Federal 'Livability Principles' Include Transportation, Community Safety

Yesterday, before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, the triumvirate of U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan identified the need to increase transportation choices and safe and walkable neighborhoods while announcing an inter-agency "Partnership for Sustainable Communities."

The partnership is designed to help improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide. Their testimony came a day before Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), the chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, was scheduled to release an outline of the upcoming transportation bill reauthorization.

Expected in the reauthorization, which, according to Beltway insiders, the House Ways and Means Committee is not expected to mark up until at least next week but likely after the July 4 recess, are provisions to extend the five-year, $612-million federal Safe Routes to School plan. The school transportation industry will also be eying any detail given on whether or not the federal fuel tax will be increased from its current 18.3 cents per gallon to pump money into the depleted highway trust fund, or if another alternative like a mileage fee might be added. Then there's anxiety over whether or not transit agencies will be thrown life preserver to get around previously passed charter rules and a school bus provision that limits how and when those municipalities can compete with services provided by private bus companies.

The outline is now expected to be released today at 2 p.m. EDT.