Mass Transit Funding Now in Jeopardy with House Transportation Bill
February 2nd, 2012 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Not long after we posted about promising developments with the House surface transportation reauthorization bill, the story took a startling turn. It was announced that the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee is proposing to divert $25 billion in dedicated fuels tax revenues from the Mass Transit Account as part of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 (H.R. 7). This would mean that transit would be forced to compete for general funds each year to receive any federal funding. However, according to the American Public Transportation Association, this change represents nearly 50 percent of the federal investment in public transit authorized by the House surface transportation bill. ASCE believes that transit is a critical component of a comprehensive transportation network, and has long supported the principle that 20 percent of the gas tax revenues that have been put in place since 1982 be allocated to a dedicated mass transit account. The new House provision represents a major change to surface transportation funding mechanisms. ASCE submitted a letter late today to the Ways and Means Committee opposing the provision, and joined a coalition including the Chamber of Commerce and the National League of Cities in signing a separate letter from Transportation for America voicing similar concerns. In brighter news for transit, today the Senate Banking Committee approved the Federal Public Transportation Act of 2012. The bill passed with unanimous bipartisan support and reauthorizes federal transit funding for two years. Among the bill’s reforms is a provision to establish a State of Good Repair program to assist local transit agencies with a backlog of maintenance needs. The bill will now go to the full Senate. As we saw today, stark differences are emerging between the two bills advancing in the House and Senate. The last-minute controversial additions to the House bill delay a process that must move forward quickly to avoid another short-term extension for federal surface transportation funding.A Promising Week for Transportation Legislation
February 2nd, 2012 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
It’s been a whirlwind week in Washington, D.C. for transportation as both the House and the Senate try to build momentum to pass much-needed reauthorization bills. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unveiled their American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) on Tuesday at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol Building on an unusually warm winter day. The bill would reauthorize surface transportation programs for five years. The reforms included in the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act would consolidate nearly 70 duplicative programs, expedite project delivery, create a set of performance measures, and enhance the TIFIA grant program. ASCE commends the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for advancing legislation to fund surface transportation programs. Read our letter to Chairman Mica. Meanwhile, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is busy working to advance their two-year reauthorization bill. Right now, it is farther along in the process than the House bill, as the Senate Finance Committee identifies potential pay-fors. It seems that both the House and the Senate are hoping to take credit for completing a reauthorization bill during this session, and that is good news for transportation. Another flurry of action surrounded the FAA reauthorization bill. After much deliberation between House and Senate leaders, there appears to be bipartisan support for a four-year FAA funding bill. The bill is expected to be voted on as early as tomorrow. We are at the mark-up today on the House transportation reauthorization bill and will be ready to share additional details on the status of both bills tomorrow.An ASCE Take on the State of the Union
January 24th, 2012 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The President will be speaking before a Joint session of Congress and the American people tonight to discuss the State of the Union. The first State of the Union was delivered by President George Washington in January 1790 and since then has become a vehicle for a sitting President to outline his legislative agenda for the upcoming year. During last year’s State of the Union address President Obama discussed the nation’s infrastructure crisis and referenced ASCE’s 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure as a reason why action must be taken to repair and maintain our nation’s roads, bridges, ports, water systems, dams, and rail. While it is not likely that the Report Card will be reference two years in a row, ASCE still has a few things that we would like to hear President Obama discuss. ASCE hopes that President Obama calls on Congress to rebuild the infrastructure that once was the envy of the world and spur the innovative imagination that has historically defined this country. It is through a state of the art infrastructure and a growing number of students moving into fields like civil engineering, that America can ensure that the state of the our union will remain strong for years to come. Since last year’s State of the Union address Congress has only been able to extend the surface transportation and FAA programs, instead of pass critical reauthorization bills. Additionally, since last January the National Dam Safety Program has expired and drinking water and wastewater state revolving funds continue to operate off of a 1987 authorization. At a time when the nation needs to create jobs and grow the economy in order to remain competitive, funding the nation’s infrastructure and producing students who excel in math and the sciences can prove to be the key. Therefore, ASCE has defined several legislative priorities. First, we need to rebuild America to compete in the 21st Century. For that reason ASCE calls on President Obama and Congress to:- Pass a multi-year surface transportation bill at level funding.
- Finalize a FAA reauthorization in the next few weeks.
- Reauthorize the National Dam Safety Program for 5 years.
- Begin work on drinking water and wastewater SRF reauthorization bills in 2012.
- Take up a new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that includes the creation of a national levee safety program.
- Pass legislation that would reauthorize the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program.
- Reauthorize the existing Math and Science Partnerships program at the Department of Education.
- Increase funding annual funding for NIST and NSF programs.
Tags: dams, hazards, infrastructure, infrastructure report card, transportation, water infrastructure
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Romans and Roads
December 2nd, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Since the beginning of our current economic downturn, pundits and armchair historians alike have compared the modern United States to the Roman Empire shortly before its decline. I usually change the channel or flip to the next page when I read such headlines, because to put it plainly – the US is not Rome. I chalk it up to a case of playing on people’s fears to attract viewers or sell books, and go about my day. However, there are similarities between the two, and the good news is, unfortunately for Rome, we can learn from their expense. We all know what happened to the great and vast Roman Empire. It came to its height, in part, because of its vast and advanced transportation and infrastructure network. Its army was efficient in many ways, but part of the ferocity that struck fear in the enemies of Rome was the speed at which its fighting force could travel on the roads they built. Trade across the empire was considered reliable and consistent because of the costs the Romans bore in order to ensure a working transportation system. Even today, Roman roads are still used by Europeans. In fact, an Aqueduct in the Spanish town of Segovia had been used to provide water until only recently. Alas, Rome fell for a number of unique and specific reasons, but the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire paralleled closely with the rapid decline in its infrastructure. At ASCE we are committed to efficient, sustainable, and smart infrastructure development and work to include and educate lawmakers in our federal, state, and local governments on the imperatives we are facing. As with any issue that impacts the well being of our future, the old adage of “those who forget history are doomed to repeat” can be applied to the many ways in which we seek to advance the quality of our nation’s roads, bridges, dams, etc. We have the distinct benefit of being able to look back into our history and learn from the lessons of previous civilizations. As we begin our efforts to release ASCE’s 2013 Report Card on America’s Infrastructure, we should also ready ourselves to finally tackle the problems facing our nation’s declining network of transportation and infrastructure.Senate Committee is “Moving Ahead for Progress”
November 8th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released their long awaited two year surface transportation authorization bill this week. The bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century or MAP-21, maintains current levels of investment plus inflation for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, while making significant reforms to the current program. The full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be marking up the legislation tomorrow morning and ASCE sent a letter to Committee Members today urging their support. The reforms included in MAP-21 allow for the nation’s surface transportation program to move forward. Consolidating the 90 programs into 30, creating a National Freight Network Program, expediting project delivery, creating reasonable performance measures, and enhancing the TIFIA program are all steps that will allow for a stronger, more results-oriented transportation program. The legislation also reduces the core highway programs from seven to five, which include three new core programs and two existing programs. The new programs include a National Highway Performance Program, a Transportation Mobility Program, and a National Freight Network Program; while the remaining programs are the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program and the Highway Safety Improvement Program. Other positive reforms include a new title, called “America Fast Forward”, which strengthens the TIFIA program by increasing funding to $1 billion per year; while Title 1 takes steps to improve the existing highway bridge inspection program and authorizes a national tunnel inspection program. The bill also establishes an outcome-driven approach that tracks performance and will hold states and metropolitan planning organizations accountable for improving the conditions and performance of their transportation needs, which ASCE has supported in the past. ASCE is looking forward to working with Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to move the MAP-21 legislation through the 112th Congress. The nation’s surface transportation needs in the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure (www.infrastructurereportcard.org) totaled $1.2 billion, while ASCE’s latest economic study on surface transportation displays the effects that the network has on the nation’s economic competitiveness. For more information on the economic study, Failure to Act: the Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation, please visit our website. www.asce.org/economicstudyAudi's Take on American Roads
September 26th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Have you seen the new Audi ad? Check out what the folks at Foreign Policy’s Passport blog had to say about it. (And if you haven’t seen it, you can view a clip here as well.) My take on the new Audi commercial was slightly different – “Yes, let’s spend even more money on avoiding fixing the problems instead of actually fixing them.” Meaning, we know what it will take to improve the nation’s crumbling roads, bridges and transit systems – larger investments by ALL users, which is pretty much everyone who lives and breathes in the United States. You either use the systems directly, or use products and services that wouldn’t be available without transportation systems. See ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, especially our 5 Key Solutions. Yet, Audi would rather us invest more in their high-tech car that simply lets you avoid the roads that are all used up and in disrepair, rather than investing in fixing those broken-down roads so they would be useable by all vehicles. Not surprising since their goal is to sell more cars and make more profits. But the fact that this feature is first on Audi’s list of reasons to buy their luxury car above all the others means they must know this resonates with someone. This should be a little alarming to anyone who cares about improving our transportation systems.House approves short-term extensions
September 13th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
This afternoon the House of Representatives passed legislation which will extend Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and surface transportation programs at current funding levels while Congress continues to work on long-term reauthorizations. The legislation is titled, “Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011” (H.R. 2887) and will extend the current FAA authorization until January 31st, 2012 and highway, transit, and highway safety programs until March 31st, 2012. The Senate is expected to approve the bill shortly. Following the House vote, ASCE President Elect Andrew Herrmann, P.E., SECB, F.ASCE, released the following statement,“The American Society of Civil Engineers applauds Congress for advancing legislation to fund the nation’s roads, airports, and public transportation systems.
Extending the surface transportation and aviation programs at current funding levels ensures that over 1.8 million jobs across all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be protected in the near term. This clean extension gives Congress the opportunity to begin the real work of passing a crucial longer-term bill.
While we are heartened by the bipartisan support for this law, an extension at current funding levels represents the bare minimum of what must be done to address our nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure.
America’s transportation system is the very backbone of our economy. If current funding levels are maintained long term – or if funding levels are cut – America can expect to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic growth over the next 10 years. To ensure a prosperous and competitive economic future, ASCE urges Congress to increase long-term investment in the country’s deteriorating infrastructure.”
Senate EPW approves transportation extension
September 8th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved, by a unanimous vote, a draft bill that would extend federal surface transportation programs through January 31, 2012. The legislation would be a clean extension of surface transportation programs and allows the Committee time to continue work on the Senate proposed two year surface transportation authorization bill. The current extension will expire on September 30th. ASCE has worked closely with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer to speak with committee members and express the essential nature of another extension. On Wednesday ASCE sent a letter to Senators who serve on the Environment and Public Work Committee urging the need for another extension, while a long term authorization is worked out. Following the vote this morning, ASCE President Elect Andrew Herrmann, P.E., SECB, F.ASCE, stated “The American Society of Civil Engineers applauds the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for supporting an essential funding authorization for the nation’s roads and public transportation systems. Today’s vote extending the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users – or “SAFETEA-LU” – for an additional four months ensures that 1.8 million jobs across all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be protected in the near term. “While we are heartened by the bipartisan support for this law, a four-month extension at current funding levels represents the bare minimum of what must be done to address our nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure. America’s transportation system is the very backbone of our economy. If current funding levels are maintained long term – or if funding levels are cut – America can expect to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic growth over the next ten years. To ensure a prosperous and competitive economic future, ASCE urges Congress to increase long-term investment in the country’s deteriorating infrastructure.” ASCE urges Congress to increase long-term investment in the country’s deteriorating infrastructure and pass a multi-year surface transportation authorization. If the nations does not invest in surface transportation now, in the next ten years our nation’s economy is at risk of losing nearly $900 billion according to the ASCE surface transportation economic study that was released in July. ASCE will keep all Key Contacts up to date as the latest extension is passed in the Senate and worked on in the House.Falling Apart & Falling Behind
August 11th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Building America’s Future (BAF) unveiled their own study on transportation infrastructure titled, Falling Apart and Falling Behind, which highlights how crumbling transportation system makes the nation less competitive. Falling Apart and Falling Behind findings fit with the results of ASCE’s recent Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation Infrastructure. The report has four sections, the introduction which present the current status of our nation’s deficient transportation and the second of which identities why the U.S. has fallen from 1st place to 15th in the World Economic Forum’s infrastructure ranking. BAF’s study believes this is due to a lack of a coherent vision for nation infrastructure as well as, dwindling funding. The third part of the study shows our economic competitors are putting money into their transportation systems, while we are lagging behind. The U.S. spends roughly 1.7% of its GDP on transportation infrastructure while China spends 9% and Canada spends 4%. Other countries are making necessary investments in infrastructure to improve their economies as we hide from our growing infrastructure deficit. The fourth section makes these recommendations for how to deal with our transportation deficit: 1. Develop a national infrastructure strategy for the next decade that makes choices based on economics, not politics. 2. Re‐orient Washington’s priorities:- Pass a six‐year transportation bill.
- Target federal dollars toward economically strategic freight gateways and corridors.
- Re‐focus highway investment on projects of national economic significance.
- Invest more in mass transit.
- Implement the Next Generation aviation system.
- Improve facilities at economically strategic airports.
- Invest now in true high‐speed rail in economically strategic corridors.
- Establish a National Infrastructure Bank.
- Develop other ways to pay for road maintenance, including: congestion pricing, tolling, carbon auctions, fees based on miles traveled, Build America Bonds, or reserves built into capital budgets.
- Enhance or make permanent some of the innovative financing and funding mechanisms that have recently been put into place including: Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants and the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA).
- Develop “best practices” for public‐private partnerships.
- Increase accountability in the federal funding and project delivery process.
- Audit the U.S. Department of Transportation.
- Encourage and reward local innovation.
- Remove obstacles to state and local innovation.
- Increase Federal Leadership;
- Promote Sustainability and Resilience;
- Develop National, State, and Regional Infrastructure Plans;
- Address Life Cycle Costs and Ongoing Maintenance; and
- Increase Investment from All Stakeholders.
FAA Update
August 5th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
On Thursday the House and Senate reached an agreement on a new FAA extension. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced a bipartisan deal to reopen the FAA and restore the government’s authority to collect airline excise taxes and fund airport construction. The agreement was the result of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood using the waiver authority granted to him by the House-passed extension to waive Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidy cuts for certain communities. The extension passed through unanimous consent Friday morning in the Senate and expected to be signed by the president, ending the two week standoff and reopening the FAA through September 16, 2011.
