Current directions/programs we support from TEA-21 and ISTEA:

1. Strengthening the land use/transportation linkage emphasis in State DOT and MPO planning and implementation activities;
2. Reinforcing the principles of intermodal transportation and transportation system efficiency incorporated into ISTEA and TEA-21;
3. Maintaining the concept of modal equity through the equality of current highway and transit funding formulas, including New Starts transit projects, which have included such local examples as the North Shore LRT in Pittsburgh and the Schuylkill Valley MetroRail in Philadelphia. If fiscal constraints require the federal share of project costs to be reduced from the current 80% federal, 20% non-federal matching formula, such reductions should come on an equal basis from both the highway and transit formulas, for example lowering the federal share to 75% in both programs;
4. Maintaining the flexibility of various transportation funding categories (such as the Surface Transportation Program) to promote the development and use of varied modes, including public transportation, bicycling and walking;
5. Maintaining the flexibility of funding to allow metropolitan regions to deal with the growing strains upon their freight networks, which are central to Pennsylvania�s distribution economy. Where such flexibility is in question, as with CMAQ, it should be made explicit;
6. Maintaining the linkage between TEA-3 and the Clean Air Act;
7. Continuing the shared partnership between State DOTs and MPOs for planning and programming transportation improvements;
8. Maintaining at least the current level of federal funding for surface transportation in Pennsylvania. If the minimum allocation is altered from its current 90.5% of contributions to the Highway Trust Fund, then the total program should grow so as to return Pennsylvania to at least its current funding level.

TEA-21 Programs to enhance or revise:

1. Continue the following programs and maintain or expand program funding:
2. Transportation and Community and System Preservation (TCSP) Program;

• Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) Grant Program. Local examples: Routes 59A and 13A in Pittsburgh and various JARC-funded, SEPTA and TMA-sponsored reverse commute and extended hour services in southeastern Pennsylvania;

• Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program. This program should be restricted to projects that promote mobility other than roadway widening to provide new capacity. These projects can include operational and transportation system management strategies such as roadway access management, intersection improvements, and coordinated traffic signals, as well as transportation demand management, such as ridesharing;

Transportation Enhancements (TE) Program.

The above programs fund important transportation priorities, and should not be collapsed into larger programs or block grants.

3. Restore competitiveness by reducing Congressional earmarking, and clarify application and reporting requirements for various categorical transportation programs such as TCSP, JARC and CMAQ.
4. Improve the balance of project delivery and environmental protection, both important goals, by removing duplications in the environmental review processes while wholly preserving their rigor. The parallel processes mandated by NEPA and TEA-21 should be better integrated, with the roles of all participants clearly defined. Opportunities for integration include the Purpose and Need definition and the Definition of Alternatives, both of which are established in the metropolitan planning process and then reopened under NEPA. This integration should be accomplished through administrative measures, such as memoranda of understanding between the relevant departments, rather than exposing NEPA to legislative changes. Under no circumstances should environmental streamlining become a means by which to allow rapid implementation of major projects without full consideration of their environmental consequences.
5. Encourage private investment in rail freight by expanding the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) and State Infrastructure Banks (SIBs). These innovative financing mechanisms can provide credit and credit assurance to support investment in private systems, such as rail freight lines. To make the existing tools more flexible, the threshold for TIFIA funding eligibility should be lowered to allow smaller projects to be included. Tax incentives could also encourage investment in rail freight while avoiding the problem of public subsidies for private enterprise.
6. Continue and expand funding for highway and transit research programs, such as NCHRP and TCRP.
7. Strengthen multimodal planning by making the planning processes for expending highway and transit funds similar and better integrated so that true multimodal evaluation of transportation needs can be undertaken.   In particular, steps should be taken to assure that transit capital planning is well integrated with other transportation planning at the MPO level, as it already is in some MPOs such as the DVRPC.
8. Encourage expansion of public involvement and environmental justice programs to ensure that minority communities have a greater role in transportation decision-making and that transportation investments are more equitably distributed in those communities.
9. Promote the use of public transportation and investment in existing communities through the development of transit-oriented development (TOD) projects. This could be accomplished by:

• Providing federal and state incentives to public transportation agencies to create TOD projects, such as a reduction in match requirements and increased credit for the inclusion of private investment attracted by the TOD project as part of the non-federal match.
• Providing additional dollars to existing competitive grant programs such as TCSP, JARC, and CMAQ. This may be accomplished with pilot projects and/or providing greater weighting in ranking those projects that have a TOD component.
• Encouraging federal aid highway projects to incorporate public transportation infrastructure and multi-modal interface opportunities that can support TOD, including but not limited to bus turnouts, exclusive bus lanes, public transportation signal priority, and utilization of right-of-way for public transportation shelters.
• Supporting new and existing programs aimed at making it safer for children to walk and bike to school, increasing physical activity and reducing obesity among children, and building a new generation of more walkable neighborhoods. The role of local schools as a focal point for creating or enhancing community identity and community character should be strengthened.