Bridge Collapse underscores poor transit and road funding

Dear Blog Reader,

Those of us working with Transit for Livable Communities are thinking about the transportation system all the time. Can everyone in our community get where they need to go? Can the system handle the upcoming population growth in the next decades? Does transportation make our communities healthier, safer, and more prosperous? The 35W bridge collapse is a dark time for transportation in our state, but it has also been a reminder of how heroic things can happen when we face a crisis together. We believe this crisis is an opportunity to bring Minnesotans together for a long-term, balanced solution for our transportation problems.

The bridge collapse has shaken us, as we assume it did all Minnesotans. It has raised many questions about how so much destruction, disruption, and personal loss could be caused by flaws in a system so many of us take for granted. In the last week, we've talked a lot about how to honor the losses caused by the bridge collapse, and to also move forward with our commitment to a safer, more reliable, more effective transportation system. As our state begins to look to the future, there will be decisions about the redesign of the bridge and the possibility of passing a transportation funding bill this fall. These issues naturally raise questions about balance and whether our responses will be focused on the short term or a long term solution.

We believe we can, as a community, learn from this tragedy. At TLC, we also know we need to recommit to the values on which our organization was founded:

• We must invest in our communities, including transportation, to preserve our economic, environmental, and human health and our quality of life;
• We must commit to maintain the transportation investments we make and to provide reliable service and maintenance for transit, roads, and bridges, even during economic downturns;
• We must provide transportation choices throughout our communities, so that everyone can get where they need to go, and no one part of the system becomes overburdened;
• We must recognize our regional connections and plan for the future health of our transportation system, which will look different than it does today;
• We must focus our priorities on people, not just cars, and the personal impacts of the transportation system - our safety, time with our families, the air we breathe.

Transit for Livable Communities was founded to refocus transportation priorities toward people by helping more people participate in transportation and development decisions. We hope you'll continue to work with us to increase transportation choices, bring balance to the system, and increase transit, bike, and pedestrian investments.

We look forward to working together toward this shared future. Let us know if you want to know more about our work or want to get more involved.

Lea Schuster
Executive Director, Transit for Livable Communities

P.S. We join Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak in encouraging people across the metro to bike, walk, or take transit to destinations in or near the city. While alternatives to driving are crucial to keeping our metropolitan region functioning at any time, the bridge collapse reminds us how they can be particularly important in times of crisis.

Metro Transit: www.metrotransit.org

City of Minneapolis: www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Downtown Minneapolis Transportation Management Organization: www.mplstmo.org