Making Transportation Work for Us
Credit (Left to Right): Active Transportation Alliance, Aaron Ontiveras for NRDC, Adam Coppola Photography, Electrification Coalition
Redefining Transportation
Transportation is the largest source of US climate pollution, and 80 percent of that pollution comes from cars and trucks on our roads. Plus, the hours we waste in traffic and the expense of owning and driving a vehicle keep going up. Most Americans have no other choice but to drive a car, and those costs keep rising. In fact, transportation is second only to housing costs as the biggest share of monthly expenses for the typical American family.
The Clean RIDES Network is working towards a future where everyone can access clean, affordable transportation options. Safer streets and cleaner cars, reliable buses and trains, more spaces to walk and bike—we need ways to move that save people money and time, build more vibrant communities, and reduce air pollution.
Credit: iStock/peeterv
The Way Forward
Credit: Flickr/Green Lane Project
The Clean RIDES Network is focusing on state-level change because states determine how most transportation dollars are spent. How state leaders spend our money today will determine how we get around for decades to come.
It’s time to prioritize people when we’re investing in transportation: our time, our communities, our wallets, our health. It’s time to replace gridlock with transportation options that make getting where we’re going easier for everyone.
Strong state and local policies—and powerful coalitions—are essential to building clean transportation systems that truly serve our communities.
The Clean RIDES Network is up and running in seven states—California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania—where we see a path to building modern transportation systems. Our successes in these initial states will create the blueprint to improve transportation across the country.
The Impact:
Cost Savings, Clean Air, and Connected Communities
In the last five years, states across the country have been making their transportation systems work better for people—investing in public transit, creating safe places to bike and walk, increasing access to affordable, clean cars, and developing vibrant, connected communities. These investments have been paired with important reforms to prioritize transparency, fiscal responsibility, and pollution reduction in transportation projects.
We need to secure this progress, especially because powerful opponents want to take us backward. That’s why we are redefining transportation as more than building roads. We are working with states to strengthen the whole system. When people have a range of transportation options that are accessible, affordable, and reliable, those changes become durable in ways that can’t be rolled back.
The Clean RIDES Network will maximize the impact of recent transportation wins and:
Increase transportation options, which could save the average American household $1,678 per year
Save every driver 28 hours of time each year by reducing traffic congestion
Eliminate an additional 2.26 gigatons of transportation emissions by 2050, equivalent to the pollution of nearly 600 coal-fired power plants
About Us
The Clean RIDES Network unites more than 100 leading organizations—spanning climate, transit, housing, public health, business, and labor—working state by state to build sustainable transportation systems that cut costs for families, curb air pollution, and shorten commutes.
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The Clean RIDES Network is anchored by the following organizations:
Clean RIDES in the News
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![Clean RIDES Network logo in black and white]()
States Push to Shift Road Funds to Transit and Bike Projects as Trump Threatens Cuts
California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania joined forces for a national organizing effort dubbed the Clean RIDES Network. The group gained momentum in various statehouses this year on environmentally friendly transportation projects it contends the federal government has abandoned.
From March 2025 AP Wire: ABC News; U.S News & World Report; MSN; Yahoo; Click on Detroit; SFGATE
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![Hana Creger, Greenlining Institute]()
Hana Creger, The Greenlining Institute
These federal transportation funding opportunities are missing an opportunity to target more direct benefits to frontline communities and [community based organizations]. This is largely a result of State DOTs long-standing practice of failing to prioritize equity and effective community engagement in their planning, policies, programs, funding, and decision-making.
From March 2024 The Greenlining Institute Beyond Engagement: Equity Principles -
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Amy Rynell, Active Transportation Alliance
We want to give people more mobility choices that are sustainable.
From January 2025 Bloomberg News
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Chris Van Eyken, TransitCenter
Highways are not, in fact, paying for themselves. If other modes were treated the way highways were, they would continuously see government infusions… We always come to [highways'] rescue — and we don't come to the rescue of public transit or biking or walking.
From February 2024 StreetsBlog USA
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Justin Balik, Evergreen Collaborative
The bottom line is that, for decades, we’ve been working against ourselves on transportation pollution. Even as we have cleaned up individual vehicle engines, we have just kept adding vehicles to the system, slowing down or even swamping out those improvements. Now we have a chance to change course in ways that will both help the climate and repair communities.
From June 2024 Evergreen Collaborative blog
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Rachel Aland, ACEEE
While the current administration has begun attempts to claw back federal transportation investments under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, opportunities remain for state and local action to create a more sustainable and more affordable transportation system.
From Feb 2025 ACEEE blog
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Beth Osborne, Transportation for America
The point is that federal spending and what we get for it is not regulated, nor is there much oversight. There is very little transparency into where funding is allocated and there is rarely a report on whether a project delivered any of the benefits that were promised.
From July 2024 testimony to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee -
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Jeanie Ward-Waller, Fearless Advocacy
In lieu of widening freeways, Caltrans should spend those billions on solutions that will provide long-term improvement to travel. These solutions include expanding rail and bus service, and giving buses priority on roadways so they aren’t stuck in traffic.
From October 2023 San Francisco Chronicle
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Zak Accuardi, Natural Resources Defense Council
So the things we can do immediately – this year, in the next few years – are create better transportation options, invest in public transit, invest in infrastructure that helps people walk and bike more easily.
From July 2024 Yale Climate Connections interview
Credit (clockwise from top left): Move Minnesota, Move Minnesota, Transportation for America, Clean RIDES Network, Move Minnesota, Hana Creger at The Greenlining Institute
Connect with us
Credit: Aaron Ontiveroz for NRDC