The Feds Step up to the Plate
June 27th, 2008 Posted in Congress, financing, funding, meetingsThe Urban Land Institute follows development and infrastructure around the World. This article presents a summary of a recent day in Washington where Congress is becoming educated on the transportation system.
Transportation Infrastructure Infects Capitol Hill
This post was written for The Ground Floor by Robert Krueger, communications associate at the Urban Land Institute.
This week, four different Congressional committees held hearings to discuss the current state, effects, funding, and future of our transportation infrastructure. These hearings follow the letter dated Friday, June 20, in which 67 Senators signed a letter calling on leadership to quickly and effectively fix the Highway Trust Fund.
Members of Congress are preparing for the reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs. The new bill will replace the 2005 reauthorization known as the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which will expire in September 2009.
Below is a quick summary of the two Senate committee and two House committee hearings this past week:
U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 –- “Sustainable, Energy-Efficient Transportation Infrastructure”
A hearing, with the committee’s subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, was held to review the research and development of surface transportation. The goal of the hearing was to improve sustainability and energy efficiency in regards to roads, freeways, and stoplights.
“Currently, the surface transportation sector accounts for 33 percent of carbon emissions in the United States,” said Chairman David Wu (D-Oregon). “What’s even more striking is that many of the technologies we need to bring about these fuel savings already exists.”
He went on to tell how innovations in transportation infrastructure and technology will not only make driving a more enjoyable experience, but it will have great impact on the environment.
Witnesses told that panel that traffic congestion hurt the economy in the loss of economic productivity. Wu said that the answer is not building more roads, instead it will require the creation of new materials and ways of cutting fuel use.
“Sustainability and energy efficiency are no longer just buzzwords in the transportation community,” Wu highlighted. “They are crucial components of a working national transportation infrastructure.”
Wu expressed his pride in the First District of Oregon for being a national leader and ahead of the other states in using energy efficient and sustainable transportation infrastructure. Oregon has found a way to coordinate regionally, not just locally, transportation infrastructure efforts such as reducing idling buses by linking on-board computers to traffic lights and installing ramp meters that reduce congestion. The energy savings, on these traffic solutions, benefit taxpayers throughout the area.
One of the witnesses that testified before the committee was Robert Bertini, director of the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium.
“Our themes are healthy communities, integration of land use and transportation and advanced technologies,” said Bertini. “These are guiding us, along with our transportation agency and industry partners across the state to develop research and education programs aimed at solving transportation problems and strengthening the transportation workforce.”
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 –- “Climate Change Impacts on the Transportation Sector”
This hearing was held to take a closer look at the climate change research and the contributions of the transportation sector to the climate crisis as well as the possible impacts of climate change on the U.S. transportation infrastructure.
In Chairman Daniel Inouye’s (D-Hawaii) opening statement, he expressed the committee’s goals of fighting global climate change, with changes in the transportation sector leading the way.
“The transportation sector is a major indicator of the overall economic health of our nation,” said Inouye. “Given the fact, it is important to recognize that climate affects the design, construction, safety, and operations and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and systems.”
Inouye went on to express his concern about how the climate affects the design, construction, safety, operations, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and if increases in precipitation continue, like the recent flooding in the Midwest, it could threaten our safety and cause delays.
Deputy Secretary for the Department of Transportation, Thomas Barrett, told the committee what Secretary Peters and the Department of Transportation’s goals for a safe, clean, and reliable transportation system are: improving vehicle efficiency; increasing the use of alternative fuels; improving the efficiency and the marketplace of the system; and bettering their understanding of the scientific impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure.
In regards to the Department’s goal of improving efficiency, Barrett cited a report from the Texas Transportation Institute that estimated the U.S. wastes 2.9 billion gallons of fuel annually from idling in traffic, inefficient routing, and other affects. This translates to 2.6 million tons of unnecessary carbon emissions every year.
“The problem is significant,” said Barrett. “The Department has responded with the Congestion Initiative, a multifaceted program aimed at easing highway, aviation, freight/intermodal, and border congestion. As part of the initiative, we have focused on encouraging states and localities — which, after all, own nearly all of our highways — to embrace congestion pricing and direct user fees for both their operational and environmental benefits.”
In a press release following the hearing, Vice Chairman of the Committee, Ted Stevens (R-Arkansas), said that worldwide oil demand is expected to jump to 116 million barrels a day by 2030. He said that the transportation sector must reduce its dependence on oil along with mitigating the climate change impacts through study and research directed at transportation infrastructure. This includes improving the planning, design, construction, and operations of the system.
U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 –- “The Role of the Surface Transportation Network In Moving People and Freight”
The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit met on Tuesday to hear testimony on the role that surface transportation networks play in connecting the nation, and smoothing the process of passenger and freight mobility and access.
“While much of the current surface transportation debate has focused on metropolitan mobility and congestion, we must also remember the importance of expanding and maintaining all aspects our nation’s highway and transit system,” said James Oberstar (D-Minnesota), chairman of the Committee for Transportation and Infrastructure. “Ensuring surface transportation interconnectivity and access are critical to developing and maintaining a safe and reliable network.”
Oberstar said that the key issue for rural planners and state DOTs, is whether or not a county can provide a unified system of various operations, that goes beyond the local community, that will provide better transit connections for its citizens.
“In developing this new strategy, we must recognize the unique challenges facing small and rural communities and states. The low population density and low traffic volumes in these region’s markets makes it difficult to generate the revenues necessary to pay for roadway improvements,” Oberstar told the panel.
In a statement, Peter Defazio (D-Oregon) said that part of the problem with debates of transportation networks in that there is too much focus on just the urban areas. Often neglected is the discussion over the rural areas, which must be addresses in the interconnected surface transportation network.
“We have to look at the transportation system as a whole — both urban and rural,” said Defazio. “What might work for one might not necessarily work for the other. Connectivity continues to be a challenge, particularly as intercity bus and rail service has increasingly stopped serving rural America.”
Testifying on the panel was Jim Lynch, director and CEO of the Montana Department of Transportation. He conveyed his frustration with advocates of toll roads serving as solutions to the financing gaps of transportation improvement.
“With our low population and traffic densities, tolls are not an answer to funding transportation in rural areas,” said Lynch. “A continued strong Federal funding role is appropriate.”
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 –- “Future Federal Role for Surface Transportation”
Committee Chair, Barbara Boxer (D-California) opened the hearing by noting the current decay in the U.S. transportation system. Saying that due to the fact that our highways and bridges (which were built in the 1950s and 60s) are reaching the end of their service life, significant funding for repair, and replacement is long overdue.
“This means we need to make significant investments in the short term just to maintain our infrastructure at safe functioning levels, followed by even larger investments over the next 20 to 30 years to completely replace aging infrastructure,” said Boxer. “Not only is our infrastructure aging, but our population is growing and placing greater demands on existing transportation systems.”
Boxer also expressed that this should not only be a Congressional issue of competing financial interests. She said that there are numerous Federal roles in this matter. First, there is a federal role in improving the safety of highways along with the role of just providing funding.
“There is also a federal role of ensuring the efficient movement of people and goods, which affect our economy and quality of life every day,” said Boxer. “In this next bill, we need to more closely examine the linkage between transportation and the environment including air quality, greenhouse gases, and land use.”
Testifying before the committee was Samuel Staley, director of the Urban and Land Use Policy Reason Foundation. Staley said that it looks as if private capital will be an essential part to the puzzle in solving the U.S. transportation problems.
“The federal government should facilitate the use of private capital as a way to augment the resources of state and local governments looking for ways to upgrade their infrastructure,” said Staley, before he cited cases in Indiana and Pennsylvania that would benefit from the private sector in completing their needed projects. Staley said that many countries, such as Australia and France, have already benefited from public/private partnerships.
“Mobility is critical to the economic success and competiveness of a modern economy,” concluded Staley. “Mobility is particularly important in a service-based economy that relies on human capital. Moving human resources quickly and efficiently, meeting the myriad of transportation needs of business and residential life, is an essential element of maintaining a high quality of life as well as low production costs.”
Ranking Member, James M. Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) noted that 67 Senators have sent letters to the Finance Committee, asking for a quick resolve to the Highway Trust Fund crisis.
“Due to high gas prices and a weaker economy gas tax receipts have been far lower than expected when we wrote the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA),” said Inhofe. “As a result, the Highway Trust Fund is going to run out of money next year. We need to solve this problem as soon as possible.”
