On February 17, the New York State Transportation Equity Alliance (NYSTEA) will hold a transportation equity town hall in Rochester, in advance of House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica and Rep. Tom Reed’s transportation bill “field hearing” the following day. Since details surrounding Chairman Mica’s “field hearings” have been opaque and not readily available, NYSTEA will give New Yorkers an opportunity to voice their transportation concerns, which will be collected at the town hall and delivered to Mica and Reed’s offices.

After repeated calls to Congressman Reed’s office, staff confirmed that the transportation bill “field hearing” will be held at Rochester Airport from 3-5pm on Friday, February 18th.  James Smith, Congressman Reed’s staffer, said the format of the “field hearing” will be a roundtable discussion with Congressmen Mica and Reed.  Who will be seated around the table?  He could not provide any specifics.  He did, however make clear, that this roundtable discussion is not about specific projects but “ways to improve efficiency” and welcomed groups to send specific proposals to Congressman Reed’s office directly.

Our Thursday town hall will cover state and federal issues and policy opportunities including: President Obama’s recently announced transportation proposal for 2012; state legislation initiatives such as Complete Streets and the recently passed smart growth infrastructure bill; and the impacts of the financial crisis on Rochester’s transportation system.

The event is co-hosted by Reconnect Rochester and Empire State Future, and will be held at the Rochester Central Library, Kate Gleason Auditorium, 115 South Avenue from 6-8pm.  Light refreshments will be served.  Please help to distribute this information using this flyer.  For more information and to RSVP, please contact Ya-Ting Liu at yating@tstc.org, 212-268-7474.  Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a steering committee member of NYSTEA.