Accelerating mobility is the “way” to go
- October 22, 2020
- Posted by: Joe Milazzo II
- Category: Blog
We are now less than one month away from our 19th annual meeting — which may be our best ever, and certainly will be our shortest.
RTA’s mission is to deliver business leadership to get our region moving faster. We have maintained that mantra since 2002, because it works, and because it is the “way” to go.
The reality is that transportation in America is inherently a challenging process, due to a host of factors.
These include: an inherent mismatch between the terms of approving bodies/elected officials and the length required for delivery of major projects; the number, complexity, inherent conflict, and duration of approval processes; uncertain, insufficient, and volatile funding; the competing interests of stakeholders and the mechanism for elevating and resolving those interests; and more.
The more complex the project, the longer it will take, and the more opportunities there are for things to “go wrong” or derail even the “best” of mobility ideas.
This doesn’t mean that one should not pursue high value, immediate- and long-term benefit projects and initiatives. To the contrary, we have successfully supported major efforts including the acceleration of the 540 outer loop and local option, dedicated funding referenda for enhanced transit.
What it does mean is that we all need to have an honest assessment of the likelihood of success, the duration of the journey to get there, and the size and certainty of the benefits if we reach the finish line for a particular initiative.
If we can make a project go faster, we not only accelerate the benefits, we also reduce risk — and that can mean the difference between having a great project versus having any project at all.
Thank you for your support, and “let’s get moving”,
Joe
Joe Milazzo II, PE
RTA Executive Director
RTA is the voice of the regional business community on transportation
