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Transportation for America urges Vermont to rebalance spending toward people-centered projects
Summary
Benito Perez of Transportation for America told the Senate Transportation committee Vermont should shift investment and oversight to prioritize safety, state of repair and multimodal access, citing federal funding patterns and examples from other states.
Benito Perez, policy director at Transportation for America, told the Vermont Senate Transportation committee that states must decide whether they design transportation systems “for vehicles or for people.” Perez spoke on a range of topics including roadway safety, deferred maintenance, funding shortfalls and state legislative levers for changing project priorities.
Perez said the nation faces a “vulnerable road user safety crisis,” and cited a recent multi-year rise in pedestrian fatalities, noting a roughly 26% increase in pedestrian deaths in recent years. He also cited deferred-maintenance estimates from the American Society of Civil Engineers: about $800 billion in roads and bridges and about $150 billion in transit maintenance, which he said affects reliability for travelers.
Why it matters: Perez framed the issues as intertwined —…
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