Talk:Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act

Page could use a bill summary section rather than just having it in the House section. Seems like there has been a little bit of Senate action as well to update. Perhaps this page also should have a section on the Bridge to Nowhere, as that is a pretty important bit.--John Benton 15:32, 11 July 2007 (EDT)

Locally Developed Coordinated Public Transit - Human Services Transportation Plan
A requirement for local governmental or non-profits seeking FTA funding post SAFETEA-LU is the presence of a plan that identifies the service (or capital acquisition) to be funded by the FTA grant money being sought. The bridge to Nowhere received significant press but was clearly in such a plan. That particular plan identified a promise for economic development with a bridge providing access to an airport. Since 1919, federal transportation funding has been doled out on the premise that the mere presence of a roadway (albeit a maintained roadway) was sufficient to meet the transportation needs of the citizenry located nearby. SAFETEA-LU, thanks to the limited powers of observation of the Bush Administration, far more than its predecessor Transportation Equity Acts (TEAs), ties funding to a locally developed plan that links human services transportation and public transit. This is the big story that nobody is covering. Apparently Michigan's DOT encountered some significant snags in distributing FTA grant money because plans that were not properly crafted. That folks in the average US suburbia in 2001 had the ability to choose from more than 200 different automobiles to satisfy their transportation needs upon US highways, those same folks had fewer than an average of 1 convenient public transit service to use. Those households without vehicles and those folks unable to drive face difficulties that the TEAs are trying to rectify.