The event is scheduled for tonight, Thursday, November 19 at 6:00 PM.  It will be held at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. This forum is free and open to the public. If you plan to attend please register here.

Pennsylvania’s metro areas were rated well by the report. Every metro area centered in the state has a pedestrian danger index below the national average.  However, with only 2.1% of Pennsylvania’s federal transportation dollars being spent on pedestrian projects, there is still room for improvement.

While walking conditions remain perilous across the country, many communities are working to make their streets safe and welcoming for people on foot or bicycle. Communities across the country are beginning to reverse the dangerous legacy of 50 years of anti-pedestrian policies by retrofitting or building new roads as “complete streets” that are safer for walking and bicycling as well as motorists.

“As Congress prepares to rewrite the nation’s transportation law, this report is yet another wake-up call showing why it is so urgent to update our policies and spending priorities,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America.

The Transportation for Pennsylvania coalition, led by 10,000 Friends, encourages members of Congress to support pedestrian safety through more walkable, bikable, transit-oriented communities as they deliberate the new federal transportation bill.

Conference sponsors organized the meeting to begin a conversation about a multi-state rail vision amongst statewide transportation advocacy groups and state Departments of Transportation from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and New York.  Also in attendance were Anne Stubs, the Executive Director of the Northeast Governor’s Conference and Kevin Brubaker, Deputy Director from the Environmental Law Institute along with  congressional staff, and organized labor.

The summit, called Rebuilding the Corridors of Prosperity: High Speed Rail and Transportation Investment in the Northeast and Midwest, highlighted the  importance of existing cooperative agreements forged by Northeast and Midwest states as examples of the types of interstate partnerships that could be modeled in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Congressman Oberstar smiles while speaking to summit attendees

Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, addressed attendees about the future of federal rail policy and the importance of cooperating across state lines to develop a modern transportation network.

“We need to match the political will of our competitors.  America can’t afford to stand idle while the Spanish, French and Chinese are planning to add thousands of miles of high speed rail. We are not a third-world country and shouldn’t act like one when it comes to investing in infrastructure,” Congressman Oberstar noted.

Judy Schwank, President of 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania described why this effort is important for Pennsylvania.  “Pennsylvania has the important and strategic distinction of straddling two mega-regions, the Northeast and the Great Lakes. Linking to these markets is a critical component for the state’s economic prosperity. Investment in rail systems, both passenger and freight, has been and will be important to the cities and towns of Pennsylvania. As we determine the next federal transportation authorization we need to ensure that investments support communities and integrate with existing networks.”

Karen Rae, Deputy Administrator of the Federal Rail Administration, and Roy Kienitz, Under Secretary for Policy at the US Department of Transportation, talked about the role of rail to create more transportation alternatives across the country.

“There needs to be an intersection between rail planning and activities occurring on the ground.  Having city to city connections will drive ridership,” Karen Rae added.  She emphasized that creating an integrated high speed rail system is a challenging project; however, a step by step approach is needed to build the will and momentum to make it a reality.

Participants also heard from policy experts Petra Todorovich of America 2050 and Will Schroeer of Smart Growth America who presented their research into the transportation trends emerging in the United States and lessons learned from the infrastructure developments in other nations.

To continue the momentum of the event, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania plans to identify and convene key leaders in critical transportation corridors within Pennsylvania that connect the Great Lakes and the Northeast.  The organization will continue to educate and build awareness and support for advancing a federal transportation reauthorization that links regions and builds better communities.

The key for 2010 will be generating enough public and media interest so that the question that has surfaced again and again during this year’s gubernatorial race in Virginia–”What is your plan for the state’s transportation system?”–can be put into play here in Pennsylvania. Were transportation to become an issue here in 2010, a number of more Pennsylvania-specific questions for the candidates would naturally follow: What is your vision for how Pennsylvania can work with USDOT to implement an integrated rail system in the Commonwealth? (Note: PennDOT’s state rail plan will be completed by early 2010.) Will you continue the important work of the “Smart Transportation” initiative started by PennDOT Secretary Biehler? How can Pennsylvania promote transit-oriented development as an economic driver in older core communities?

At Transportation For Pennsylvania, we are working to develop a game plan to ensure that all the candidates are discussing transportation issues in their campaigns. We believe that this discussion will lead to an increased awareness among the public about the complicated issues facing our transportation systems.

“The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has taken an important action to create jobs and spur economic growth in Pennsylvania with their purchase of 40 additional Hybrid Buses for the region today.  This purchase, made possible by funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), will go a long way to create and save jobs, modernize our transportation system, promote long-term economic growth, cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and reduce commute times and congestion and create more livable communities.”

“This purchase is an indication of SEPTA’s forward thinking, strategic approach to the economic recovery over the last year.  Throughout the effort to restore our economy, SEPTA has taken swift and shrewd action in selecting ARRA projects and demonstrated a commitment to maximizing the impact of the ARRA dollars at every stage of the process.”

“When the debate was still raging about whether there would be a stimulus bill, SEPTA made a proactive decision to prioritize and pre-design & engineer projects so the best and most pressing projects for the region would be ‘shovel ready’.”

“Once the dollars were allocated, SEPTA selected projects which invest in communities such as Lansdowne, Croydon, Darby, and other ‘first suburbs’ communities where station improvements and new technology will help catalyze new private investments.  The same is true for improvements in Philadelphia on the Broad Street line at the Girard and Spring Garden Streets.  Along the Chestnut Hill West branch commuter rail line, station repair investments are preserving part of Philadelphia’s rich architectural heritage.”

“SEPTA investments in our Southeastern communities are not just ‘a quick fix’ but a sound strategy for building a more sustainable future with both immediate results and long-term dividends.”

Facts about Transportation investments in the Stimulus:

• Of every type of transportation investment, those made in public transportation offer the best potential to meet the revitalization, recovery and sustainability goals articulated by the ARRA.

• Investments in public transportation are shown to create 31% more jobs than new construction of roads and bridges

• Investments made in communities with significant unemployment rates, like many of our older dense communities in the Southeast region, can produce up to 2.5 more jobs than investments in communities with low unemployment.

• Investments that improve accessibility to regional cores like Philadelphia can increase positive economic returns by a factor of 100.

(Statistics from University of Utah’s Metropolitan Research Center)

Together with the applications submitted in August, this shows unprecedented recognition by Pennsylvania and the Obama Administration that we need to link our metropolitan areas, lay the groundwork for a world-class rail network, and provide Pennsylvanians with travel choices that also spur innovative economic development in city centers.

PennDOT had previously announced that its Track 2 application would include the following projects: construction of improvements on the Keystone Corridor between Harrisburg and Philadelphia; train service between Scranton and Hoboken, N.J.; and a mag-lev train running from Pittsburgh International Airport to downtown Pittsburgh.

We applaud Secretary Biehler for taking steps necessary to capitalize on the unique opportunity offered by the ARRA to jump-start development of fast, convenient, and affordable travel within our state.

World-class transportation is about more than just high-speed trains and tracks. This is about people getting around quickly and easily. That means creating prosperous cities around stations that connect with other downtowns and where citizens can use good metro public transportation when they get off the train. The payoff is not just faster, more-convenient intercity travel, but also healthier, more vibrant cities for everyone.

The Obama Administration expects to announce awards of HSR grants later this fall. Win or lose, this application is just the beginning of a long-term process of state-federal cooperation to reshape the transportation landscape in Pennsylvania. ARRA funding is an important down payment on an HSR system. But much more work remains to be done in the coming years.

Completing a state-of-the-art system will require state officials to continue to promote HSR in our state, provide HSR funding in the state’s transportation budget, push for HSR funding in the federal surface transportation act, and work closely with stakeholders outside of government.  We urge state officials to continue to provide such leadership.

This application is the next step in what must become a lasting partnership between the federal government, state officials, and the citizens they represent. We applaud the work put in by both US DOT and PennDOT, and we look forward to working with Governor Rendell and Secretary Biehler to ensure that Pennsylvania is a leader in the development of a state-of-the-art, 21st century transportation system.

However, the issue remains.  Despite major investments by PennDOT for bridge repair and replacement, Pennsylvania still leads the nation in the number of structurally deficient bridges with nearly 6,000 statewide.

Now, new information published by the Philadelphia Inquirer reminds us that the bridge problem is about more than just roads.  Nearly half of Amtrak’s 302 bridges in Southeastern Pennsylvania have elements that have been rated “poor.”  While repairs on the bridges continue to be made, there is no long-term plan for sustaining this infrastructure that is vital to the state’s rail plans.  Some of the bridges are over 100 years old, and many more are nearing the end of their intended lifespan.

As Pennsylvania makes plans to expand our transportation infrastructure, we should also ensure that our existing systems are kept in good repair.

For those what was going on in a parking space in your town last Friday, the answer is simple: Friday was PARK(ing) Day!  PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens independently but simultaneously temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks.

According to the PARK(ing) Day community map, there were PARK(ing) Day installations in five communities across Pennsylvania, including several organized by T4PA members.  Check out the video above for a look at the Harrisburg PARK(ing) space organized by 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania.

As usual, T4PA partner RenewLV has a great analysis of the Lehigh Valley stop.