There is no lack of excitement here in our nation’s capital with the recent visit of the Pope, the ongoing debate over government funding and, now, the resignation of Speaker John Boehner. However, we will have to wait and see whether the recent excitement in D.C. inspires change and realization that the country desires leadership and progress — or whether uncertainty and unwillingness to fund long-term solutions to important programs, such as the Highway Trust Fund, continues.
Show Me the Money
The main debate surrounding the highway bill centers on funding. The 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal gas tax is the main source of transportation funding and has been so for decades, but the growing number of fuel-efficient and electric cars has caused a significant reduction in revenues. This reduction has caused a shortfall in the HTF and has led to states, such as Oregon, to experiment with programs that charge drivers on how many miles they drive instead of how much fuel they pump.
House Republicans have stated they will not pass a bill unless it is fully paid for. Increasing the gas tax – which has not been raised or adjusted for inflation since 1993 – could provide the revenues necessary to fund important infrastructure improvement programs. However, any tax increase is a politically controversial issue. Ultimately, Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan is responsible for finding the revenues to pay for the highway bill. While easier said than done, finding an acceptable way to fund the HTF should clear the way to enacting a long-term strategy to meet our pressing transportation infrastructure needs.
Something’s Gotta Give
While it is hard to tell if we have reached rock bottom concerning the ability of Congress to reach consensus on important issues that should transcend politics — like the strength and efficiency of our nation’s roads, public transit systems and passenger and freight rail lines — there is no doubt that the potholes, traffic jams, and aging bridges and metro cars are not going to fix or modernize themselves. Recent announcements concerning the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor taking a step closer to ground breaking and the opening of the Pearl Harbor Memorial “Q” Bridge, a 10-lane “extradosed” cable stayed bridge, are welcome news and evidence of the ingenuity that our country is capable of with the support of our lawmakers, smart planning and collaboration, and the compilation of the right project team. While there will be, and should be, a debate on how such projects are funded, including increased use of public-private partnerships, there should be no debate that we need to work collaboratively to develop a smart long-term transportation plan to meet the needs of growing numbers of people in our nation’s metropolitan areas and goods shipped across the country.
With the right vision, planning and collaboration of all stakeholders, including both the private and public sector, smoother roads, more efficient commutes and faster movement of goods and passengers lie ahead.
While we remain both optimistic and realistic, there are some important things happening at the federal programmatic level when it comes to project development, including the goal of streamlining the permitting and review process for public infrastructure projects. We will be discussing these programmatic developments and other key issues surrounding infrastructure projects in a series of upcoming posts to prepare for the passage of a much needed long-term transportation strategy.
