Transportation Bill Inches Forward

Oberstar has said he would not extend the current program but instead gained support for a sweeping $500 billion six-year authorization bill adopted by a House subcommittee last month. However, the House panel charged with finding the funds to pay for the ambitious new surface transportation program has indicated that health care reform will be the next issue it tackles as the September 30 deadline draws closer. Both the Obama Administration and members of the House Ways and Means Committee have indicated they oppose any increased taxes to fund transportation at this time. 

Instead, the Administration has proposed an 18-month extension of the current program and a fix for the estimated $20 billion shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund, which is funded by federal gas tax revenues. In the past few years, gas tax revenues have not kept pace with the federal commitments to highway, transit and bridge programs. The Oberstar authorization package would nearly double the current transportation program.   

As part of a short-term extension of the program, the Administration also proposes minor changes in the current program to help states and local governments build capacity for collection and analysis of data on transportation goals such as usage or ridership, accidents and fatalities, travel times and environmental impacts. A proposed voluntary program would provide participating metropolitan planning organizations or states the opportunity to integrate analysis into investment decisions and prepare for improved accountability standards and merit criteria in the long-term reauthorization.

The plan also includes stronger requirements for tracking and reporting on projected and actual outcomes of federally-supported transportation projects. Proposed regional access and livability initiatives include guidelines for multimodal regional access plans, establishing local transportation governance standards and best practices and funding approved multimodal access plans and community plans and providing funding for approved projects with special emphasis on convenience of transportation options, reductions in travel times, smart growth, preservation of open space and more integrated responses to land use and transportation needs.

The Administration also released information on a proposed national infrastructure bank that would focus initially on transportation-related investments to target regionally and nationally significant, high-value projects funded through a merit-based selection process.

The proposed bank would fund larger projects crossing state and local jurisdictions, projects that integrate sectors and policy goals, such as highway projects that consider land use and economic development and projects that cross transportation silos, such as bridge construction that includes a rail line and harbor dredging. The proposed bank would be financed through a combination of grants and flexible financing tools. 

The House bill would overhaul the U.S. Department of Transportation, expedite projects and coordinate planning for different modes of transportation and tie federal funds to measurable benchmarks.

The bill incorporates many recommendations from the Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission’s final report as well as White House policy priorities. It is designed to achieve the following specific national objectives:

•    reduce fatalities and injuries on our nation’s highways;

•    unlock the congestion that cripples major cities and the freight transportation network;

•    provide transportation choices for commuters and travelers;

•    limit the adverse effects of transportation on the environment; and,

•    promote public health and the livability of our communities

One of the four panels in the Senate with jurisdiction over federal transportation programs has approved the Administration’s plan to extend the current program. With limited time and a full agenda, it is not likely that Congress and the Administration will reach a consensus and find the funding necessary to enact a long term transportation plan by the September 30 deadline.