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Transportation for America

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The challenge

We’re not used to expecting measurable results from the dollars we spend. It’s time to change that. These principles will help us achieve measurable, tangible, concrete outcomes from the transportation program. Most importantly, they’ll reorient the goals of our transportation policies and practices to better serve the average American.

Our principles for infrastructure investment

It’s time for transportation investments that achieve results for all Americans. For future investments in U.S. infrastructure, Congress should follow three key principles:

Safety over speed: Federal funding should require approaches and designs that put safety first.
Fix it first: Maintaining what we have before adding to the system would produce jobs and bring our roads to the highest standard of repair.
Invest in the rest: The U.S. has developed a highway system that is the envy of the world. Imagine what we could achieve if we applied the same level of funding and energy into building out the entire system.

Principle #1: Safety over speed. Any serious effort to reduce deaths on our streets and roads requires slower speeds. Federal funding should require approaches and street designs that put safety first. Cartoon of the grim reaper tipping the scales towards pedestrian deaths while holding a speed limit: 55 sign.

Principle #2: Fix it first. If your house has a leaky roof, you fix that before remodeling your kitchen. the federal transportation program should do the same and prioritize existing maintenance needs ahead of building new things which require decades of additional repair costs. Cartoon of winding highways eating up a U.S. dollar

Principle #3: Invest in the rest. For 60 years we've invested hundreds of billions of dollars in highways. Now it's time to invest in the rest to create a complete transportation network so more Americans can safely travel by foot, bike, bus, or train. Cartoon of a man exiting a sad looking vehicle and entering a beautiful image of a street filled with crosswalks, wide sidewalks, and bus lanes

Our principles in action

Our principles guide every aspect of our work, from advocacy at the local, state, and national level to thought leadership on transportation policies and practices.

Learn more about our work and how you can get involved.