ISTEA was
reauthorized in 1998 (as the "Trans-
portation Equity Act for the 21st
Century" or "TEA-21"), an STPP-led
coalition helped Congress create a
$750 million federal program to help
lower-income workers gain access to job
centers, and a $150 million pilot program
that encourages communities to link
transportation and land use planning.9
transportation infrastructure over new
highway capacity projects.
• STPP’s California office got its
Legislature to pass the nation’s first Safe
Routes to School law, which provides
communities with grants to make it easi-
er and safer for kids to walk to school.
• In North Carolina, a watchdog group
called Democracy South worked with
local media to unmask an illicit quid-
pro-quo system in which major state
campaign contributors (mostly devel-
opers and contractors) were rewarded
with a seat on the state DOT's power-
ful Board of Transportation—the body
responsible for highway routing, con-
struction priorities, and other factors
that affect growth.
At the regional level, many groups
have been able to convince their
Metropolitan Planning Organizations
(MPO) and local transit agencies to
change their funding priorities and
their decision-making processes to
better serve communities:
• In Austin, Texas, the environmental
justice organization PODER convinced

officials to invest in sidewalks, street
lighting and bus stops in low-income
neighborhoods in East Austin.
• In California, the Bay Area Transpor-
tation & Land Use Coalition success-
fully pushed plans to boost transit
funding by $375 million with a "100%
Funding for Transit" campaign.
• In Columbus, Ohio, a network of 38
congregations called Building
Responsibility, Equity and Dignity
(BREAD) worked with various city and
regional agencies to provide better
transit services for low-wage workers.
• In East St. Louis, Illinois, the
Emerson Park Development
Corporation convinced its regional
transit authority to reroute the align-
ment of a new rail transit line to
come to its neighborhood, generating
economic development opportunities
and better accessibility to the com-
munity.
• In 1999, the Texas Citizen Action
and the Texas Citizen Fund worked with
rural transit providers to increase rural
transit funding from $35 million to
$80 million in just one legislative ses-
sion.
• In Idaho, a citizens’ group called
Smart Growth Idaho partnered with an
association of mayors and county
commissioners (the Treasure Valley
Partnership) to successfully create a
regional transit authority, secure a fed-
eral grant to plan land development
along a rail right-of-way, and pass a
The Linkages that Will Motivate Transportation Reform Advocates
If current efforts and trends persist,
the next wave of growth will come
from the entrance of new interest
groups into the transportation reform
movement and the perseverance of
existing stakeholders. Emerging evi-
dence linking their issues to harmful
transportation policies has motivated
many of these groups. Others are
stepping up their involvement through
better organizing and communications.
The following paragraphs outline some
of these key linkages.
Page 5
bond initiative to preserve the foothills
abutting Boise.
Neighborhood organizing has also paid
dividends:
• In Chicago, the Lake Street El
Coalition—a coalition of civil rights,
community development and environ-
mental groups—prevented the
Chicago Transit Authority from closing
the Lake Street transit station, instead
convincing them to reinvest in the sta-
tion as an anchor for economic devel-
opment.
• In Los Angeles, the Los Angeles
Neighborhood Initiative has secured a
variety of local and federal funding to
redevelop transit corridors in eight
neighborhoods with streetscaping,
pocket parks, upgraded bus shelters ,
and a variety of other aesthetic and
infrastructure improvements.
• In the South Valley of Albuquerque,
a coalition of transit advocates recent-
ly secured new bus service to a local
vocational training institute after bring-
ing the issue to the attention of local
officials.
These are just a smattering of the
many successful transportation reform The poorest fifth of
campaigns that have been waged at America’s families
local, regional and state levels. As
more advocacy efforts succeed, the currently spends near-
spread of these stories is fueling ly 40 percent of their
renewed hope for real reform.
disposable income on
transportation (nearly
all for automobile
ownership and opera-
Transportation Reform tion. Developing
Can Help Fight Poverty
cost-effective ways for
Civil rights, community development
and social equity groups have always them to gain access to
been involved in shaping the goals of
opportunities is as
transportation reform. But the num-
ber of groups focused on these issues important as any
has grown dramatically, sparking the other measure to alle-
formation of new networks like the
viate poverty.
Transportation Equity Network and
stimulating more coordination among
existing networks, like the
Environmental Justice Networks.
 Page 6
Transit riders unions are spreading
across the country, first in Los
Angeles and now emerging in Boston,
Oakland and other cities. And new
groups are calling for the disclosure of
state and regional transportation
spending data—a "right-to-know"
movement that calls for the fair distri-
bution of public funds.
Many of these groups are starting to
Since 1995, roughly make transportation a higher priority
5,000 child pedestri- as sprawl development weakens vital
links to social services, job opportuni-
ans have been killed ties and other basic needs. An early
by automobiles—30 victory was the creation of the $750
million Access to Jobs Program within
times the number of TEA-21. This program funds transit
children killed in lifeline services for lower-wage work-
school shootings dur- ers and is designed to help welfare
recipients and lower-income people
ing the same period. gain access to long-term employment.
According to analyses It has also given social equity advo-
cates an attainable goal and will likely
in a number of states, motivate more groups to get involved
children in Latino during TEA-21 reauthorization in the
and African- next two years .
American neighbor- But transit access is just part of the
hoods are at greatest solution to alleviating poverty. Many
community groups are using trans-
risk. portation investments to stimulate
economic development in their neigh-
borhoods. For example, Bethel New
Life, a community development corpo-
ration (CDC) in Chicago, is implement-
ing a transit-oriented development
plan that includes 200 units of afford-
able housing. The effort has not only
revitalized the neighborhood, but has
also helped prevent the displacement
of existing residents.10
Others are embracing transit advocacy
because public transportation access
also represents a ladder to greater
economic independence. The poorest
fifth of America’s families currently
spends nearly 40 percent of their dis-
posable income on transportation
(nearly all for automobile ownership
and operation).11 Developing cost-
effective ways for them to gain access
to opportunities is as important as
any other measure to alleviate poverty.
According to the AAA, the average cost
of automobile ownership is roughly
$6,000 per car. Avoiding these costs
by relying more on public transit,
cycling, walking and other modes of
access could provide substantial sav-
ings that can then be devoted to other
pressing household needs, including
transitioning to homeownership.
Transportation Reform Can
Improve Public Health
Another indicator of a stronger move-
ment is growing interest among public
health groups. Perhaps the hottest
emerging issue is the link between
obesity and sprawl. In the past
decade, obesity rates have skyrocket-
ed nationwide, and health advocates
increasingly argue that a broad decline
in physical activity is largely to blame.
Many contend that getting people to
walk more is the first step in address-
ing this problem, and several institu-
tions—the Surgeon General’s Office,
the Centers for Disease Control, uni-
versity research centers and founda-
tions—have launched major public
education and research initiatives to
further explore these linkages.12
Public health officials also continue to
be concerned about transportation’s
contribution to lung disease, especial-
ly the exponential increase of asthma
cases among African-American chil-
dren.13 A recent paper published in
the Journal of the American Medical
Association reported powerful evi-
dence that acute asthma attacks
among children plummeted—as much
as 42 percent—during the 1996
Atlanta Olympics, when traffic counts
dropped by 22 percent due to public
education to reduce traffic on area
highways.14 New evidence is also
emerging on other criteria pollutants,
especially fine particulate matter
which can lodge into sensitive lung tis-
sue and lead to a range of respiratory
illnesses. In New York City, West
Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT)
is waging an effective air quality
improvement campaign by linking cred-
ible epidemiological research (through

the Columbia University School of
Medicine) with a sophisticated media
and organizing strategy which features
print ads and posters on bus shelters
and other highly visible places.
Specifically, WE ACT is trying to get
the New York City MTA to mitigate the
impact of the four diesel bus depots
that the agency has located in Harlem
(there are only five depots in all of
Manhattan).15
Transportation Reform
Can Improve Public Safety
Public safety advocates are stepping
up efforts to protect pedestrians from
getting killed or injured by cars. This
is a particularly severe concern for
children, who get killed at a much
higher rate than adults. Since 1995,
roughly 5,000 child pedestrians have
been killed by automobiles—30 times
the number of children killed in school
shootings during the same period.
According to analyses in a number of
states, children in Latino and African-
American neighborhoods are at great-
est risk.16 Despite these problems,
federal spending on pedestrian safety
tends to hover around one percent of
total safety spending, even though
pedestrian fatalities accounted for
over 16 percent of traffic deaths in
the 1990s.17
Another entrenched problem is the
fact that transportation officials con-
tinue to believe that widening and
straightening roads makes them safer.
In fact, recent research examining
data from 1984 to 1997 suggests
that such "highway improvements"
have encouraged motorists to travel at
higher speeds, generating roughly
2,000 additional fatalities during the
study period, many of them pedestri-
ans.18
Transportation Reform Can
Foster Smarter Growth and
More Livable Communities
Smart growth is gaining favor among
public officials, industry groups, envi-
ronmental advocates and community
development groups nationwide, and
Page 7
many of the principles of transporta-
tion reform are central to its imple- Smart growth advo-
mentation. In particular, smart growth cates prioritize the
advocates prioritize the creation of
convenient, walkable neighborhoods creation of conven-
that are well served by public transit. tient, walkable neigh-
Such places enable people to rely borhoods that are well
less on cars , and a spate of recent
studies quantifies the air pollution, served by public tran-
traffic, infrastructure and other bene- sit. Such places
fits these places exhibit.19 In fact,
projects that link basic services with enable people to rely
transit facilities are starting to appear less on cars, and a
in many cities. For example: spate of recent studies
• The Metro rail system in the quantifies the air pol-
Washington, DC region has child care lution, traffic, infra-
facilities at two of its train stations.
• In San Jose, California, the Tamien structure and other
Child Care Center is located at a light benefits these places
rail stop, which also offers family din- exhibit.
ners to go, dry cleaning, and haircuts.
• In Chicago, local activists convinced
transportation authorities to use feder-
al funds to finance the location of a
day care center near an urban rail sta-
tion.
Industry groups increasingly recognize
the monetary value of less automobile
use. Fannie Mae, for example, is
offering an innovative program called
the "Location-Efficient Mortgage"
(LEM), which calculates the savings
that households can gain if they are
located in transit-rich, walkable neigh-
borhoods. By being less reliant on
expensive cars , these families can
apply their savings to qualify for a larg-
er mortgage, bringing home ownership
within reach of lower-income house-
holds.20 Fannie Mae is currently offers
the LEM in four places: Seattle,
Chicago, Atlanta and California, and
has committed to investing $100 mil-
lion in LEMs nationwide.
Some projects are trying to integrate
transit-oriented development to rede-
velop vacant industrial land ("brown-
fields"). In Atlanta, the redevelopment
of the abandoned 138-acre Atlantic
Steel site is being regarded as not
just an economic development initia-
tive, but also as a strategy to clean up
 Page 8
the region’s heavily polluted air. This
parcel is destined to become a transit-
oriented mixed-use community in mid-
town Atlanta. After conducting a
state-of-the-art travel modeling study,
analysts convinced the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
that the project would reduce annual
automobile travel by 50 million miles
because it would capture a significant
amount of growth that would other-
wise have gone to outlying suburbs.
These environmental benefits were
instrumental in winning EPA approval
for local street improvements needed
to make the project viable. In fact,
they formed the basis for a new EPA
guidance that allows regions to gain
air quality credits in their State Implemen-
tation Plans via land use projects.21
Transportation Reform Can
Improve Environmental Quality
Environmentalists continue to promote
A 2000 poll about the benefits of transportation reform.
local problems con- For example, walking, cycling and tak-
ing public transit generate less air pol-
ducted by the Pew lution and fewer greenhouse gas emis-
Center for Civic sions than driving. For the first time,
transportation reform can be seen as
Jounalism found that a significant ally in the fight against
Americans were most global warming. By reducing the
concerned about demand for sprawl development, trans-
portation reform measures also con-
sprawl and traffic— tribute to open space conservation,
more than crime, the protection of scenic areas, and
education or jobs.
Public Attitudes and Behavior are Changing
With deepening ranks and better infor-
mation, the transportation reform
movement is changing peoples’ atti-
tudes. Years of engaging the media
with analysis, commentary and cri-
tiques of transportation policy has
generated hundreds of unique media
hits for transportation reform groups
nationwide. Advocates also have
managed to get once obscure trans-
portation concerns into the main-
stream, such as induced traffic ("if
you build it, they will come"), pedestri-
farmland preservation. Reducing the
amount of paved surface area also
reduces levels of polluted runoff that
can harm water supplies and aquatic
ecosystems. New roads tend to dis-
rupt habitats as well, and reducing the
need for them can help ensure that
wildlife populations are not displaced.22
Many community groups are using
transportation reform campaigns to
improve local environmental quality
and increase neighborhood livability.
One initiative, launched by three South
Bronx organizations (Nos Quedamos,
the Point CDC and Youth Ministries for
Peace and Justice), calls for the
decommissioning of the barely-used
Sheridan Expressway. They have
developed a plan to replace it with a
28-acre greenway, complete with
waterfront access, bicycle and pedes-
trian paths, and links to other regional
parks. The New York Department of
Transportation currently proposes to
spend $420 million to refurbish the
lightly traveled 1.25-mile stretch of
highway. The community groups have
partnered with coalitions like the New
York City Environmental Justice
Alliance and the Tri-State
Transportation Campaign to get
authorities to consider their plan as
an alternative within the project’s
Environmental Impact Statement.
an safety, and the rising consumer
costs of automobile dependence.
Polling data also reflect these
changes. Dozens of opinion surveys
indicate severe concern about traffic
and sprawl. A 2000 poll about local
problems conducted by the Pew
Center for Civic Journalism found that
Americans were most concerned
about sprawl and traffic—more than
crime, education or jobs.

Which One Do You Think Provides the Best
Long-Term Solution for Traffic Congestion?
Add New Bike
Paths and
Sidewalks 2%
Maintain the
Existing
System 9%
Create Places
that Allow for
Shorter
Trips 12%
Build New
Roads and
Lanes 22%
Subsequent polls have identified grow-
ing support for tighter coordination
between transportation and land use,
increased transit investment, funding
for walking and cycling facilities and
more road repair. Road construction
appears to be losing favor in nearly
every region in the country. A recent
poll by Smart Growth America found
that 60 percent of respondents indi-
cated support for the following state-
ment: "[Do you favor having] your
Americans’ Attitudes Are Changing
Most Important Local Issue
Now, what do you think
is the most important problem facing the community where you live?
18% Transportation/Sprawl/Traffic/Roads
18% Crime/Violence
13% Economic Issues/The Economy
10% Education
6% Child and Teen Issues
3% Problems with Politics/Politicians
3% Moral Decline/Decline of Family Values
2% Racism/Discrimination/Intolerance
2% Problems with Immigrants
These demands are getting noticed.
Political leaders are becoming more
responsive to calls for smarter growth
and less traffic. In 2001, twenty-five
governors vowed to confront these
challenges.23 National associations of
public officials are also officially
expressing support for more sensible
growth, including the U.S. Conference
of Mayors , the National League of
Page 9
Atlanta Regional Commission, April 2001
N//A
5%
Expand
Mass
Transit
49%
state government use more of its
transportation budget for improve-
ments to public transportation, such
as trains, buses and light rail, even if
this means less money to build new
highways." Also, survey findings have
been consistent despite the diversity
of sponsoring organizations, which
include the Federal Highway
Administration, the National
Association of Realtors , and the
Atlanta Regional Commission.
2% The Environment
2% Law Enforcement/Justice/Court System
1% Health Medicine
1% Poverty/Hunger/Homelessness
1% National Disasters/Hurricanes/Floods
1% Senior Citizen Issues/Care of the Elderly
4% Other
16% Things Are Good Here/Don’t Know
Pew Center for Civic Journalism, January 2000
Cities, the National Governors’ Assoc-
iation, the International City/County
Management Association, the National
Association of Counties, and many
others. In Washington, DC, the U.S.
Congress has an active Senate Smart
Growth Task Force and House Livable
Communities Task Force, both of
which host regular briefings and other
events for lawmakers and staff.
Page 10

The Transportation System Would Serve My Local Community Better If:

70%
60%
50%
% “Strongly
40% Agree” or
“Agree”
30%
20% Federal Highway
Administration,
April 2001
10%
0%
Expand Build Provide Offer Expand Build
Transit Bikeways/ Traffic Transit Highways New
Service Sidewalks Info Services Highways

In many regions, business associa- instead urged them to invest in well-

tions are developing a keen interest in planned communities in or near thriv-
smarter growth, led by groups like the ing urban centers ("24-hour cities")
Commercial Club of Chicago, the with good public transit service and
Sierra Business Council (CA), the access to open space.25
Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group,
Bluegrass Tomorrow (KY), and Envision Along with attitudes, behavior is
Utah.24 They tend to regard haphaz- changing as well. Many urban areas
ard sprawl as a drag on the regional and older suburbs are experiencing a
economy and a detriment to communi- rebirth as growing numbers of families
ty livability. The real estate industry rediscover the convenience and
has also started to take an active role appeal of living in neighborhoods with
in championing smart growth. In the transportation choices and urban
annual industry-leading publication amenities. The use of public transit is
Recent Trends in Real Estate, the skyrocketing, growing nearly 20 per-
authors have for years advised real cent over the past four years—more
estate investors against putting their than double the growth in driving dur-
money behind sprawl, and have ing the same period.26

Transit Use is Up as Growth in Driving Levels Off

6.0%

5.0%
Change from Previous Year

4.0%

3.0%

2.0%

1.0%

0.0%
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
APTA Transit Ridership Report, FHWA Traffic Volume Trends. Prepared by STPP

Since 1997, hundreds of ballot meas-
ures supporting open space preserva-
tion, transit funding, water quality
improvements, economic development
and affordable housing have been
approved by voters in communities
nationwide.
These trends are even reaching into
the research sector. In the past few
years , many new research centers
have been created to study transporta-
tion and land use linkages, smart
growth, and the design of new infra-
structure. These include the new
University of Maryland Smart Growth
Center, the Rutgers Vorhees Transpor-
tation Institute, new endowed Chairs
and programs at Georgia Tech, George
Washington University, the University
of Miami, the University of California
Opportunities for Funders:
An Agenda for Transportation Reform and Smart Growth
How can funders best support the com-
ing transportation revolution? It is
essential for foundations to recognize
that our nation is at a critical period
for transportation reform—perhaps
more so than in 1990. The passage
of ISTEA set the stage. Now public
opinion, support for smart growth, a
growing movement, more research,
Combating the Forces of Rollback
Part of the need for greater funder
commitment is the continuing threat
of rollback. The highway and sprawl
lobbies have not conceded the ground
they lost when ISTEA’s reforms were
enacted. They are actively organizing
to influence everyone from public offi-
cials to the media, launching many
attacks on public transit, community
revitalization, and environmental goals.
A recent Georgia Highway Builders tele-
vision spot even goes so far as to
Page 11
at Berkeley, and Harvard University.
Government research institutions such
as the National Research Council, the
General Accounting Office, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention,
and the Millennium Housing
Commission have all started tackling
the causes and costs of sprawl.
Academic interest is not only a barom-
eter for the growing national interest
in transportation reform and smarter
growth, but it is also an indicator of
the rising credibility of the movement,
which needs solid research, data, new
models, and analytical tools to gain
mainstream professional acceptance.
As new efforts to combat haphazard
sprawl and traffic are launched,
demand for credible evaluation and
research will only grow.
better tools, and innovative ideas are
all converging to offer an unprecedent- It is essential ... to
ed opportunity to tip the scales recognize that our
towards reform. To make it happen,
transportation reform advocates need nation is at a critical
a substantial boost in support from period for tranporta-
foundations at all levels, from commu-
nity foundations to large national foun- tion reform—perhaps
dations. more so than in
1990.
equate efforts to fight highways with
Communism in North Korea.
The road builders are also organizing
new coalitions. One effort is the
Quality Growth coalition (quality-
growth.org), which is designed to
exploit the public’s frustration over
sprawl to build support for increased
highway construction. The Quality
Growth website, which prominently dis-
plays the logos of thirteen road indus-
 Page 12
try groups, is very sophisticated, com-
Institutional resistance plete with a citizens’ action guide,
also thwarts trans- message development tools and other
resources.
portation reform.
Despite gains in feder- In recent years , highway builders have
al policies, state and gained another set of allies: libertari-
an activists. Dubbed "The Boys of
local authorities still Sprawl" by Governing Magazine, these
control four-fifths of individuals have made disparaging
smart growth, public transit, communi-
all government spend- ty reinvestment and other transporta-
ing on transportation, tion reform goals a cottage industry.
and most have been While their numbers are small, they
crisscross the nation giving presenta-
reluctant to change tions, participating in debates, landing
their priorities. op-eds and other media hits, and deliv-
ering flawed analysis and data to poor-
ly informed and credulous audiences.27
Institutional resistance also thwarts
transportation reform. Despite gains
in federal policies, state and local
authorities still control four-fifths of all
government spending on transporta-
tion, and most have been reluctant to
change their priorities. During the
1998 reauthorization of ISTEA, for
example, state officials recommended
rolling back many of ISTEA’s key
reforms, including public involvement,
funding for non-highway modes, the
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality
Improvement Program, and a variety of
other measures. Many continue to
oppose measures to support environ-
mental justice, carefully evaluate envi-
ronmental impacts, and make state
transportation spending data available
for public scrutiny. 28
Part of this resistance is the result of
age-old political expectations. In
many states transportation officials
are more eager to serve land develop-
ment and highway construction priori-
ties, and continue to champion high-
way projects that fail to relieve con-
gestion, improve regional economies,
boost safety, or reduce air pollution.
Many states also have their hands
tied; in over thirty of them, transporta-
tion agencies cannot fund non-highway
transportation projects with state gas
tax receipts because of state constitu-
tional requirements restricting the use
of those revenues.
At the staff level, the challenges are
also formidable. For decades, trans-
portation planners and engineers have
relied on technical manuals to guide
their decision-making. Getting a most-
ly engineering-oriented workforce to
focus on outcomes like "livable com-
munities" will be difficult because
such objectives have been difficult to
define, especially in the technical lan-
guage of transportation where people
are more accustomed to talking about
volume-to-capacity ratios than about
helping welfare recipients gain access
to jobs. Many regard such goals as
too "fuzzy" or believe that the connec-
tions are too tenuous to pursue in a
responsible fashion. Now that con-
cerns about sprawl have emerged,
transportation planners and engineers
feel even more overwhelmed by the
growing demands on their profession.
As a result, gains in transportation
reform can never be taken for granted.
In fact, a recent analysis of federal
transportation spending found that
federal spending on highway construc-
tion, which declined during 1992-
1998, has risen 21 percent in the
past two years while spending on
other modes has fallen by 19
percent.29 According to the U.S.
Department of Transportation, a signif-
icant portion of this includes new
sprawl-inducing highways (they call it
"infrastructure for metropolitan expan-
sion") which costs taxpayers roughly
$10 billion per year. 30 During this peri-
od, the bulk of states’ discretionary or
"flexible" funds have been spent on
highways, with only 6.5 percent of a
total of $50 billion supporting non-
roadway modes.
Even in states that claim to be show-
cases of smarter growth, highway con-
struction continues unabated. Utah,
for example, is often acclaimed for the
innovative Envision Utah project, in
which state agencies and non-profit
organizations have conducted sophisti-

cated long-term planning to analyze
the impacts of growth in the Greater
Wasatch Area, however. State highway
officials are planning to build the $2.8
billion Legacy Highway, despite a law-
suit filed by the Mayor of Salt Lake
What Advocates and Funders Need to Do
In the past decade, most states and
regions have not fully taken advantage
of the reforms offered by ISTEA and
TEA21. Without complementary
reforms at the state and metropolitan
levels, federal reforms are much less
meaningful. Transportation reform
advocates have been enormously suc-
cessful in getting their point of view,
analyses and vision into the media.
Reformers have changed hearts and
minds, and now need to leverage
these gains into action, developing
model campaigns to promote legisla-
tive reforms, tools for practitioners ,
alliances with private sector groups,
and regional organizing.
Launch Legislative Campaigns
Enacting legislative reforms can reinvent
the mission of state DOTs and regional
agencies. For example, New Jersey’s
Fix-It-First legislation requires state
agencies to maintain transportation
infrastructure before building new road
capacity. California’s Safe Routes to
School program now requires agencies
to provide grants to localities to make it
safer and easier for kids to walk to
school. Other state and regional cam-
paign ideas, such as "Free the Gas Tax"
(enabling state gas tax dollars to be
spent on non-highway transportation
investments) and "right-to-know" cam-
paigns to disclose transportation spend-
ing data, would also help transform the
goals and culture of these agencies.
Develop Tools for Practitioners
As practitioners are asked to do new
things like "transit-oriented develop-
ment," "traffic calming," "context-sen-
sitive roadway design," and consider
"induced traffic" in travel modeling,
Page 13
City and 100 allied organizations.31
The project has also been criticized as
one of the top ten worst highway proj-
ects in America by Taxpayers for
Common Sense and Friends of the
Earth.
many are poorly equipped to do a
good job. They need tools to help In the past decade,
them be responsive to these new most states and
demands. The transportation reform
advocates should help produce manu- regions have not fully
als on an array of new topics to sup- taken advantage of
port the work of transportation practi-
tioners. In addition to addressing
the reforms offered by
design standards and improved model- ISTEA and TEA21.
ing, advocates could generate exam- Without complemen-
ples of best practices and success
stories to inspire and inform practi- tary reforms at the
tioners who can deliver the goods. state and metropoli-
This is a huge opportunity for trans-
tan levels, federal
portation reform. Industry analysts reforms are much less
contend that the transportation work- meaningful.
force is in crisis because so many
planners and engineers are leaving
the profession. The Federal Highway
Administration estimates that 45 per-
cent of its employees will be eligible
for retirement by 2010. The
Rockefeller Institute of Government
has found similar figures for state and
local governments. Within a decade,
the transportation profession will look
radically different from today’s ranks.
And it is well known that the next gen-
eration of transportation professionals
care a great deal more about environ-
mental issues, land use and non-high-
way modes.
Influence Federal Policy
Though the transportation reform
movement should concentrate efforts
beyond the Beltway, federal policy is
still critical to success. Efforts to roll
back innovative transportation meas-
ures were only narrowly defeated dur-
ing ISTEA reauthorization, and they will
certainly return when Congress starts
TEA-21 reauthorization hearings in
 Page 14
2002. Some of the focus should be
defense, but reformers should also
forge opportunities to push forward on
land use, transit-oriented develop-
ment, environmental justice and trans-
portation equity, among other con-
cerns. In particular, there is a real
opening to create formal funding cate-
gories to better coordinate transporta-
tion and land use, finance equitable
economic development around transit
stations and ensure fair decision-mak-
ing processes and environmental
reviews.
Organize Various Stakeholders
Transportation reform in the 1990s
Transportation reform would not have occurred without seri-
in the 1990s would ous efforts to build diverse coalitions
and organize support for action.
not have occured Given the numbers and strength of
without serious efforts emerging stakeholders , there are
tremendous opportunities to organize
to build diverse coali- community groups, labor organiza-
tions and organize tions, the academic community, public
support for action. health officials, private sector players ,
environmentalists, bicyclists, advo-
cates for older Americans, and
countless others who stand to gain
from transportation reform.
Reformers should also prioritize the
cultivation of progressive transporta-
Conclusion: The Tipping Point
Our nation is on the verge of a ‘tipping
point" for transportation reform and
smarter growth. The term comes from
a recent book by writer Malcolm
Gladwell, who contends that there are
numerous examples of social change
occurring in a dramatic, rapid manner,
much in the way that medical epi-
demics sweep across continents. The
transportation reform movement faces
a set of converging circumstances that
can catapult efforts to a whole new
level—not incremental steps as some
have predicted, but monumental
change.
tion practitioners and officials as
agents of change. This will require
working with existing professional
associations (e.g. American Assoc-
iation of State Highway and Transpor-
tation Officials, Conference of Minority
Transportation Officials, American
Public Transportation Association, the
Institute of Transportation Engineers ,
etc.) and perhaps forming new net-
works. All of these efforts will require
greater coordination, timely communi-
cations, high-quality campaign materi-
als, and more hands on deck.
Seek Out Allies
in the Private Sector
For transportation reform to become
mainstream, advocates need to make
the case to businesses that their eco-
nomic future is imperiled by our cur-
rent dysfunctional transportation poli-
cies. Making the case is getting easi-
er and easier as new evidence rolls in.
But many more linkages need to be
made between all of the benefits iden-
tified above and how they accrue to
make our economy stronger. Unless
reformers are able to make this very
important connection, transportation
reform will continue to be a fringe
issue that merely generates "alterna-
tives" rather than systemic change.
For inspiration, reformers should
remind themselves of the last time
when transportation, land use, devel-
opment financing, design and profes-
sional standards all pointed in the
same direction to fulfill the conven-
tional vision of livable communities—
the early Post-War period when high-
ways, sprawl and speed were primary
national goals. Our vision for the
future has changed. But there is no
doubt that we can once again produc-
tively harness this alignment to pro-
vide real transportation choices for
everyone.
 Page 15

Endnotes
1. Mean Streets, Surface Transportation Policy Project, 2000.
2. Marlon G. Boarnet, "Highways and Economic Productivity: Interpreting Recent Evidence," Journal of Planning Literature, Vol.
11, No. 4 (May 1997).
3. This phenomenon is called "induced traffic." See Don Chen, "If You Build It, They Will Come," Progress, March 1997.
4. Robert Noland, Traffic Fatalities and Injuries: Are Reductions the Result of ‘Improvements’ in Highway Design Standards?
National Research Council, Transportation Research Board, Annual Meeting, January 2001.
5. According to Michael Replogle of Environmental Defense, the optimal travel speed for reduced emissions is roughly 30 miles
per hour, a realistic speed to maintain for local arterials and streets.
6. Brian Taylor, When Finance Leads Planning: The Influence of Public Finance on Transportation Planning and Policy in
California, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California Los Angeles, 1992.
7. For more discussion on transportation reform in the 1990s, see "Ten Years of Transportation Reform: What Have We
Accomplished," Surface Transportation Policy Project, December 2000. Contact Barbara McCann at 202.974.5134.
8. For more information, see STPP’s ISTEA Planners’ Workbook and its Blueprint for ISTEA Reauthorization. Call 202.466.2636
to order.
9. These programs are called the Access to Jobs Program and the Transportation and Community and System Preservation Pilot
Program, respectively. They are described in STPP’s TEA-21 User’s Guide, which covers the changes brought by ISTEA reautho-
rization and the enactment of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). See www.tea21.org/guide/guideon-
line.htm for the online version.
10. National Neighborhood Coalition, Smart Growth, Better Neighborhoods: Communities Leading the Way, 2000. See
http://www.neighborhoodcoalition.org/smart%20growth.htm.
11. Consumer Expenditure Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001. Estimate by Michelle Garland, STPP. See
www.transact.org/Reports/driven/default.htm.
12. Jeffrey P. Koplan and William H. Dietz, "Caloric Imbalance and Public Health Policy, " The Journal of the American Medical
Association, Vol. 282, No. 16, p. 1579.
13. See Robert Bullard and Glenn Johnson, eds., Just Transportation: Dismantling Race & Class Barriers to Mobility, New Society
Publishers, 1997.
14. Michael S. Friendman, et. al., "Impact of Changes in Transportation and Commuting Behaviors during the 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta on Air Quality and Childhood Asthma," Journal of the American Medical Association, February 21, 2001.
15. See WE ACT’s web site http://www.weact.org/programs/index.html for more information.
16. Caught in the Crosswalk: Pedestrian Safety in California, Latino Issues Forum and Surface Transportation Policy Project,
2000.
17. See Mean Streets 2000, Surface Transportation Policy Project, http://www.transact.org/Reports/ms2000/default.htm.
18. The overall decrease in roadway fatalities was found to more strongly associated with demographic changes, increased seat-
belt use, and advances in medical technology. See Noland, op. cit.
19. US Environmental Protection Agency, Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions between Land
Use, Transportation and Environmental Quality, January 2001.
20. The LEM was created by three transportation reform groups: the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Natural Resources
Defense Council and the Surface Transportation Policy Project. For more information, see www.locationefficiency.com.
21. See the guidance at www.epa.gov/oms/transp/traqusd.htm.
22. Kaid Benfield, Matt Raimi and Don Chen, Once There Were Greenfields: How Urban Sprawl is Undermining America’s
Environment, Economy and Social Fabric, Natural Resources Defense Council, 1999.
23. These were made during governors’ "State of the State" addresses. Source: US Environmental Protection Agency.
24. For more examples, see Profiles of Business Leadership on Smart Growth, National Association of Local Government
Environmental Professionals, 1999.
25. Recent Trends in Real Estate 2001, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Lend Lease Real Estate, LLP, 2001.
26. Transit figures from the American Public Transit Association. VMT figures from the Federal Highway Administration. Ridership
is increasing on all forms of transit, including buses, subway systems, commuter trains and trolleys. Bus systems with strong
growth in ridership included Lansing, MI (up 19.3 percent), Raleigh, NC (up 24.7 percent), Washington, DC (up 8.4 percent),
and Gainesville, FL (up 18.4 percent). Train systems with strong ridership growth included BART in San Francisco (up 12.8
percent), New York City's subways (up 7.6 percent) and the Washington, DC Metro (up 7.7 percent).
27. For a listing of their publications, see the Smart Growth Network’s web site at http://www.smartgrowth.org/information/
aboutsg_counter.html.
28. Specifically, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials proposed the rollback measures during
ISTEA reauthorization, and they (together with the road building lobby) opposed the adoption of a set of regulations proposed
in 2000 by the Clinton Administration governing environmental justice, environmental review and other matters.
29. Surface Transportation Policy Project, Changing Direction, 2000.
30. Source: Condition and Performance Report, 1998.
31. The Legacy Highway was identified as one of the nation’s most wasteful highway projects by Taxpayers for Common Sense and
Friends of the Earth in their 1999 report, Road to Ruin. See http://www.foe.org/eco/transportation/.

This article was printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper.

Hooper Brooks, Chair
L. Benjamin Starrett, Executive Director

Working to strengthen funders’

individual and collective abilities
to support organizations promoting
smart growth and creating livable
communities

Collins Center for Public Policy, Inc.

150 SE 2nd Avenue, Suite 709
Miami, Florida 33131
Phone: 305-377-4484
Fa x : 305-377-4485
Email: bstarrett@collinscenter.org
www.fundersnetwork.org