We encourage you to engage with your Members of Congress to make sure they are ready to prioritize what your local government and local communities across the country need. We have 5 basic policy requests for Congress:
- Increase the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program because it’s the most flexible transportation program with a regional share and lots of eligible projects.
- Deliver more formula funds directly to regional transportation organizations to help municipalities. Local leaders sit on the boards of these regional organizations, and we can work together to distribute and build what’s needed most with more direct and reliable funding.
- Keep local access to programs for safe streets, rail crossings, local bridges, and innovation. Local governments own 75% of roads and almost 50% of bridges, but only recently did Congress give us access to funding opportunities for these 4 key areas and we need all of them. Rail safety is particularly important since more than 12,000 communities have rail tracks coming through town. Many need to upgrade crossings for safety, but only Congress has authority on rail safety decisions and to make these projects affordable for small communities.
- Streamline the environmental process for smaller projects and rebuilding. We need an expedited, flexible environmental review and permitting process, particularly for smaller-scale transportation projects and projects that are rebuilding in the existing right-of-way.
- Lower the cost of transportation safety and innovation by setting up experimentation and innovation funds for basics like signals, but also to plan for emerging advanced transportation options so American municipalities can continue to build for the future.
Contact: Paul Penna, Director of Government Affairs, ppenna@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x110.