PUMP endorsed the Regional Transportation Alliance (RTA) of Southwestern Pennsylvania‘s Seven Principles for a Better Transportation Future through a letter of support that stressed the need for the RTA to include equity as a central value when working to improve transportation, which they hope to achieve through improved policies and funding and finding new tools for making transportation better.
PUMP constituents helped to develop the Seven Principles by providing input via a transportation survey we sent to our constituents in December 2015. Over the course of two weeks, we received hundreds of responses from young people in the Pittsburgh region sharing their perspectives on transportation assets, deficiencies, and opportunities. We shared this feedback with the RTA, providing them crucial community input that they used to help create the Seven Principles.
The Seven Principles align with our Advocacy + Public Policy Agenda, and our letter of support for the Seven Principles emphasizes the importance of equity in transportation and compels the RTA to ensure equity is central to their vision.
Read the full letter below:
September 8, 2017
To Whom It May Concern,
PUMP wishes to confirm our endorsement of the Seven Principles for a Better Transportation Future, put forth by the Regional Transportation Alliance of SWPA in the May 2017 report, Imagine Transportation 2.0, as stated:
Principle 1: Optimize our existing assets
Principle 2: Prioritize connections to jobs and education
Principle 3: Embrace new operating models
Principle 4: Make flexible, future-proof investments
Principle 5: Adopt best management practices
Principle 6: Support multiple mobility options
Principle 7: Operate as an integrated system
PUMP supports ongoing efforts to ensure that the greater Pittsburgh region is a place where all businesses and all residents enjoy the necessary transportation infrastructure to support sustainable prosperity and a high quality of life, today and in the future. We believe that improving connectivity and mobility is critical to the 10-county region’s future attractiveness, competitiveness, and livability, and that there is a need to think differently and to work together on mobility issues that will benefit all residents and communities in the region.
Importantly, equity is a core value at PUMP and frames much of our ongoing advocacy and program work to ensure that our region is a home for all. As such, we believe that equity must be a guiding value in the implementation of all regional transportation efforts and these Seven Principles. Recently, the PUMP Board of Directors approved an advocacy and public policy agenda which states:
PUMP supports a vibrant, diverse, and connected region through world-class and multi-modal transportation infrastructure that supports and fosters community and regional connectivity.
Going forward, we strongly encourage the Regional Transportation Alliance of SWPA to also include equity as a guiding value so that all individuals who call the region home may benefit from improved and expanded transportation infrastructure. In conclusion, we endorse the Seven Principles for a Transportation Future as a shared platform for guiding future planning and investment to achieve access to opportunity and better mobility for all in our region. We look forward to working with the Alliance to advance these Principles.
Sincerely,
Brian Magee
Chief Executive Officer