Transportation for America urges Vermont to rebalance spending toward people-centered projects

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 — safety, climate, equity and land-use decisions — and urged legislators to use oversight powers to set measurable goals for state departments of transportation. “Budgets are moral documents,” he said, quoting Tom Perez, and he argued that current federal funding priorities reflect a preference for highways over transit and active transportation.

Perez laid out three principles he uses to evaluate transportation systems — safety over speed, state of repair, and investing in the remainder of the system — and recommended several legislative approaches some other states have taken. Examples Perez cited included Washington’s Move Ahead Washington package (which he said requires Complete Streets elements on projects above a $500,000 threshold and imposes a strict waiver process), Maryland’s Transit Safety and Investment Act (mandatory baseline operations and maintenance funding for transit), Massachusetts’ MBTA Communities Act (land-use changes to support transit investments), California’s 2017 Road Repair and Accountability Act (SB 1, with targeted performance metrics), and Virginia’s Smart Scale project-prioritization process.

Perez urged Vermont lawmakers to consider a “maintenance-first” approach, to set measurable targets or baseline funding for transit and maintenance, to refine project prioritization to reflect stated values, and to strengthen community engagement practices so projects are shaped by local needs rather than presented as near-final plans. He recommended assessing state DOT capacity across people, process, policy and technology as part of any reform.

Committee exchange: Senator Sarah DeBlanc (Senator DeBlanc) praised the presentation and asked about Complete Streets requirements and waiver processes. Perez said Washington and Massachusetts use stricter waiver rules — in Massachusetts, he said, a waiver request goes to the transportation secretary rather than a district engineer — and recommended similar legislative language if Vermont chooses to tighten requirements.

Perez also urged legislators to engage with their congressional delegation ahead of the next federal surface transportation reauthorization, to ensure state priorities are reflected in federal funding rules and discretionary programs.

Ending: Perez concluded by pointing legislators to Transportation for America resources, including a design report, a community connectors portal, and an alternative gas-tax framework meant to guide states toward stable, equitable revenue options. The presentation moved to a Q&A with committee members following his remarks.