Tell Congress to invest in an efficient, affordable, accessible transportation system

Transportation is fundamental to life in the Southwest. Everyone needs to get to work or to school; to pick up groceries at the store or medicine at the pharmacy; to visit family and friends; or to travel for sightseeing or recreation. Similarly, businesses need effective transportation to ship or receive goods, move employees or equipment, and keep operations running smoothly.
However, our transportation system has serious problems.
  • Transportation is more costly than it needs to be. Transportation is the second-largest expense for a typical family, behind only housing.
  • Many vehicles are inefficient, wasting fuel and money. About 80% of the energy in the fuel tank of a typical combustion vehicle ends up wasted through inefficiencies. 
  • Additionally, burning gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel in vehicle engines is the largest or second-largest source of climate-changing air pollution in Southwestern states – and a leading source of soot and smog pollution that makes people sick.
  • In many areas, a lack of mobility options forces people into car ownership, driving up costs. And many communities are short on affordable housing opportunities, forcing families to move further away from jobs and resources, locking them into long, expensive commutes.
We have solutions to make our transportation system more efficient and effective.

Here at the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), we envision a transportation system that is efficient, affordable, reliable, safe, and pollution-free. We see a future where we all can get where we need to go and obtain the goods and services we need for a high quality of life, without harming our health or our climate. 

To realize that future, we are working to improve the efficiency of all vehicles – especially through electrification. At the same time, we are working to expand access to high quality and affordable mobility options beyond automobiles, including transit, biking, walking, and micromobility. Finally, we are working to increase the supply of housing in locations where people can have easy access to the places they need and want to go, making life less costly while reducing the need to drive. These core transportation efficiency solutions align with the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, a comprehensive path toward moving people and goods in a more efficient, affordable, clean, and sustainable way.

FIND YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVECONTACT BOTH OF YOUR U.S. SENATORS
Congress has an opportunity to act NOW.

In 2021, Congress adopted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL or IIJA), which made important investments in our transportation system, including investments in multimodal transportation and electrification. 

However, that law was scheduled to expire in September 2026. The House drafted a replacement, the Build America 250 Act, but it fell far short of what we need to keep moving toward an efficient, affordable 21st century transportation system and included significant cuts for electrification and transit. With the bill receiving a cold reception in the Senate, Congress instead recently extended the BIL through December – although without important funding for public transit or key electrification programs like the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program (NEVI). That action bought Congress a little more time to work on putting together a new transportation bill.

It’s critical that Congress get this right. The next transportation reauthorization bill must build on the progress started through the BIL. America should be investing more in providing affordable, accessible, efficient, and clean mobility options. Further, Congress should take action to ensure that the U.S. Department of Transportation will faithfully follow the law, rather than illegally withholding funding for programs and projects that they oppose.

OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM CAN’T JUST BE ABOUT ROADS AND PETROLEUM… WE MUST TAKE A FIRM STEP FORWARD INTO THE 21ST CENTURY AND BUILD ON OUR NATIONAL COMMITMENTS TO EFFICIENT ELECTRIFICATION AND MULTIMODAL MOBILITY.

REACH OUT TO YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS!
→→→→ Ask them to ensure that the next Transportation Reauthorization Bill prioritizes investment in electrification and multimodal transportation. The House’s first attempt, the Build America 250 Act, fell short. We must do better.
FIND YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVECONTACT BOTH OF YOUR U.S. SENATORS
Additional background

Investing in solutions will deliver real benefits.

  • Because electric vehicles are more efficient, they can save us money. Transitioning all vehicles to electric power would save consumers almost $3 trillion by 2050, or about $1,000 per family per year.
  • At the same time, moving to a zero-emission vehicle fleet would deliver about $1 trillion in public health benefits across the United States by 2050, including 90,000 fewer premature deaths and more than 10 million fewer sick days.
  • Car ownership is expensive. Public transit is nearly 10 time cheaper than owning a car, and it can serve people that are unable or unwilling to drive. Walking and biking cost even less.
  • A 2021 analysis found that reducing per capita household driving by 10% could save Coloradans $25.3 billion by 2035, primarily from less spending on vehicle costs and parking, and by reducing medical bills from fewer traffic crashes, healthier air, and more physical activity.
  • The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and UC Davis’s Compact Cites Electrified report finds that the U.S. could feasibly reduce public-sector expenditures on urban transport at the city, state, and federal levels by a cumulative $2 trillion through electrification, smart land-use planning, and multimodal transportation. That works out to about $2,000 per year, per person (in urban areas).

For detailed takes on what the next Transportation Reauthorization Bill Should include, see recommendations from:

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