Partially in response to a 2009 crash on the Washington, DC Metro system, which killed nine, Congress made safety an underlying concern of federal transit policy. This tragedy, combined with the knowledge that while fatality rates have fallen in other modes, rates incurred from transit have stagnated, became a call for action for the federal government to not only better oversee the safety of America’s transit system but also to fundamentally change the way the transit sector considers safety.

Stateline Midwest ~ May 2013 

Four years ago, federal lawmakers made a historic funding commitment to passenger rail — billions of dollars for new equipment and projects to improve intercity and interstate service. The Midwest has received $2.5 billion of the money obligated so far under the High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (a little more than a quarter of total federal funding) for close to 40 projects.

A gas tax increase in Minnesota appears dead for this session. A plan to index Louisiana’s gas tax to inflation failed to win votes this week. And transportation funding plans are moving forward in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania but face political challenges ahead. Here’s the latest roundup of what’s going on around the country as states seek solutions to meeting their transportation needs.

The ongoing Panama Canal expansion is perhaps the most transformative global transportation project now in progress. Upon completion in 2014, the expanded Panama Canal will facilitate an even greater flow of trade between Asia and the Americas and will substantially impact the volume of trade reaching Gulf and Atlantic Coast ports in the United States. The impetus for the expansion of the Canal, approved by the people of Panama in October 2006, sprang from that nation’s desire to continue as a pivotal player in global trade patterns and strategically leverage its greatest asset—the Panama Canal—for its own economic well-being. 

A Circuit Court judge’s decision in Virginia could spell trouble for a tunnel project already under construction in the Norfolk-Portsmouth area and could have broader ramifications for the future use of public-private partnerships (P3s) in the commonwealth. I also have links to a number of other recent items on tolling and P3s and more on a conference this summer that will bring these issues into sharp focus.

An $8.5 billion transportation revenue package in Washington State, including a 10-cent gas tax hike, will have to wait for a special session after lawmakers adjourned their regular session this week without passing the package, which would have provided a companion to an $8.8 billion transportation budget they did approve. I also have updates on transportation funding developments in six other states.

The Vermont state legislature voted this week to increase gas taxes to raise additional revenues for transportation. The Green Mountain State became the latest state to address transportation funding needs during 2013. I also have updates on what’s going on in three other states with regards to transportation funding.

While a number of states have already completed work this year on transportation funding plans, officials in a number of other states are still hard at work seeking compromises, stating their cases and planning for the future if they’re ultimately unsuccessful in 2013. I have updates on nine of them, as well as links to a number of recent items on the trends in states seeking new transportation revenues this year.