Madison Peak Oil Group signs letter in support of RTA

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

From the letter sent to members of the Wisconsin Legislature:

April 29, 2009

To the members of the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly:

Regional Transportation Authorities can create jobs and a stronger economy by empowering communities to operate cost-effective, balanced transportation systems . . . .

Many states have RTAs or similar mechanisms that provide governance and financial stability for transit across municipal boundaries. They have used RTAs to vault ahead of Wisconsin in providing business-friendly, green, and convenient transportation choices. Under Wisconsin’s cumbersome and antiquated rules, cities that provide transit must contract with one another and squeeze transit funding out of their general revenues, mainly from property taxes. The resulting unstable, underfunded transit cannot compete for federal construction dollars, and cannot provide sustainable service to its communities.

We support the Governor’s RTA proposal in A.B. 75 to create the Dane County RTA, Fox Cities RTA and Southeast RTA. In addition we support language in A.B. 75 that will permit Wisconsin’s communities not covered in the Governor’s Budget to form RTAs with the authority to levy a sales tax of up to 0.5 percent.

Signed by the following: 1000 Friends of Wisconsin; AARP Wisconsin State Office; American Council of the Blind – Wisconsin Chapter; Bike Federation of Wisconsin; Citizen Action of Wisconsin; Citizens Utility Board; Clean Wisconsin; Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups (CWAG); Dane Alliance for Rational Transportation - DART; Disability Rights Wisconsin; Environmental Law & Policy Center; League of Wisconsin Municipalities; Madison Area Bus Advocates; Madison Peak Oil Group; Midwest Environmental Advocates; One Wisconsin Now; Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce; Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter; Southeastern Wisconsin Coalition for Transit NOW;
Wisconsin Alliance of Cities; Wisconsin Apollo Alliance; Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired; Wisconsin Interfaith Climate & Energy Campaign; Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters; Wisconsin Urban & Rural Transit Association; WISPIRG