S.A.V.E. has joined many other organizations, agencies and businesses across the United States in signing on to the Surface Transportation Policy Project Charter for a new approach to transportation. More information on STPP can be found at www.transact.org and more information on the charter itself can be found at www.antc.net/charter.

WE ARE individuals, organizations, public officials, government agencies and businesses from across the nation, involved in a wide range of community activities, drawn together by a common purpose to bring transportation into better service of our efforts to improve the lives of all Americans. We foresee a new approach to transportation. WE RECOGNIZE that the reforms of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) gave our states, regions, communities and the public new tools to use transportation investments as a means to achieve broader public objectives. While many states have embraced ISTEA's tenets of community involvement and empowerment of local decision-makers, no state has yet implemented ISTEA to its full potential. Today, American communities continue to struggle under the burden of a transportation paradigm that delivers one-size-fits all highway and road investments, while an intermodal, multi-modal transportation system that can deliver broader community outcomes is within our reach.

WE CALL NOW for the development and implementation of local, state, and national transportation policies that provide real changes in transportation planning and investments that fully embrace the following principles:

Enhanced Public Health, Safety, and Security Our transportation system should provide a secure travel environment, protect all users, use all available methods to reduce deaths and injuries from crashes, promote cleaner air and water quality, provide access to essential destinations, encourage healthy physical activity, and have the capability to maintain operations during emergencies.

Promotion of Social Equity and Livable Communities The transportation system should be socially equitable and strengthen civil rights; enabling all people to gain access to good jobs, education and training, and needed services. Where possible, personal transportation expenses should be minimized in ways that support wealth creation. Integrated with land use planning, transportation should also enhance the quality, livability and character of communities and support revitalization without displacement. The transportation system should allow every American to participate fully in society whether or not they own a car and regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, or income.

Sustained Economic Prosperity The transportation system should provide for the efficient and reliable delivery and distribution of goods and services to all markets, serve employer needs for recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce, and be redundant, resilient, reliable and resistant to service and system disruptions. In addition, transportation investments should support local and regional economic objectives and recognize efficient activity centers as the drivers of economic prosperity and sustainable growth.

Improved Energy Use and Environmental Protection Transportation investments, services and incentives should meet our travel needs, promote economic prosperity and environmental justice, preserve and protect open space, scenic resources and agricultural land, protect and enhance the integrity of natural resource systems and wild places and improve air and water quality. Such efforts can promote resource efficiency and energy conservation, while reducing reliance on foreign oil and offering solutions to climate change.

WE BELIEVE that to achieve the full spirit and intent of these principles, there are fundamental challenges that remain and must be addressed, including:

1. Reform existing governance structures - which after ten years are not working, particularly at the state and regional levels - to ensure that governmental actions respond more directly to the public's desire for increased accountability, better performance and broader choice.

2. Restructure existing incentives to favor system rehabilitation, improved operations and alternative transportation development rather than expansion of new highway capacity.

3. Redirect investment policies to reward commitments to existing neighborhoods and communities (where all Americans now live, work and produce most of nation's economic output) including strategic investments that integrate key transportation and economic assets in these communities such as rail linkages to airports, downtowns and transit and intermodal centers.

4. challenge traditional transportation providers and institutions to modernize their practices, procedures and decision-making to be more responsive to the public and community interests.

SIGNED Safety, Agriculture, Villages and Environment (S.A.V.E.), Inc.