A national advocate for transportation innovation and reform told a gathering in Portland Tuesday night that an upwelling of concern from Oregon could help push Congress to pass a new federal transportation bill in the next 12 months.
James Corless, director of Transportation for America (T4America), visited the Portland area on Tuesday to meet with the group's partners and to get a firsthand look at the region's public transit and bike facilities. In a brief talk at the offices of 1000 Friends of Oregon, Corless urged activists to tell members of Congress from Oregon that the time is right for a new transportation bill that cuts the nation's dependence on foreign oil and boosts infrastructure investment.
"We are the coalition that can get a transportation bill passed," Corless said. "We can't do it without you and other people like you all over the country."
The Metro Council and Metro's Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation both endorsed T4America's platform for a new federal transportation bill in January 2009. Metro planner Andy Cotugno and Councilor Rex Burkholder were both active in helping develop "The Route to Reform," the group's 100-page proposal for a new bill. JPACT, comprised of elected and staff leaders from across the region, is among T4America's nearly 500 coalition members nationwide.
The last transportation bill, known as SAFETY-LU, expired in 2009 and has been extended by Congress in short-term increments since then. Groups like T4America are pushing for a new bill with different policies, projects and more money.
With gas tax revenue dwindling and environmental disasters such as the Gulf oil spill in the public's mind, the next 12 months amounts to "the moment of a lifetime to get it right," Corless said.
Members of Congress from Oregon - especially U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio - are members of committees that will play a big role in drafting a new transportation bill, Corless said.
A new bill "hasn't been a top tier issue" for the White House, but public pressure could change that, Corless said. A push for a new bill would be most effective before the next presidential election season begins to distract policymakers, he added.