Have 3 Minutes? Help Change Transportation In MA For Decades

from livablestreets

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Transportation funding opponents have been making their voices heard loud and clear, but legislators haven’t been hearing enough from supporters like you. If you haven’t called or written your legislators yet, NOW IS THE TIME!

More funding to transit, biking, and walking means more livable communities. It means safer, more convenient and affordable ways to get around our region. Safe streets that are enjoyable to use better support neighborhoods and business districts and make Boston a place that people want to live, work and play.

The House is crafting it’s transportation bill this week! It is vital that the amount of new revenue dedicated to transportation is sufficient and is part of a long-term plan, not just a short-term fix. Estimates of our state’s yearly transportation investment for the next generation range from $800 million to $1 billion.

Make your voice heard in the next week:

1. Participate in #MATranspoTalk Twitter Town Hall on April 1, 12-1pm, this is your chance to ask questions and chat with transportation experts.
2. Come to Transportation Day on the Hill on Tuesday, April 2 starting at 10 a.m. on the State House Steps.
3. E-mail your legislators using our newly updated, easy-to-use template.
4. Call your legislators to ask them for their support for a sufficient, long-term transportation funding plan, and if they are supportive, ask them to make their views known to the Speaker or Senate President.

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Act Today! Tell Your Legislators To Fully Fund Transportation Including Bicycling

From MassBike:

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You may remember our post about the Governor’s transportation funding proposal, which quadruples the level of funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects. On Thursday, House Speaker Robert DeLeo is expected to unveil his plan to fund transportation, which will most assuredly differ from the Governor’s plan. Too often, funding for biking and walking becomes a bargaining chip in transportation funding discussions. We can’t let that happen.

We need you to contact your legislators today and tell them to fully fund transportation – including bicycling.

You can help by doing the following:

1. Email your State Senator
2. Email your State Representative
3. Email House Speaker Robert DeLeo ([email protected])
4. Email Senate President Therese Murray ([email protected])
5. Cc [email protected] on all your emails, or send us a message telling us who you contacted.

Don’t know who your legislator is? Find out here.

This action alert is being coordinated with Transportation for Massachusetts, a coalition of organizations of which MassBike is a part. Please join others across Massachusetts in emailing and calling legislators to urge them to fully fund transportation. We are asking that you emphasize the importance of bicycle and pedestrian funding. Some points you can make:

• The safety of our roads is non-negotiable. This funding is crucial to better protecting bicyclists and pedestrians.
• At a time when gas prices are rising, obesity and diabetes are shortening life expectancy, and rising sea levels threaten our coastal communities, we can’t afford not to invest in biking and walking.
• This plan is about the future of the Commonwealth. Bikeable, walkable neighborhoods and town centers need to be in our future.

If you don’t have time to write personal emails, you can use the Transportation for Massachusetts automated system by clicking here. Thanks so much – as usual, we couldn’t do it without you.

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Federal Transportation Crisis Continues

Things are not looking good, from MassBike.

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Things have gone from bad to worse. On the House side, there has been an all-out assault not only on bike funding, but also transit, environmental review, and basically anything other than highways and bridges. The House Bill (H.R. 7) is one of the most extreme examples of slash and burn politics, described as “uniquely terrible,” (NY Times) “disastrous,” (Rep. Nadler) and “The worst transportation bill I’ve ever seen.” (Sec. LaHood) Because the Petri Amendment failed, the consensus among a wide variety of groups is that the best hope for biking and walking is to kill the House Bill entirely and start over. Transportation for America, a national transportation advocacy group, notes,

“More than 75 national organizations signed the letter [of opposition to H.R. 7] – including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AARP, the American Public Transportation Association, the National Rural Assembly, American Society of Civil Engineers, LOCUS (real estate developers), National Association of Counties- and a huge list of other individuals and state & local groups, including the governors of Oregon and Washington, several state DOTs, state and local Chambers of Commerce, and hundreds of state and local organizations nationwide.”

You may be seeing Action Alerts from national organizations asking you to contact your Representatives to ask them to vote against the bill. Here in Massachusetts, MassBike and our T4MA partners are contacting all our Representatives, who we expect will all strongly oppose the bill.

With an incredibly diverse array of groups (including the Tea Party!) aligned in opposition to the House Bill, MassBike and our partners are concentrating on what’s happening in the Senate. You may remember our post several weeks ago about MAP-21, the senate’s version of the transportation bill. Amendments are still possible in the Senate Bill, including one expected to be filed by Senator Cardin. There may be new amendments by tomorrow or Monday, and we want to have everything on the table before you spend time getting in touch with Senators Brown and Kerry.

We are working hard with our organizational partners to make sure that the votes are there to kill the House Bill and to improve the Senate Bill. (In fact, Executive Director David Watson is at a Rails to Trails Conservancy meeting in Philadelphia right now to coordinate the national campaign.) Because the Massachusetts delegation has consistently supported biking in this process so far, and we are contacting them on your behalf, we aren’t asking you to engage your Representative now. And the situation in the Senate is still very fluid, so we want to be sure that the time is right before we call on you to contact our Senators.

We are expecting to issue an Action Alert by Monday as things become more clear in the Senate, so stay tuned! When we do send out the Alert, we will need you to take action immediately.

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Social Marketing/Transportation Internship

Got this in the mail, looks like a good job.

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Social Marketing/Transportation Internship

City of Cambridge – Community Development Department – Environmental and Transportation Planning Division

Contact: Rosalie Anders, Project Coordinator
Address: 344 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: (617) 349-4604
Fax: (617) 349-4633
Email: [email protected]

Agency Description
The Environmental and Transportation Planning Division has received a grant for a social marketing pilot project that will involve presenting transportation options information specific to individual residents’ travel patterns and needs. This approach, which is based on a model developed in Portland, OR, has been shown to be an effective way to change people’s travel mode choices. The program will test out how well the model can work in an East Coast city.

The division is nationally recognized for its pedestrian and bicycle programs and is responsible for improving the city’s quality of life by working to protect and improve the city’s natural resources and by planning improvements to the city’s transportation system. Environmental planning activities are mainly focused on implementation of the City’s Climate Action Plan. Transportation planning activities emphasize bicycle and pedestrian improvements and other vehicle trip reduction measures.

Intern Responsibilities
The intern will assist with the social marketing pilot project through the following duties:
• Coordinate mailings to the target area
• Respond to inquiries about the pilot project
• Help organize and staff promotional events (including some on weekends)
• Distribute promotional materials (posters, doorhangers, etc) within the target area
• Collate transportation options information specific to each respondent’s needs
• Coordinate with vendor for pick-up and delivery of information packets
• Coordinate with partner agencies to maintain supply of information
• Prepare updates for periodic team meetings and partner meetings
• Assist with preparing summary report at the end of the pilot project
• Assist with grant reporting and application for grant renewal
• Other duties as assigned

Desired Skills and Interests
The intern should have a strong commitment to the project goals, be well organized, able to take responsibility for aspects of the project, and be able to work well with groups. The intern should be outgoing and comfortable speaking with people at events and activities. He or she should be comfortable with word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. Previous related experience is desired. Knowledge and interest in transportation options, specifically in the Cambridge area and familiarity with municipal government operations and procedures would be a plus.

Starting Date: March-April 2010
Ending Date: December 2010; this position is grant funded, and time period may be extended by Department if additional grant funding is approved.
Hours: Average of 22.5 hours per week for remainder of calendar year. Hours are flexible, and will include evenings and weekends.
Compensation: $14/hour

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Pressure BC To Include Bikes In It’s Master Transportation Plan

Got this little guy in the email today. Looks like everyone should go to this and cause some havok let their voices be heard!

The BC Task Force, appointed by Mayor Menino to review BC’s Master
Plan, has recommended more emphasis on alternative transportation and
bike lanes.

There’s a meeting tonight at Brighton Marine Hospital on Warren St at
6.30PM, and another the following Tuesday, same time and place.

Weigh in and make car use reduction and bike lanes a top priority!

From the BCTF Letter:

” Alternative Transportation

Unfortunately, the master plan provides no systematic approach for
alternative modes of transportation. In a time when the environment
is of paramount concern, Boston College has no serious plans for the
use of bikes, for an increase in car pooling or for the expanded use
of public transportation in the next ten years (a careful review of
the master plan reveals that these issues are given cursory attention
and that there are no real plans proposed).

Boston College should be required to provide a detailed plan for the
development of bike lanes to, from, and between its campuses. Boston
College also should be required to subsidize the use of public
transportation by all of its students, faculty, and staff (for
example, MIT subsidizes the cost of a monthly transit pass by 50%).
Finally, Boston College should be required to provide a detailed plan
that would increase car-pooling to campus through the use of
incentives, including a reduction in the cost of on-campus parking.

The Task Force advanced these views in its earlier review of Boston
College’s IMPNF. The Task Force regrets that Boston College failed to
respond to these concerns when revising its plan. At a time of
increasing concern about the environment and rising gasoline prices,
the Task Force finds Boston College’s failure to embrace alternative
means of transportation to its campus both problematic and puzzling.”

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