Connecting Transportation to the Clean Energy Economy Town hall meeting focuses on the future of America’s transportation system

Environment Colorado

A town hall meeting and panel discussion set for April 15 in Glenwood Springs will give residents the chance to learn about transportation and the clean energy economy, and provide input to help shape the next federal transportation bill.

Every six years, Congress sets the country’s transportation and infrastructure priorities, allocating billions of dollars for projects. The present federal transportation bill expires in 2009, and Congress will be working this year to develop a new bill for the 2010-15 period.

Panelists at the meeting include

·        Richard Baca, regional director for U.S. Rep. John Salazar

·        Dan Blankenship, executive director of the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority and president of the Colorado Association of Transit Agencies

·        James Corless, director of Transportation for America

·        Trési Houpt, Garfield County commissioner and I-70 Coalition board member

·        Marianne Virgili, president and CEO of the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association

Glenwood Springs Mayor Bruce Christensen will serve as the panel moderator.

The event will be held from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, at Glenwood Springs City Hall, 101 W. 8th St.

The event is cosponsored by CLEER – Clean Energy Economy for the Region, Transportation for America, RFTA, the Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative, Colorado Association of Transit Agencies, I-70 Coalition, the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association and the City of Glenwood Springs.

Transportation for America is a coalition of more than 250 organizations working to promote a new national transportation policy that’s smarter, safer, cleaner and provides more choice. Transportation for America is reaching out to rural communities to include their voices in the federal transportation bill reauthorization effort.

The Roaring Fork and Colorado River valley region, with the country’s largest transit ridership in a non-urban area, a transit fleet using 20% blend of biodiesel and hybrid electric buses, extensive biking and walking connections and trails, and a bus rapid transit system in the works, is becoming a national model of how regions can offer multiple choices for mobility.

Everyone is encouraged to attend the town hall meeting to learn more about the next federal transportation bill and to share their vision of what our region and country’s transportation future should look like. Input at the meeting will be recorded and included in a document that will be used as part of the reauthorization effort.

 

Contact: Heather McGregor

(970) 945-4490 / (970) 618-1570

[email protected]