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WISPIRG: Diverse coalition endorses RTA proposal
6/2/2009
4/29/2009
Contact:
Bruce Speight, (608) 251-9501
Proposal Important for Economic Growth, Making Wisconsin Healthier, and Building Strong Communities
[Madison, WI] — With the Joint Finance Committee scheduled to take up Governor Doyle’s Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) proposal Thursday, a diverse coalition of business, labor, municipal, environmental, religious, and public interest organizations have come together to urge the legislature, and members of the Joint Finance Committee, to support the RTA proposal in A.B. 75.
“Wisconsin’s economic future and quality of life depend on vibrant transportation networks,” said Bruce Speight of WISPIRG. “RTAs in Wisconsin are essential to transportation networks that will grow our economy and build dynamic and accessible communities, where more Wisconsinites can get where they need to go.”
“The availability of accessible, affordable transportation plays a major role in determining how independent and productive the elderly and people with disabilities can be,” said Lisa Lamkins, Advocacy Director of AARP Wisconsin. “RTAs allow for a more coordinated transportation network with services that complement, rather than duplicate, one another. Ultimately, RTAs can improve transportation and mobility options for people of all ages.”
While public transportation ridership is reaching new records around the country, Wisconsin’s cumbersome and antiquated rules currently make it difficult to provide affordable, reliable, and sustainable public transportation in our communities. Governor Doyle’s budget proposal to create regional transportation authorities would give communities the ability to provide stable funding for transit and to expand local transportation options, such as commuter rail and improved bus systems.
“Without RTAs, Wisconsin can not compete for federal transit dollars to build new projects for the 21st century. Given that public transit and high speed rail are going to be a much bigger part of the upcoming $500 billion six-year transportation bill that Congress takes up this year, that’s a real lost opportunity,” said Ed Huck, Executive Director of Wisconsin Alliance of Cities.
Exciting new projects like the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line, enhanced bus systems across the state, and commuter rail in Dane county would give employers better access to workers and workers better access to jobs. RTAs would enable transportation investments that minimize oil dependence, traffic congestion, environmental pollution and sprawl, while encouraging development of compact, livable communities where driving is an option, not a requirement.
“RTAs are good for workers and the economy," said Satya Rhodes-Conway, who staffs the Wisconsin Apollo Alliance. "A stable source of funding for transit can help retain and create jobs in construction, manufacturing and operations. Better transit systems help workers get to their jobs, and help employers access a broader workforce. In this economy, that's particularly important. Allowing the formation of RTAs is one way to build on the Recovery Act and continue to strengthen Wisconsin's economy."
“Many states have RTAs or similar mechanisms that enable forward-looking public transit across municipal boundaries. The lack of such tools leaves other states ahead of Wisconsin in providing business-friendly, green, and convenient transportation choices,” concluded Speight.
Coalition Letter To Legislators
April 29, 2009
To the members of the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly:
Regional Transportation Authorities can create jobs and a stronger economy by empowering communities to operate cost-effective, balanced transportation systems. Allowing communities to form self-supporting RTAs will:
Grow Wisconsin jobs.
· RTAs spur transit system growth, stimulating both construction and manufacturing industries.
· RTAs provide efficient multi-modal systems that give employers better access to workers, and workers better access to jobs.
· RTAs sustain transit operations that hire locally, keeping dollars at home instead and reducing dependence on oil.
Make Wisconsin healthier.
· RTAs support transit choices that can reduce air emissions, lowering health care costs for asthma and other diseases and keeping communities in compliance with air quality standards to avoid costly pollution sanctions on manufacturing sources.
· RTAs can reduce the demand for parking and other paved areas, whose runoff degrades water quality and triggers costly anti-pollution measures.
· RTAs can cut death and injury rates from transportation crashes, saving lives, reducing health care costs, and avoiding time lost from work.
Build stronger Wisconsin communities.
· RTAs provide a solid financial mechanism that allows Wisconsin to compete for federal transit-construction dollars.
· RTAs can ease costly traffic congestion, insulate communities from fuel price shocks, and foster more efficient land development.
· RTAs support transit options for commuters; regular transit riders can realize thousands of dollars in savings in avoided costs of driving and parking a car, especially when gas prices rise.
· RTAs can organize and modernize our outdated, patchwork transportation system, giving our communities a competitive edge in attracting and retaining business and residents.
Many states have RTAs or similar mechanisms that provide governance and financial stability for transit across municipal boundaries. They have used RTAs to vault ahead of Wisconsin in providing business-friendly, green, and convenient transportation choices. Under Wisconsin’s cumbersome and antiquated rules, cities that provide transit must contract with one another and squeeze transit funding out of their general revenues, mainly from property taxes. The resulting unstable, underfunded transit cannot compete for federal construction dollars, and cannot provide sustainable service to its communities.
We support the Governor’s RTA proposal in A.B. 75 to create the Dane County RTA, Fox Cities RTA and Southeast RTA. In addition we support language in A.B. 75 that will permit Wisconsin’s communities not covered in the Governor’s Budget to form RTAs with the authority to levy a sales tax of up to 0.5 percent.
1000 Friends of Wisconsin
www.1kfriends.org
Hiniker@1kfriends.org
AARP Wisconsin State Office
1-866-448-3611
www.aarp.org/states/wi
wistate@aarp.org
American Council of the Blind – Wisconsin Chapter
ngraves@wi.rr.com
Bike Federation of Wisconsin
414-271-9685
www.bfw.org
Kevin.hardman@bfw.org
Citizen Action of Wisconsin
414-476-4501
www.citizenactionwi.org
jorna.taylor@citizenactionwi.org
Citizens Utility Board
(608) 251-3322
www.wiscub.org
staff@wiscub.org
Clean Wisconsin
(608) 251-7020
www.cleanwisconsin.org
kreopelle@cleanwisconsin.org
Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups (CWAG)
(608) 224-0606
www.cwag.org
cwag@cwag.org
Dane Alliance for Rational Transportation – DART
(608) 251-6126
www.rationaltransportation.org
Disability Rights Wisconsin
608-267-0214
www.disabilityrightswi.org
aliciab@drwi.org
Downtown Madison Inc.
608-255-1008
www.downtownmadison.org
info@downtownmadison.org
Environmental Law & Policy Center
(608) 442-6998
http://elpc.org
elpcinfo@elpc.org
League of Wisconsin Municipalities
(608) 267-2380
www.lwm-info.org
league@lwm-info.org
Madison Area Bus Advocates
www.busadvocates.org
info@busadvocates.org
Madison Peak Oil Group
608.819.0748
edblume@mailbag.com
Midwest Environmental Advocates
(608) 251-5047
www.midwestadvocates.org
advocate@midwestadvocates.org
One Wisconsin Now
(608) 204-0677
OneWisconsinNow.org
own@onewisconsinnow.org
Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce
(262) 634-1931
www.racinechamber.com
ramac@racinechamber.com
Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter
(608) 256-0565
wisconsin.sierraclub.org
shahla.werner@sierraclub.org
Southeastern Wisconsin Coalition for Transit NOW
(262) 246-6151
www.transitnow.org
kthomas@transitnow.org
Wisconsin Alliance of Cities
(608) 257-5882
www.wiscities.org
ed@wiscities.org
Wisconsin Apollo Alliance
(608) 262-5387
satya@cows.org
Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired
1-608-255-1166
www.wcblind.org
info@wcblind.org
Wisconsin Environment
608-251-1918
http://www.wisconsinenvironment.or
info@wisconsinenvironment.org
Wisconsin Interfaith Climate & Energy Campaign
608-222-7339
http://www.wicec.org
info@wicec.org
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters
(608) 661-0845
www.conservationvoters.org
info@conservationvoters.org
Wisconsin Urban & Rural Transit Association
(608) 237-8108
www.wurta.com
wurtainfo@witransportation.com
WISPIRG
(608) 251-9501
http://www.wispirg.org/
bspeight@wispirg.org
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