Ep 3: Beth Osborne - Failures of the Federal Transportation Program

Beth Osborne is Director of Transportation for America. In this episode, Beth explains how the federal transportation program has failed to safely connect Americans with access to jobs and opportunities, despite the billions of dollars being poured into it. Since accomplishing its original mission of building the interstate highway system, the program has floundered, with misplaced goals and metrics for success. “Crumbling roads and bridges” has become common refrains for politicians, yet allocated funds often prioritize new projects rather than maintaining new ones. Many cities have outlined “Vision Zero” goals, yet pedestrian deaths have continued to increase in the past decade. In this episode of High Frequency, Beth walks us through the recommendations Transportation for America has developed for the federal transportation program: 1) prioritize maintenance, 2) design for safety over speed, and 3) connect people to jobs and services.

"We need to address safety, particularly for more vulnerable populations. While fatalities for people inside vehicles has gone down a little bit. Fatalities for people outside vehicles is going up at an alarming rate and we need to get to the bottom of that." - Beth Osborne

Disclaimer: Political views raised by guests on the podcast do not reflect the views of TransitCenter.

For more information on Transformation for America, click here. 

To learn about the TransitCenter event that Beth spoke on, click here.

Music: “Comma” - Blue Dot Sessions

Hosted by Kapish Singla

Produced by TransitCenter