Obama Set to Sign 5 Year, $305 Billion Transportation Bill
December 4th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate both approved a five-year, $305 billion highway, transit and railway authorization bill. The overwhelming, bipartisan vote was 359-65 in the House and 83-16 in the Senate. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law later on today. Thank you, infrastructure supporters, for contacting your members of Congress, which certainly helped secure this victory!
In the run-up to the vote, ASCE leadership urged adoption of the legislation known as the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The FAST Act provides nearly $233 billion for highways, $49 billion for transit and $10 billion federal passenger rail. By the end of the bill’s five-year duration, highway investment would rise by 15% and transit spending would grow by nearly 18%. The FAST Act is the longest surface transportation authorization bill since the enactment of a previous five-year bill in 2005.
The bill includes:
- Creation of a dedicated $1.25 billion freight program to help ensure federal investments are targeted at improving U.S. economic competitiveness;
- Providing $900 million per year for large-scale projects under a new, nationally-significant freight and highways program;
- Cutting the TIFIA program from $1 billion annually to around $300 million per year. TIFIA helps leverage billions of dollars in private sector capital for investment in our nation’s infrastructure;
- Innovation initiatives, such as establishing a national program to explore surface transportation funding alternatives to the fuels tax; and
- Investment in transit by creating a new research and deployment program, increasing funds for fixed guideways, and establishing a new bus facility program.
For Michigan Roads: 8 is Great!
November 10th, 2015 | By: Maria Matthews
Last week, Michigan’s legislature passed into law a 7.3 cent per gallon fuel tax increase becoming the 8th state in 2016 to increase investment in its transportation infrastructure. Today Governor Rick Snyder (R) signed this bill into law outside of the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association headquarters. Today’s bill signing is at least one year in the making! Last fall, the legislature worked diligently to put together a package to increase road funding in advance of a projected harsh winter. Working long hours up to the last day of the 2014 session a committee of key legislators met with the Governor’s office to no avail. These negotiations were only able to yield a failed ballot measure in May of this year. Nonetheless, the two chambers went back to work while Governor Snyder continued to tour the state championing leading us to this long awaited moment in time. Michigan’s surface transportation currently has a backlog of needs due to decades of under investment. 22% of the state’s roads are in poor condition and 12% of the state’s bridges are structurally deficient. The state also made national news earlier this year because of its public transit system’s lack of service in Metro Detroit. To address these needs, the new law will raise the gas tax to 26.3 cents per gallon starting January 1, 2017. The first increase the state has seen since 1997. The additional tax revenue is expected to generate nearly $600 million in new revenue. Additional funds will come from the 20% increase in vehicle registration, which themselves have not increased in 30 years, and additional fees for hybrid and electric vehicles. Additional road funding will come from a shift in funds from the general fund beginning with a $150 million transfer in the 2018-19 budget reaching a maximum of $600 million by 2021. When fully implemented it is expected the package will generate $1.2 billion. The tax increase and higher fees are expected to be offset by a yearly reduction in personal income taxes beginning in 2023 and property tax credits. While the net effect of today’s bill signing is still a few years in the making, Michigan is off to a good start. Increased investment means safer roads and bridges for commuters and the potential for economic growth as businesses can more readily get their goods to market. We applaud Michigan’s legislative body and the Governor have who have helped chart a course toward better and safer future.Infrastructure in the News: A Major Bill Goes to Conference
November 6th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
With the Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform Act of 2015 moving to conference committee and elections on Tuesday, news headlines have been buzzing with wishes and concerns for our nation’s infrastructure. The House has officially approved the Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform Act, a six-year bipartisan bill that will provide flat-level funding. The bill must now be reconciled with the Senate’s DRIVE Act in a conference committee working toward a deadline of Nov. 20—when the current short-term extension expires. This decision has sparked many concerns that the bill only continues with the status quo rather than increasing investment to improve our infrastructure. While there are many economic reasons for investing in infrastructure, the safety reasons are equally critical. The New York Times noted that much of our infrastructure—from dams to roads—is operating beyond its intended design life and that modernization will allow for newer design standards, while also enhancing safety. Infrastructure safety concerns are not limited to roads, but expand to bridges, dams and railroads. The House of Representatives has adopted an amendment directing the U.S. DOT to develop a full strategy to address “structurally deficient” and “functionally obsolete” bridges within the next year. A multi-year surface transportation bill is an important step in addressing our nation’s infrastructure needs. With that being said, flat funding won’t be enough to adequately modernize our infrastructure.Dagher to be recognized by White House for Composite Arch Bridges
October 9th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
Could it be possible to construct a bridge in two weeks that lasts up to 100 years, has similar costs as a regular steel and concrete bridge, and requires minimal maintenance? It may seem farfetched, but ASCE member and Founding Director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center Dr. Habib Dagher, invented and achieved that very thing with his award-winning composite arch bridge system, often known as the “Bridge-in-a-Backpack.” Dagher will be recognized Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, for his groundbreaking innovation by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx at a White House ceremony honoring 11 of the nation’s top transportation innovators. Each year, the Champions of Change program recognizes Americans who are advancing transportation and leading change that benefits our nation’s transportation system. The composite arch bridge system consists of inflatable tubes made of fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) that act as reinforcement for cast-in-place concrete. Once on site, the patented bridge technology can be erected and lifted into place without heavy equipment or large crews in a matter of days, as opposed to several months. Construction costs for the “bridge-in-a-backpack” are comparable to those of a standard bridge. The technology is extremely durable, has a smaller carbon footprint than current bridge technologies, and is estimated to last two or three times longer than the typical 40-70 year lifespan of a concrete-and-steel bridge. The University of Maine has licensed the bridge technology to private start-up company Advanced Infrastructure Technologies (AIT), who designs and builds these bridges. The composite arch bridge system was also approved by AASHTO, the first technology of its kind to be approved in the U.S. bridge design code. To date, composite arch bridges have been installed by AIT in 18 locations around the nation and other countries.New York Infrastructure Receives C- Report Card
September 29th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
In the inaugural 2015 Report Card for New York’s Infrastructure released today, the state received an overall grade of “C-” from the New York Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Assessing nine categories, the report finds that the state’s roads and bridges are among the categories most in need of repair, receiving grades of “D-” and “D+” respectively because of their state of deterioration and lack of adequate funding to improve conditions. In addition, wastewater received a low grade of “D.” The category of parks and solid waste both earned the highest grade of “B-.”
New York’s infrastructure faces several challenges and, in its current condition, the infrastructure system is a drag on the state’s economy. These challenges are highlighted in the Report Card:
- The three airports servicing New York City account for a majority of the nation’s airport delays. By the year 2030, JFK is expected to exceed its current traveler capacity by 30%, and ten other commercial service airports in New York will also exceed 60% of the current capacities.
- Of New York’s more than 17,000 bridges, the majority were built in the 20th century, with over 50% of bridges over 75 years old. Nationally, the average age of a bridge is 42 years.
- The average New York City area commuter, which accounts for half the state’s population, wastes 53 hours per year sitting in traffic.
- Poor road conditions and traffic congestion cost motorists a total of $6.3 billion statewide—an average of $477 per Syracuse motorists.
- The State of New York is only spending 20% of what is needed to modernize the wastewater system.
- One in every four of New York’s wastewater facilities are operating beyond their 30-year useful life expectancy.
- Create a prioritization program to assess the state’s transportation infrastructure needs starting from existing bridge asset management programs and based on accepted standards.
- Develop more consistent funding sources of funding for dams and support the creation of dam rehabilitation funding legislation at the federal and state levels for public and private owners of high hazard and intermediate hazard dams.
- As infrastructure is being rebuilt, make it more resilient and sustainable.
View the full report here.
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 145,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. ASCE’s 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, graded America’s cumulative GPA for infrastructure at a D+. The Report Card app for Apple and Android devices includes videos, interactive maps and info-graphics that tell the story behind the grades, as well as key facts for all 50 states.Despite Senate Transportation Action, House Stymies Progress
July 30th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Sens. Inhofe (R-OK) and Boxer (D-CA) led Senate efforts on approving the DRIVE Act
#FixTheTrustFund: Senate Dodging Potholes
July 27th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Two weeks ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would fund federal transportation projects through mid-December to avoid the July 31 legislative deadline. While this would divert a summer construction catastrophe, delaying Congressional agreement on a multi-year path forward is not an ideal option because short-term extensions make it difficult to plan and build multi-year transportation projects. This week the U.S. Senate is attempting to complete work on a bipartisan, long-term bill and get it over to the House for their consideration before July 31. Over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) managed to steer the bill away from legislative potholes that threatened to slow passage of the bill. The Senate defeated an amendment to the transportation bill that would have repealed Obamacare and voted to debate reauthorization of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank and possibly attach it to the six-year highway & transit bill. Tonight we expect a final vote on attaching Ex-Im to the bill (which many anticipate will be approved) followed by a vote to end debate on the transportation bill and move towards final passage of the legislation by mid-week. The Senate bill:- Provides six years of policy reforms and contract authority for highways and transit programs, thus ending the cycle of short-term, multi-month program extensions;
- Provides three years of dedicated revenue to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) so states can deliver more long-term projects;
- Increases funding levels for highway, transit and passenger rail programs in order to reduce our nation’s maintenance and construction backlog;
- Provides for a new national dedicated freight program to improve goods movement; and
- Contains bipartisan permitting reforms that would set deadlines for project decisions, increase transparency and reduce litigation delays.
- Contact your members of Congress via letter or phone call: Send your legislators a quick note or call them and urge their immediate support!
- Communicate with your members of Congress via social media: Most members of Congress have Facebook and Twitter pages. In addition to calling or writing a letter, urge them to #FixTheTrustFund on social media.
- Ask others to take action: Use the text in this blog to Send your friends, family, and coworkers an email asking them to contact their members of Congress. Don’t forget to add a sentence or two about why passage of a long-term transportation bill is important to you.
Fix the Trust Fund: Now it’s the Senate’s Turn
July 20th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Last Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend highway and transit programs until December 18, 2015 on a 312-119 vote. The House bill granted a $8.1 billion boost the Highway trust Fund (HTF) to keep it solvent past the looming July 31 deadline. This extension will fund surface transportation projects through the mid-December timeframe. The decision was reached, because extending the program is seen as a far better alternative than allowing the HTF to run out of money. “The last thing we want to do is see road construction stop at the beginning of August,” said Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee. This week the Senate will pursue an alternative approach, where a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell want to pass a long-term bill. Senate Republican leaders are trying to find money for a six-year bill, the DRIVE Act, which cleared the Environment and Public Works Committee a few weeks ago. The bill, S. 1647, would provide a twenty percent increase in funding over the course of six years and proposes reforms to improve freight movement, deliver large projects and streamline project delivery. The cycle of short-term extensions has blocked planning and delivery of major projects in several states, and even more states have announced that they will be forced to cancel and delay projects until the Congress enacts a multi-year bill. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has said that uncertainty about highway funds has led to canceled projects in Georgia, Tennessee, Vermont, Delaware and Arkansas. He said that unless Congress acts to extend funding beyond the July 31 deadline, the U.S. Department of Transportation “will not have the authority to provide project sponsors with any additional contract authority for new or ongoing projects.” In early August, the balance of the Highway Trust Fund will drop below $4 billion which is when the reimbursement payments to states for completed projects will slow. The time is now to focus on the activity in the Senate and urge lawmakers to vote in favor of a long-term bill by the July 31 deadline. To help, you can:- Send a request today to meet with your members of Congress: Here are some helpful hints and how to set up a “back home” meeting.
- Contact your Senators via letter or phone call: If you can’t meet in person, send your Senators a quick letter or give their office a call and ask for the staff that handles transportation. Look up their number and get talking points here.
- Communicate with your member of Congress via social media: Most members of Congress have Facebook and Twitter pages. In addition to calling or writing a letter, urge them to #FixTheTrustFund on social media.
Congressional Focus Remains on Highway & Transit Bill
July 13th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
This week both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate will gear-up over the future of federal highway and transit funding and policy. The House is expected to approve a six-month extension of current policy, which would cost approximately $9 billion. The Senate is expected to take-up highway legislation later this week, but it remains unclear to length and scope of legislation that they will be pursuing. Majority Leader McConnell has expressed support for a multi-year bill, possibly some form of the DRIVE Act. However, other Senators have discussed the option of extending the current policy to the end of the year with the hopes of dedicated revenues to transportation from international tax reform. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is set to mark-up its safety, freight and rail portions of the bill this Wednesday morning. It remains unclear when or if the Senate Banking Committee will mark-up its transit portion of the bill. Last week, Congressman Tom Rice (R-7-SC) introduced the H.R. 2971, “The Highway Trust Fund Certainty Act”, which would raise federal motor fuels taxes by approximately 10 cents per gallon and index that rate to inflation in order to address the current annual Highway Trust Fund shortfall. In a letter to the Congressman, ASCE commended Rep. Rice’s leadership on this issue, but noted that additional federal investment will still be required to meet our nation’s long-term surface transportation infrastructure needs. You can urge Congress to #FixTheTrustFund by the July 31 legislative deadline in the following ways:- Send a request today to meet with your members of Congress: Here are some helpful hints and how to set up a “back home” meeting.
- Contact your Member of Congress via letter or phone call: If you can’t meet in person, send your member of Congress a quick letter about the Highway Trust Fund or give their office a call and ask for the staff that handles transportation. Look up their number and get talking points here.
- Communicate with your member of Congress via social media: Most members of Congress have Facebook and Twitter pages. In addition to calling or writing a letter, urge them to #FixTheTrustFund on social media.
Senate Committee Passes Surface Transportation Bill
June 24th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Today, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) unanimously approved a six-year, $278 billion federal highway portion of the surface transportation authorization bill, the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act. The DRIVE Act was unveiled earlier this week by EPW Committee leaders Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK), Ranking Member Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Subcommittee Chairman David Vitter (R-LA) and committee member Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE).
The bill would increase funding levels for highway programs by approximately $2.5 billion per year. The responsibility to identify how to pay for that increase, along with the annual Highway Trust Fund shortfall of $15 billion, belongs to the Senate Finance Committee. Tomorrow the Finance Committee will hold a hearing on transportation financing, where in testimony to the Committee ASCE underscored the importance of public support for funding as necessary to improving future financing opportunities. While Finance is still determining how they would like to pay for the DRIVE Act, in a recent interview with ASCE, Chairman Inhofe noted that he believes that General Fund revenues plus dollars from any corporate repatriation tax changes could address the funding gap. In addition to Finance, there are a few other Senate committees that need to act before the July 31 deadline to approve their transportation policy pieces, like transit and driver safety items.
ASCE sent a support letter to Senate leaders in favor of the DRIVE Act and President Bob Stevens issued a statement where he said, “The DRIVE Act achieves many of the goals that we as civil engineers believe must be addressed in the next surface transportation reauthorization and accomplishes these goals in a bipartisan fashion.” Some of the policy items contained in the DRIVE Act that ASCE supports include:
- Increased program funding over a six-year period;
- Multi-year program certainty that will help states and localities better plan and deliver projects;
- Prioritizing funding for bridge maintenance and repair;
- A focus on Interstate Highway System maintenance;
- Establishment of a new freight program, funded at $2 billion annually, to improve goods movement;
- Establishment of a new competitive grant program for large highway projects;
- Increased accounting and reader-friendly reporting of how Highway Trust Fund dollars are spent;
- Accelerated project delivery reforms aimed to improve collaboration between agencies and create deadlines for agency action(s);
- An option for rural areas to bundle small projects such as bridges to increase efficiency;
- Encouragement of agencies on resilience planning and natural disaster risk reduction;
- Expanding tolling to be available for use on all new Interstate Highway System lane construction projects;
- Creating a new intelligent transportation systems grant to accelerate technology deployment; and
- Providing grants to states for continued and expanded pilot testing of future road user fee collection systems.
