Mobility and Access

Janet Kavinoky is the Executive Director for Transportation and Infrastructure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC and Vice President of the Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition. Pat Thomas is Vice President of Global Public Affairs for UPS and currently serves as First Vice Chairman at the American Trucking Associations. Both were speakers at a transportation policy roundtable May 12 in Washington as part of the 2015 CSG Transportation Policy Academy. In these excerpted portions of their remarks to state legislators attending the academy, they spoke about why both of their organizations support a federal gas tax increase, why Congress hasn’t been able to reach agreement on a plan to meet the nation’s infrastructure investment needs, what it may take to convince them to do so and how predicted changes ahead for freight transportation makes a national focus on the issue imperative.

Brian Pallasch is the managing director for government relations and infrastructure initiatives at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in Washington, DC. He was among the presenters at a policy roundtable CSG hosted on May 12 as part of the 2015 Transportation Policy Academy in Washington. During these excerpts from his remarks, he discusses ASCE’s 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the economic costs of not investing in infrastructure, why ASCE supports an increase in the federal gas tax and a permanent fix for the Highway Trust Fund and why he believes a proposal to eliminate the federal role in transportation is a bad idea.

The Michigan Legislature adjourned Thursday for most of the summer without voting on a plan to increase the gas tax to fix deteriorating roads and bridges. Also this week, following Tuesday’s loss by U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a Virginia primary race, the jury is out on how it will impact getting a new federal surface transportation authorization bill and a Highway Trust Fund bailout in place this summer but most signs appeared to point toward a short-term solution with hopes that lawmakers could tackle something more long-term in a lame duck session following the election. I’ve also got the usual roundup of items and links on reauthorization, the trust fund, state activity on transportation revenues, public-private partnerships and tolling, and state multi-modal strategies.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer said Thursday her committee plans to introduce and mark up a new surface transportation authorization bill next week. The measure is expected to be a five- or six-year bill that would keep current spending levels, adjusted for inflation. But elsewhere on Capitol Hill this week there were ominous signs that agreement on a way to pay for such a bill has yet to emerge. Meanwhile states continue to be concerned about key transportation projects that could be scuttled if Congress fails to act to shore up the Highway Trust Fund.

The chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said this week that Congress is running out of time to act to avert insolvency for the federal Highway Trust Fund as state transportation officials and leaders of state chambers of commerce warned of the consequences if that were to come to pass. But there still appears to be no agreement in sight about how to fund a trust fund fix and a long-term surface transportation bill. I also have the usual roundup of news items and resources on MAP-21 reauthorization, state transportation funding activities, public-private partnerships and tolling and state multi-modal strategies.

The federal Highway Trust Fund is expected to run out of money even earlier than expected this summer, according to new data released this week. That’s likely to make it even tougher for Congress to come up with a funding solution in time and it has many in Washington and around the country concerned about what would be an unprecedented situation for state transportation programs. I also have the usual collection of links to items on state activity on transportation revenues, public-private partnerships and tolling, and state multi-modal strategies.

President Obama this week proposed a four-year, $302 billion transportation bill that he said could be partially funded through a corporate tax overhaul, a plan Congressional leaders have already said is unlikely to gain traction this year. He also joined a chorus of voices warning that hundreds of road and bridge projects around the country could be stopped in their tracks if Congress fails to renew the Highway Trust Fund. Meanwhile, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp offered up his own plan to rework the tax code this week, which he believes could yield $126.5 billion to fund infrastructure investment. I also have updates this week on state transportation revenue activities, public-private partnerships and multi-modal strategies.

The benefits of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to the nation’s infrastructure were touted this week as the 2009 federal stimulus package turned five years old. Meanwhile policymakers and analysts continued to express concern about future federal and state infrastructure investment both in Washington and state capitals.