A 2021 roundtable discussion with Vice President Kamala Harris and Professor Vikas Mehta - an invited speaker at the next International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) conference - sheds light on potential policies and their impacts for cities in the USA and beyond
ABOVE: Video of the roundtable discussion with Professor Vikas Mehta (at left) and Vice President Kamala Harris (at right), as well as Senator Sherrod Brown, Chair of the US Senate's Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee (to the left of the vice president); Jill Meyer, President and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber (to the right of Vikas Mehta); and (not shown,) Darryl Haley, Chief Executive Officer & General Manager for the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority/Metro; Eddie Koen, President & CEO of the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio; and Troy Miller, President, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627 (Cincinnati Metro Area). Recorded by WLWT Television. Full file: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeD0T0HKeXw
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The replacement of President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee in the upcoming US presidential election has some wondering about how a new administration might prioritize livable city issues, including public space, walkability and transit. A strong clue comes from a 2021 roundtable discussion with, among others, Urbanism Professor Vikas Mehta at the University of Cincinnati, who is also a scheduled speaker at the upcoming 61st International Making Cities Livable conference in Cortona, Italy, October 29-November 1, 2024.
Former President Trump, the other US major-party candidate in this November's election, has expressed a commitment to upgrade urban infrastructure, and also emphasized traditional architecture in government buildings as a way to promote livability and beauty in urban areas. (In one notable case, following overwhelming bipartisan poll results on citizen preferences, the Trump administration developed an executive order “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” assisted by IMCL participant Justin Shubow and colleagues at the National Civic Art Society.)
Less pleasing to some urban activists, the Trump administration also proposed significant budget cuts to federal transit programs, including efforts to eliminate the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program. The CIG is seen as a central source of funding for major transit projects including new rail lines and bus rapid transit systems. According to Transportation For America, the Trump administration also favored funding for highways and road infrastructure over public transit, reflecting a broader emphasis on automobile-centric infrastructure investments.
The Biden administration, known for its pro-transit policies, secured the largest-ever federal investment in public transit, with over $20.5 billion allocated for transit systems in 2024 alone. According to the website transportation.gov, this funding has supported the expansion, modernization, and maintenance of public transit systems across the country, including upgrading stations, tracks, and other facilities. The Biden administration's approach, according to the site, reflects a broader commitment to climate-friendly transportation options, and improving accessibility and equity in public transit.
Vice President Harris is widely expected to continue those policies. Less clear is how a new Harris administration might prioritize public space and walkability as no less essential components of city livability. A strong indicator was provided in a 2021 roundtable meeting on transit policy in Cincinnati, Ohio, in which Professor Mehta spoke to the evidently receptive vice president. An excerpt:
VIKAS MEHTA: When we think about transit, we think about engineering technologies, logistics – the “hard” infrastructure. But there's another side to it, which is really the “soft” infrastructure of transit. And that goes to the point about livability. There is the element of all of the public space that's right outside our private property, to the transit. And that's really, really critical...
The best part about it is that if we invest in the soft infrastructure, we are automatically investing in our neighborhoods. We're automatically investing in a sense of thinking about this as a complete mobility strategy.
Thinking about the public space immediately in our neighborhoods is a public health need. What is the condition of our sidewalks and streets? We need those to walk, to exercise, to socialize. But they are also part of the transit network. Public transit, in fact, IS public space. And if you think about in today's polarizing society, we need to think about the value of that, the input of that into a place of dialogue.
Now this might seem extremely academic, but it's real. This is where you want to be able to see people who are different from you. People who dress differently, who look different. Because this is critical for a democratic society. And it's critical for a society that is empathetic...
KAMALA HARRIS: Well, this has been a very insightful conversation, and I have taken copious notes!
...The point that you have made, Professor, about public spaces, I think is so important. And I really appreciate the point that you're making also, about thinking of the realities of sidewalks, streetlights, as being part of the transit ecosystem. If that parent, if that mother or father, can't walk that stroller because the sidewalks are uneven or falling apart, and she's got a child in a stroller and a toddler – well, that's going to mean that that will take at least twice as much time for her to get up, get down and hopefully have somebody help her with the stroller to get to the bus stop...
Infrastructure, you know, is a fancy word for just, how do you get to where you need to go! (Laughs.) That's really what it's about. How do you get to where you need to go? Hopefully without struggle, and with some level of ease. Where people need to go to work, their children need to go to school, they need to go to the grocery store, they need to go to the place where they worship, they need to go to a sports game from time to time...
So I appreciate you all for this conversation, and all the work you do. And I plan to highlight it. And of course the president thanks you for the work that you're doing -- it's a great model for what our country will and can do. Thank you.
A segment of the video is embedded above, and the lightly edited transcript of the segment is provided below.
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Transcript of Cincinnati Roundtable with VP Kamala Harris, Vikas Mehta et al.
April 30, 2021
VP Harris: Thank you all. I appreciate you all for doing the work that you do, for your expertise, and for the discussion we're about to have. I hope to be able to get in depth about some of the issues that you all are addressing
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Senator Brown: Professor Mehta teaches urban issues at this great University, the University of Cincinnati. Thank you for the way you weigh in.
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Professor Mehta, you've looked at, probably more than anybody in the room, the big picture and what [transit] does for a community. How does that transform the city's economy, and the city’s -- more importantly really -- its quality of life?
Vikas Mehta: Thank you. Senator Brown, Madam Vice President. This is a great opportunity and we really appreciate that you're bringing the discussion, not about just transportation, but about transit. And I think that's really really critical.
So when we think about transit, we think about engineering technologies, logistics – the “hard” infrastructure. But there's another side to it, which is really the “soft” infrastructure of transit. And that goes to the point about livability. There is the element of all of the public space that's right outside our private property, to the transit. And that's really, really critical.
What is the condition of those sidewalks? What is the condition of the crosswalks? Are those lit? Can a single mother with a stroller and a child in tow get to the transit stop safely? What about somebody who is vision impaired? These things are equally important. I just call it the soft infrastructure of transit, to be able to make this thing work in which we invest billions of dollars.
As an urbanist for me, transit is not just technological. It is social, it is psychological and experiential. And we need to think about the full total experience, both technologically and from a community perspective, from door to door. And from that door to door, one piece of it is the hardwired or hard infrastructure of transit: buses, trains, all of that. But the other part is really the soft infrastructure of community – of the neighborhood we live in. And we cannot separate these things.
The best part about it is that if we invest in the soft infrastructure, we are automatically investing in our neighborhoods. We're automatically investing in a sense of thinking about this as a complete mobility strategy.
So we often think about transit as a product, and transit is not a product. It is a system and it is an ecology, which means that transit is a piece of all the mobility, about, how do we get anything that, Madam Vice President, you talked about, how do we get to anything, whether it's shopping, going to work, getting the child to a soccer game. All of that can be linked into our experience of transit and the urban sort of living.
So integrating transit into the urban development is really, really key to our neighborhoods, and that is different from just thinking about transit itself. This has also become very critical in this time of the pandemic, as you mentioned. Thinking about the public space immediately in our neighborhoods is a public health need. What is the condition of our sidewalks and streets? We need those to walk, to exercise, to socialize. But they are also part of the transit network.
And another context, which is really, really critical to us in the US – and we really appreciate that you're bringing this to the table – we have to modernize our transit. We cannot think about transit as a service, something that we need to provide for the poorest workforce. That is one approach, but it's not going to get us to compete in this world. We have to think about transit that is a public good for everybody. It has to be cool. It has to be sexy. Everybody should want it. It shouldn't be about well, we're serving the poor and the workforce that is outside of the cities to get to it and reduce the time. That is not going to be our strategy.
And we really appreciate the ambitious plan that are coming from the Biden-Harris administration, and we need to capitalize on this. We need to really change our thinking about that and think about it really, really holistically.
My final point, certainly public transit has a huge component and big ramifications for the environment. But I want to touch on a different point. Public transit runs in public space. On our streets above, below. Public transit, in fact, IS public space. And if you think about in today's polarizing society, we need to think about the value of that, the input of that into a place of dialogue.
Now this might seem extremely academic, but it's real. This is where you want to be able to see people who are different from you. People who dress differently, who look different. Because this is critical for a democratic society. And it's critical for a society that is empathetic.
Senator Brown: Well said.
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VP Harris: Well, this has been a very insightful conversation, and I have taken copious notes! I think that what this conversation has revealed are the many dimensions, and therefore the many people in the various capacities of their lives, how they are impacted by public transportation… And what this can do an investment in public transit.
That is about job creation, building up the economy, building up productivity building on the cultural institutions of a community, which always have an impact on the well-being and the quality of life of any community. Access to arts, access to sports, access to those things, and hopefully that are public spaces, Professor, that create a quality of life, that every person should be entitled to receive.
The point that you have made, Professor, about public spaces, I think is so important. And I really appreciate the point that you're making also, about thinking of the realities of sidewalks, streetlights, as being part of the transit ecosystem. If that parent, if that mother or father, can't walk that stroller because the sidewalks are uneven or falling apart, and she's got a child in a stroller and a toddler – well, that's going to mean that that will take at least twice as much time for her to get up, get down and hopefully have somebody help her with the stroller to get to the bus stop. Lights! And what that means in terms of the safety for both the workers, and the folks who use the system.
So I think this is this has been an incredible group to really highlight all of the facets and all of the relevancy of an investment in public transportation, which again – infrastructure, and the chairman and I've talked about this – infrastructure, you know, is a fancy word for just, how do you get to where you need to go? (Laughs.)
That's really what it's about. How do you get to where you need to go? Hopefully without struggle, and with some level of ease. Where people need to go to work, their children need to go to school, they need to go to the grocery store, they need to go to the place where they worship, they need to go to a sports game from time to time.
So I appreciate you all for this conversation, and all the work you do. And I plan to highlight it. And of course the president thanks you for the work that you're doing -- it's a great model for what our country will and can do. Thank you.
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The 61st International Making Cities Livable conference, on "The Ecology of Place: Learning from Nature, Culture and History," will be held in beautiful Cortona, Italy, October 29 to November 1, 2024. For more information: https://www.imcl.online/2024-cortona
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