Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast
All About Transportation
Representative Mollie S. Burke
mburke@leg.state.vt.us
Overview
Transportation issues from recent sessions of the General Assembly, along with general transportation issues, current and future, related to safety, funding, and emissions as they impact local, state, and federal governments.
Introduction
Mollie Burke was elected to the legislature in 2008 to represent Brattleboro (District 2). One impulse for her candidacy was to address climate change, about which she was concerned for long time, particularly as related to automobile emissions, sprawl, and livable communities.The impact of increased traffic is noticeable
Also as a visual artist, before coming to the legislature she organized several public exhibits on the issue of transportation and emissions reduction. One was titled: “End of the Romance: Cutting Dependence on our Automobiles.” The call to entries for this exhibit asked people to come up with visual images of things that ordinary citizens could do to cut transportation emissions. [1] The exhibit tried to highlight how we might cut dependence on the automobile which has become for us a “symbol of freedom.”
When elected to the legislature Mollie asked for an appointment on the Transportation Committee.
I. Transportation legislation from recent sessions of the General Assembly
A theme that running through this discussion is that nothing gets done by only one person in the legislature and local advocacy is needed to get legislation passed, a good example being the Bike-Ped community On the other hand leaders are needed. and Mollie Burke was the lead sponsor of several pieces of successful legislation is the area of transportation:
A. Safe Passing Law 2010 – Act 114 of 2010 – provided for increased clearance when a motor vehicle passes a “vulnerable user,” a term including bicyclists and a no harassment provision. It is an example of a law serving an educational purpose.
B. Complete Streets Act of 2011 – Act 34 of 2011 – This law, which was passed with advocacy help from AARP, provided that new transportation projects consider “ the needs of all users of Vermont’s transportation system.”
C. Anti-Idling legislation 2013 – Act 57 of 2013 – prohibiting idling of more than 5 minutes – The Chair of the Transportation Committee [Patrick Brennan (R) of Colchester] went to bat for this provision in the spirit of cooperation in the Assembly.
D. Migrant Worker privilege card 2013 – Act 74 of 2013 [incorporates H. 289, sponsored by Mollie Burke] [provides that a “citizen of a foreign country unable to establish legal presence in the United States who furnishes reliable proof of Vermont residence . . . shall be eligible to obtain an operator’s privilege card ….”]
E. A bill to authorize municipalities to set speed limits – H. 726 – Introduced by Mollie Burke on Jan. 28, 2014 – Advocating for towns to set their own speed limits without a traffic and engineering study. Purpose is to increase livability in Vermont communities by enhancing the safety and accessibility of streets in downtowns and village centers. Mollie will be re-submitting this bill in the 2015-16 biennium and working with the support and promotion of AARP.
II. General Transportation issues
A. Federal funding – The Highway Trust Fund will be insolvent by July. There has beenN0 raise in gas tax since 1993; it remains 18.4 ¢ per gallon. Voting to increase the gas tax can result in not being re-elected.
B. Declining State gasoline tax revenues – The greater the fuel efficiency of vehicles, the less tax revenue. The gasoline tax was raised last session [Act 12 of 2013]. [2] There has been discussion of a motor vehicle user fee based on miles driven rather than gas used. The issue is how to incentivize efficient vehicles while still having funds to repair infrastructure.
C. Federal re-authorization. MAP-21 does not provide sufficient revenue for Vermont’s long-term transportation needs. Approximately 50 % federal, 50% state for Transportation Fund.
D. Estimated annual cost to maintain, operate, and administer Vermont’s transportation system from 2014-2018 is $700 million. This means a $240m gap between revenues and needs in order to leave roads and bridges in a state of good repair for. No new capacity, or investment in rail. Link to the Vermont Transportation Funding Options Final Report – January 8, 2013: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/reports/2013ExternalReports/292520.pdf
III. Local Transportation issues
A. Western Avenue paving – State is putting the contract together. BPW has a design plan and contract ready to go. As soon as the contract is signed BPW will put the project out to bid. Work should be completed by the end of the summer. At $200,000, this is a “band-aid” fix. The process of getting this approved, however, illustrates that the Agency of Transportation is not a faceless bureaucracy, but an agency of thoughtful people, not political appointees.
B. Study/ Plan for Western Ave. between Academy and Greenleaf St. $40,000 total cost. $10,000 already spent, $30,000 to be spent in FY 2015
C. Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety in general – see next point
D. Safe Streets Project- following the rash of pedestrian fatalities and bicycle accidents on state roads over the past few years, the Town has been working with Local Motion in Burlington thanks to a grant from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program for crosswalk painting, armbands, etc.
Following that the town received a Department of Health grant to examine issues and strategies related to safety for walking and biking in Brattleboro. This will complement the work of Local Motion. The Health Department grant of $7,700 will include an assessment/review of initiatives to date related to safety. Then there will be an identification of strategies that have proven useful for safety, particularly in small towns; then the development of a prioritization matrix. Finally the co-ordinator from Local Motion will start to think about how to apply this information.
E. Town receives Town Highway Aid along with Structures and Roadway grants at a 80:20ratio.
IV. The Future: Challenges
A. Funding
B. Safety
C. Changing the culture for bike/ped/public transit/rail
D. Climate change – cutting transportation emissions 47% of Vermont‘s greenhouse gas emissions come from the Transportation sector. Electric vehicles, infrastructure, etc.
V. Role of the public
VTrans’ major change in emphasis since the Shumlin administration is recognition of multimodal transportation. The role of the public is that of customers. Coordinated advocacy works, as long a funding is available, things get done eventually.
Brief References from Question & Answer section (for more detail, please refer to the BCTV Video Link above):
- Asphalt Nation by Jane Holtz Kay
- Matt Mann is the Transportation Planner and State/Town conduit at the Windham Regional Commission
- track improvements will result in improved rail service in Vermont
- Call 800-872-7245 for Amtrak – http://www.connectingcommuters.org/trains-ferries/
Use the Discount Link for Amtrak VT travel: Travel within Vermont for Just $12 - Call 800-685-RIDE (7433) for bus schedule info or call 2-1-1 (for bus or train) http://www.connectingcommuters.org/bus-info/
- e2 transport on PBS – http://www.pbs.org/e2/transport.html – Available at the Brooks Memorial Library: DVD 363.73 E
[1] cf: Richard Henke, “An artistic call to action ‘Endangered Season’ imagines impact of climate change on Vermont winters”, The Commons, Dec. 25, 2013 http://www.commonsnews.org/site/site05/story.php?articleno=9046&page=1#.U7YTp5RdV8E
Poster Contest: Call for Entries, Jan. 21, 2006 iBrattleboro.com – https://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php/20060121170509654/print
[2] Ryan Holeywell, “How Vermont Raised Its Gas Tax,” Governing, May 17, 2013,http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-how-vermont-raised-its-gas-tax.html
