What is the Communities Over Highways campaign?
America Walks’ Communities Over Highways campaign calls on public officials across the country to pause highway expansions and instead invest transportation funds in projects that put communities and people first. This includes retrofitting dangerous roads and streets to make them safe for people outside cars, more funding for reliable and affordable public transportation, and reconnecting communities divided by highways. The national Communities Over Highways Coalition is over 200 organizations strong.
What’s the connection between Communities Over Highways and Week Without Driving?
For decades, we keep hearing there’s no money for making streets safe, reliable public transit, or even fixing potholes. Meanwhile, states spend billions of tax dollars on highway expansions that divide communities.
The Week Without Driving challenge asks participants (especially public officials) not to drive for one week, to better understand the barriers and challenges that non-drivers face when trying to move safely in their communities.
The Communities Over Highways campaign asks those same public officials to redirect funding to address the barriers and challenges they experienced during their Week Without Driving.
I support the Communities Over Highways campaign, how can I get my public officials to participate in the Week Without Driving?
We have a template letter you can use to invite your public officials to participate in the Week Without Driving. The letter emphasizes how participation in the Week Without Driving leads to a better understanding of the need for redirecting highway funding toward community-serving transportation projects.
Who should you invite? At the state level, your governor, state senators, and representatives are the decision makers when it comes to how transportation dollars are spent. At the federal level, the president and your members of Congress set the budget for national spending on transportation. Use the America Walks Action Center to find who represents you and send them an invitation.
Seeking additional assistance? Reach out to Ruth Rosas (ruth@americawalks.org) or Ben Crowther (ben@americawalks.org) at America Walks.
