Rising Together is SPUR’s coordinated policy and advocacy response to the COVID-19 pandemic, its economic fallout and the systemic racial inequities it has highlighted.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents a profound threat to the future of transit. It’s hard to speculate how the future will play out when the world today looks so different from the one we inhabited just two months ago. But one thing is certain: We will still need transit.
During the last recession, homebuilding ground to a halt. We can’t let the same thing happen this time. What can be done to keep the pipeline of new housing open through this crisis and recovery? SPUR and the Terner Center offer four principles to help guide new housing construction and facilitate economic recovery.
SPUR has released Keeping the Doors Open, a set of 10 recommendations for cities to implement as they work to assist ground floor businesses in reopening while shelter-in-place orders remain in effect. We recommend three principles to keep in mind: move quickly and remain flexible, focus on neighborhoods, and center equity in the allocation of resources and staff time.
Only a couple of weeks into shelter-in-place orders, COVID-19's impact on the economy is crashing down on us. To keep food flowing and avoid historic levels of hunger, SPUR recommends 14 steps that policymakers at the local, state and federal level can, and should, take immediately.
Congress is considering an almost two trillion dollar relief package to help those impacted by COVID-19 and jumpstart the economy. As part of this stimulus package, the Trump Administration is considering a multi-billion dollar bailout for Big Oil and Big Coal. Instead, Congress should use this stimulus to lay the foundations for shared economic prosperity founded in a clean and restorative economy.
The COVID-19 pandemic is teaching us something extraordinarily important: We are part of a collective whole and our individual actions determine the health of that whole. This is an opportunity to develop our understanding of our interdependence and exercise our collective action muscle. To do this effectively, there are practices we can put in place right now, even before we begin post-pandemic rebuilding.
SPUR sent letters to Senator Feinstein, Senator Harris, and Congresswoman Pelosi, urging Congress to account for the revenue impacts to transit in rescue packages as part of the novel coronavirus response. We further urge Congress to distribute funding using a formula-based approach that accounts for losses faced by all transit operators throughout the country.
Thanks to COVID-19, life in the Bay Area is very different than it was only a week ago. Our cities have a lot to learn from the current situation, and a lot to teach as well. The following are some lessons that we at SPUR are taking from the pandemic, which we hope will help guide future thinking and policymaking.
COVID-19 Does Not Have to Be the Death of Transit
Four Tools for Stimulating Economic Recovery Through New Homebuilding
How Cities Can Support Ground Floor Business Survival