Transportation Alternatives Program

The new Congress convened for the first time this week, setting its rules and electing its leaders. The Senate will quickly move to confirmation hearings on President-Elect Trump’s nominees to head various agencies, including Elaine Chao to serve as Secretary of Transportation.  Congress will move quickly on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, though new infrastructure funding is likely to wait until at least late spring.

The Safe Routes Partnership and the YMCA of the USA recently released Making Strides: 2016 State Report Cards on Support for Walking, Bicycling, Active Kids and Communities. These report cards have an entire section devoted to state funding for Safe Routes to School, bicycling and walking that provides important information for advocates.

While Congress passed the new transportation law, the FAST Act, back in December, it takes time for US Department of Transportation to update their complicated formulas for how much states and localities get for various programs. Fortunately, that work is done and we now know the state-by-state breakdown of funding available for Safe Routes to School, bicycling and walking projects.

We are now six weeks out from when Congress passed the FAST Act, securing funding for Safe Routes to School and the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) for five more years. Here at the Safe Routes Partnership, we've been spending a lot of time educating advocates about what changed and what didn't in the FAST Act, and gathering as much information as we can to help you access the funding.

We have been advocating together for three years for a new transportation bill that supports Safe Routes to School, walking and bicycling.  Now that Congress has passed the FAST Act and locked in funding for the Transportation Alternatives Program (or as it is now also known the STP Setaside), what should advocates be focusing on?

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee has set its consideration of the transportation bill for Thursday, October 22. This is coming in just under the wire, as the current transportation law expires at the end of October.  Congress will still have to do an extension of current law to allow the House to complete its work and then come to agreement with the Senate -- hopefully by mid-December.  (Update 10/22/15:  The committee completed consideration of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act today.  An amendment offered by Reps.

While just a few weeks ago, we were gearing up for the House to move a new transportation bill through the Committee and then the floor, action has once again been delayed.

While members of Congress have been back in their districts meeting with constituents, House transportation committee staff has been huddled in Washington working on a transportation bill. You may recall that in July, the Senate completed action on its version of the transportation bill but the House instead pushed to extend current transportation law a few more months.

After weeks of work, the Senate passed the DRIVE Act today to reauthorize transportation policy and funding, on a vote of 65-34.  However, the House of Representatives has forced the Senate’s hand into accepting a three-month extension of current law.