Stronger Together: Multimodal Funding and Advocacy

Multimodal

Funding &

Advocacy PRO WALK PRO BIKE PRO PLACE

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 10

Stronger Together

Topics

Funding sources for walking

and biking

Targeting voters to win ballot

campaigns

Building coalitions and political

power

Discussion

Why are you here?

Public health – leveraging funding sources

Complete Streets – funding partners; framing

Removing an expressway

Funding projects in small cities

Inform agencies about available funding

Dedicated funding through collaboration

Creative collaborations for funding

Public private partnerships

Funding

sources for

walking,

biking, &

transit

DARREN FLUSCHE

POLICY DIRECTOR

LEAGUE OF AMERICAN

BICYCLISTS

ADVOCACY ADVANCE

Advocacy Advance

Partnership

Themes • Design & infrastructure

• Knowledge gaps

• Political will to design & build for bike/transit

• Bottom Line: Feeling of scarcity

Stronger Together

• Programs (Federal Funding)

• Policies

• Partnerships (Multimodal Ballot Measures)

http://bit.ly/FirstMileLastMile

http://bit.ly/FirstMileLastMile

Programs

Pedestrian Facilities and Transit

Eligible FTA Programs for Pedestrian Access:

» Urbanized Area Formula Grants (5307)

» Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants

("New Starts") (5309)

» Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Grants (5339)

» Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals

with Disabilities (5310)

» Formula Grants for Rural Access (5311)

Bike Access to Transit

Eligible FTA Programs for Bike Lanes:


» Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants

("New Starts") (5309)


» Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals

with Disabilities (5310)


Bike Parking at and on Transit

Eligible FTA Programs for Bike Parking:


» Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants ("New Starts") (5309)



Bikes on Buses

Eligible FTA Programs for Bikes on Buses:




» Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (5310)


Roll-on Accommodations

Eligible FTA Programs for Roll-on Accommodations:




» Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities (5310)


Bikeshare FTA Bikeshare Eligibility

• Yes: bike share docks, equipment, and other infrastructure and amenities capital costs

• No: purchase bicycles, operational costs, system startup costs

Definition: bicycles not = public transportation

Eligible FTA Programs for Bike Share:


» Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Grants

(5339)

» Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and

Individuals with Disabilities (5310)


http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/Informal_

Q_and_As_Final_6-14-12.pdf

http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/Informal_Q_and_As_Final_6-14-12.pdf







Policies

Ladders of Opportunity

• Prioritize transportation equity, social sustainability

• Increase access and opportunity for all users

• Remove barriers (physical & functional)

• Address environmental justice

Pedestrian and Bicycle Catchment Area

“Pedestrian improvements located within one-half mile & bicycle improvements located within three miles of a public transportation stop or station shall have a de facto physical and functional relationship to public transportation”

Benefit/ Cost Calculation

• Old: Disincentive for “superfluous” elements

New: New and Small Starts Evaluation and Rating Process Final Policy Guidance: "Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements – All costs of this line item may be removed from the New Starts cost effectiveness calculation."

Flexibility/Transferring to FTA

“Once transferred to FTA for a public transportation purpose, these ‘flexible’ funds are administered as FTA funds and take on all the eligibility and requirements of the FTA program to which they are transferred”

Pittsburgh, whose bus fleet now has a bike

rack on every bus, flexed FHWA funds to

FTA to pay for the racks.

Lower Local Match in FTA

Partnerships

Demand for Multimodal Options

• 70% of millennials use more than one transportation option to get to a destination a few times a week or more (Source: APTA)

• 71% of older households want to live within walking distance of transit (Source: Reconnecting America)

Credit: Richard Masoner

Credit: noise64

Biking to Transit on the Rise

Bicycle-Transit Integration in the United States, 2001-2009, Journal of Public Transportation 2013

Influencing the Planning Process

Agency Staff

• Understand the flexibility in federal policy

• Focus on integrating ped/bike into current projects

• Identify high-demand, high-risk access locations

• Walk/Bike Audits

• Develop a multi-modal transpo plan

Advocates/Community

• Get to know your transit planning staff

• Engage in planning process early and stay with it

• Identify priorities

• Walk/Bike Audits

• Build public and political support for bike/ped/transit integration

• Get Out the Vote!

Winning Multimodal Ballot Measures

• More pressure on localities to raise revenue for local/regional priorities

• Broad multimodal coalitions, including Bike/Ped, can make the difference

Winning ballot

campaigns

CECE GRANT

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

AMERICANS FOR TRANSIT

We Are

Americans for Transit’s mission is to create, strengthen and unite grassroots transit rider groups.

Build a nation-wide coalition of grassroots transit rider organizations.

Provide on the ground support for local transit campaigns.

Waiting For Superman

SAFETEA-LU passed in 2005

For 10 years, we’ve Been Waiting

For Congress

What We Got was MAP-21

Sad State of Affairs

Loss Dedicated Funding for

Important Programs

No Transit Operating Assistance

No Transit Parity

Stripped Bike/Ped funding

Local Efforts/Local Funding

Pushing Agencies/DOT for Change

Advocates on Planning/ Agency Boards

Local Ballot Initiatives

GETTING THE “W”

Transit and Bike/Ped have won an impressive

string of victories

But we’ve also lost some close contests

Need to more strategically identify and

engage potential transit supporters

Turn out base for GOTV

Current Targeting Techniques

Target Democratic Districts

Walk Urban Precincts

Maybe have a phone list from

last campaign

Pass out Flyers at Farmers

Market & Bus Stops

Cross fingers & hope

Modeling & Microtargeting

• NEW TOOL PROVIDE CAMPAIGNS WITH PROVEN

METHODOLOGIES TO INCREASE VOTER TURNOUT

• DATA DRIVEN TOOLS & TACTICS

• MAKES YOU MORE EFFECTIVE AT IDENTIFYING YOUR

SUPPORTERS

• AND MORE EFFICIENT AT TURNING OUT YOUR BASE

We Ride, We Vote

Create a National Database of

Transit and Bike Supporters

Target and turn out Transit

Voters (Like Soccer moms, Gun

owners)

Can be used for other electoral

campaigns

GQR - National

Phone Survey of

10,000 Households

Primary Mode of

Transportation?

What Would Make You

Willing to Use Transit?

Would You be Willing to

Support Tax Increase, or

Pro-Transit Candidate?

National Transit/Bike Model

Matched survey results

back to Catalist voter

file

Leveraged consumer

and voter variables to

build model

Probability Scored

from 1-100)

Pennsylvania- Riders

Georgia- Supporters

Atlanta- Zip Codes

Keep in Touch

CECE GRANT

[email protected]

WEBSITE: WWW.AMERICANSFORTRANSIT.ORG

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: AMERICANS FOR TRANSIT

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @A4TRANSIT

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.americansfortransit.org/

Building

coalitions &

political

power

BRIGHID O’KEANE

DEPUTY/ADVOCACY

DIRECTOR

ALLIANCE FOR BIKING

& WALKING

ADVOCACY ADVANCE

Pittsburgh: 3 Years as a Model

• $6.3M public funding

• We Bike. We Walk. We Vote. Campaign

• Appointment to SPC board

• Better Bikeways

• Green Lane 2.0

What we know:

Nobody is going to win for sustainable transportation alone.

B Together Coalition

• Prioritizes transit-oriented development (Transform)

• Restores cuts made in bus service (AC Transit)

• Increases funding for fixing potholes (Oakland)

• Provides bus pass for low-income students (Genesis)

• Relieves congestion at key bottlenecks (suburban cities such as Union City, Pleasanton)

• Creates good jobs, union jobs (building trades, ATU)

Why Multimodal Matters

• In California, every vote counts

• More groups involved, more votes

• Coalition activities: – campaign materials – fundraise – prioritizing where money is spent – partnering on outreach

Seattle: Sound Transit 2

As a result: real planning and

dollars

Columbia, SC

If at first you don’t succeed…try, try

again

• Inclusive planning process

• Build alliances

• Innovative funding

• Describe the benefits for everybody

• Agency-advocacy collaboration

• Accountability

• Don’t forget the grassroots

Building United Political Power

• Know who makes the decision

• Show officials what the people want

• Get on the campaign committee

• Again, don’t forget the grassroots

• Get out the vote

• Get a sense of your base

• Candidate surveys and forums

• Personalize the issue

• Be at the table to write polling questions

• C3 vs. C4

• Find inside champion(s)

• Create outside support

• Help staff, build trust

• Start with praise

• Many voices

Accountability… Goal

What do politicians usually most want?

If you don’t do _________ you will feel the impacts and/or not win your next election

Reports and Webinars

• Navigating MAP-21

• Federal transit funding

• State funding sources

• State Transportation Improvement Programs

• Funding innovative facilities

• Ballot measures

• Advocacy campaign plans

• Sep 23: Public-private partnerships

• Oct 21: MAP-21 2.0

• Nov 18: Health funding

• Dec 16: Maintenance funding

“Big Ideas” Grants

• 3 grants

• $10,000 each

• Apply by October 17

• Rapid Response Grants still available

Priority areas:

– Equity

– Safety / Vision Zero

– Health / walkability

– Innovative state and local funding

Contact Us!

Darren Flusche Policy Director League of American Bicyclists [email protected]

Brighid O’Keane Deputy / Advocacy Director Alliance for Biking & Walking [email protected]

Christy Kwan Outreach Coordinator Alliance for Biking & Walking [email protected]

Ken McLeod Legal Specialist League of American Bicyclists [email protected]

www.AdvocacyAdvance.org

Public Allies

Influencers

Decision maker

Presentations & Public Speaking

Stronger Together: Multimodal Funding and Advocacy