TRANSPORTATION REFORM AND MODERNIZATION FOR NORTH CAROLINA (NC TRAM)
With deteriorating infrastructure, fast-growing cities and a dearth of public transportation, North Carolina has tremendous transportation needs that will significantly impact the state budget. For that reason, the Justice Center’s Budget & Tax Center launched a new coalition of social-justice and environmental organizations dedicated to making sure North Carolina’s transportation policies prioritize the needs of working families and the health of the environment.
NC TRAM’s Policy Principles
- Project Prioritization: Resources will always be limited. Projects should be prioritized using established, objective criteria that reflect statewide needs – not, as they too often are today, by political patronage exercised behind closed doors. The prioritization process should be transparent and allow for meaningful public participation.
- Fix It First: The first priority for limited resources should be to protect the investments already made, but North Carolina’s current practices heavily favor new construction. A better approach is to balance maintenance and new construction to ensure that the existing transportation infrastructure is safe and operating at peak efficiency.
- Multi-Modal Alternatives: North Carolina should significantly increase spending to provide accessible and affordable transportation options, including rail, bus, para-transit and bike and pedestrian alternatives.
- Linking Land Use and Transportation: As the state’s transportation needs change, spending should be coordinated with land-use planning to promote long-term congestion relief, transit-oriented and mixed-use development, affordable housing options, access to jobs and services, improved public health, and conservation of air, water and land.
- Funding Fairness: New revenue sources for transportation should be chosen with attention to fairness, equity and sustainability. The state must not raid health, education or human-service budgets to pay for transportation projects, and it should not pursue privatization schemes that would transfer public infrastructure to the private sector.
NC TRAM Members
- NC Justice Center
- AARP North Carolina
- NC Conservation Network
- Southern Environmental Law Center
- El Pueblo
- The Arc of North Carolina
- NC Health Access Coalition
- NC Housing Coalition
- NC PIRG
- Common Sense Foundation
- IDA and Asset Building Collaborative of NC
- Appalachian Voices
- Western North Carolina Alliance
- Environmental Conservation Organization
- Mental Health Association of North Carolina
- Environmental Defense
- Self Help