October 23, 2023

As a diverse coalition of organizations promoting policies that ensure access, mobility, and opportunity for all, Transportation Equity Caucus and allied organizations urge Congress to fully support the administration’s commitment to equity, safety, and climate goals. We urge Senators to reject any amendments that would reduce, remove, and/or restrict Fiscal Year 2024 funding for equitable transportation policies and investments, as well as their implementation and enforcement. 

Federal transportation policy choices — what we build, where we put it, who builds it, how we operate it, what energy powers it — have an enormous impact on our economy, our climate, and our health. Through Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — in alignment with numerous Executive Orders — the United States government has made a concerted investment in not only strengthening the nation’s transportation infrastructure, but doing so with the intention of recognizing past structural harms to low-income communities and communities of color and equitably reinvesting in those communities with the intent of repairing those harms.

Full implementation of the IIJA and the IRA are imperative to realizing this national commitment to equity.  As Senators consider Fiscal Year 2024 funding for transportation, we urge them to:

• Fully fund the implementation of activities included in the Department of Transportation's Equity Action Plan, as well as those otherwise in alignment with Executive Orders 13985, 14008, 14091, 14096, and others that further racial equity and climate justice.
• Fully enable the Department of Transportation and any other administering federal agency to implement greenhouse gas emissions regulations.
• Fully fund the Thriving Communities Program at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
• Maintain set asides in IIJA and Fiscal Year 2024 funding for historically disadvantaged communities.

This statement was issued jointly by the Transportation Equity Caucus in partnership with the following organizations:

• America Walks
• Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
• League of American Bicyclists 
• LivableStreets Alliance
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• PolicyLink
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
• Safe Routes Partnership
• Transportation for America 

The Transportation Equity Caucus — formed by the nation’s leading civil rights, community development, disability, racial justice, economic justice, faith-based, health, housing, labor, environmental justice, tribal, public interest, women’s groups, and transportation organizations — drives transportation policies that advance racial, economic, and social equity in America.  We work collaboratively to transform the transportation systems in Black, Indigenous, and communities of color (BIPOC), low-income communities, and other marginalized communities through research, advocacy, and communications strategies. 

For more information, please contact: Jessica Pizarek