New York Times Editorial

The Clear Case for the Gas Tax

Published: August 15, 2011

 

Unless Congress extends it, the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal gas tax will expire on Sept. 30. Allowing that to happen would be tremendously destructive. It would bankrupt the already stressed Highway Trust Fund, with devastating effects on the country’s highways, bridges, mass transit systems and the economy as a whole.

 

Reports suggest that some House Republicans may push to let the tax lapse or use the threat of expiration as leverage in the budget wars. This is a dangerous idea. If anything, the tax should rise to maintain a system that constantly needs upkeep — the backlog of bridges needing repair is estimated at $72 billion — creates jobs and encourages drivers to buy more fuel-efficient cars.

 

Excise taxes on motor fuels account for nearly nine-tenths of the $37 billion trust fund. The fund has lately required annual infusions from the Treasury Department to break even, and its obligations are growing. The gas tax has not increased since 1993, and its buying power, accounting for inflation, is now only 11 cents. Meanwhile, Americans are driving many more miles, placing greater stresses on the highway system.

 

Read full editorial at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/opinion/the-clear-case-for-the-gas-tax.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha211

 

Caterpillar Chief: US Needs Infrastructure Program

Major exporter criticizes ‘clogged, antiquated’ transportation system

 

John D. Boyd | Aug 12, 2011 4:11PM GMT

The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

 

Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman called for U.S. policymakers to launch a strong infrastructure repair program to upgrade ports and domestic transportation networks.

 

He said its Illinois factories are producing about 80 to 90 percent of their heavy construction or mining vehicles and other products for the export markets. But “we worry about the port structure in the United States, and the basic transportation system as we try to get export goods out of this country or components into this country from our suppliers,” he said.

 

Although Caterpillar has plants in other states, it is based in Peoria, Ill., and has many of its key factories in that state. That includes “our most important mining plants, our big tractor plants, the backbone of our company (and) right now they’re all running on exports,” Oberhelman told CNBC.

 

Read more at: http://www.joc.com/infrastructure/caterpillar-chief-says-us-needs-infrastructure-program-0

That percentage of Caterpillar's business is a very scary message about this country neglect of its foundation. I am in a country (Ukraine) that has neglected its infrastructure and it is barely a developing country with an economy stuck in low gear. I would never wish this on America...

This is a baby step, but a very important one. And I'm happy to see that this was attempted with rail transit rather than with a road project......

 

Transit funding approach wins bipartisan support

Monday, August 22, 2011

 

The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate remain far apart on reauthorizing a highway/transit funding bill. The Senate is backing a two-year, $109 billion bill to maintain spending at its present level; the House is holding out for $230 billion spread out over six years, a significant cut in federal support.

 

But there is accord on another approach to funding new transit construction: Both houses of Congress want to expand to $1 billion a year the government loan program authorized by the Transportation Infrastructure and Innovative Finance Act (TIFIA). The Wall Street Journal, in its weekend edition, quoted Jason Furman, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, as saying the Obama Administration viewed the program as a step toward the national infrastructure bank that it has proposed.

 

A TXIFIA loan is unexpected to pay for about a third of the estimated $1.7 billion cost of a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority project to construct an 8.5-mile light rail transit line to Los Angeles International Airport.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/innovative-transit-funding-wins-bipartisan-support-3433.html

8/24/2011 9:30:00 AM    Federal Funding

 

AASHTO: Federal transportation funding is urgently needed

 

During a press conference yesterday, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) President Susan Martinovich and state department transportation representatives called on Congress to sustain federal transportation funding at current levels before the seventh extension of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) expires on Sept. 30.

 

“Congress must take action by Sept. 30 or the federal highway and transit programs that support thousands of jobs in every state will shut down,” Martinovich said in a prepared statement.

 

Read more at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/prdailynews/news.asp?id=27725

Infrastructure Whistle-Blowing

Neal Peirce / Aug 19 2011

 

For Release Sunday, August 21, 2011

© 2011 Washington Post Writers Group

 

Maybe you’ve seen the headlines — “Engineers Warn Infrastructure Crumbling” — accompanied by stories saying it’s imperative we spend billions, sometimes trillions to fix America’s deteriorating roadways, bridges, water and sewer systems.

 

I’ve written some of those stories myself. And there’s no doubt — keeping public infrastructure in shape, like fixing leaks and keeping a house’s roof in decent condition, is the essence of common sense.

 

But which spending, and how? Especially on the roadways front, it’s time to think again, asserts Charles Marohn, a civil engineer and conservative Republican and founder of a “Strong Towns” website.

 

We built a massive interstate highway system — “and then built more,” Marohn asserts: “We poured money in highways, county roads and local streets. We have so much transportation infrastructure — a huge proportion of it with no productivity — that every level of government is now choking on maintenance costs.”

 

Read more at: http://citiwire.net/post/2891/

End of the roadwork?

Stimulus money gone; highway fund may be next

By  Jessica Wehrman

The Columbus Dispatch Monday August 29, 2011 5:06 AM

 

WASHINGTON — When it became law in 2009, the massive $787 billion economic stimulus promised to help pull the economy out of its slump by injecting a flood of federal dollars into states struggling to stay afloat.

 

But two years later, many of the projects are winding down, the economy is still struggling and Congress is in yet another standoff — this one over how best to pay for future road projects.

 

“You can plan for the good things, and you can plan for the bad things,” said John Igel, president of Columbus-based construction company George J. Igel and Co. Inc.  “But you can’t plan for the ‘I don’t know things.’ ”

 

Read more at: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/08/29/end-of-the-roadwork.html

Interesting to hear Mr. Runyan complain about the "impacts", when he was one of the main opponents to the 3-C Corridor passenger rail plan that would have at least diversified Ohio's transportation system and reduce those "impacts".

 

Oh, the humanity....

 

But Chris Runyan, president of the Ohio Contractors Association, said cuts in highway funding would be devastating, touching every Ohioan and stalling efforts to fix aging highways, deteriorated bridges and bumpy roads.

 

Infrastructure, he said, “impacts us every day of our lives.”

US Agencies Draw Up Top Infrastructure Projects

John D. Boyd | Aug 31, 2011 6:00PM GMT

The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

 

President Obama is directing federal agencies to draw up lists of “high impact, job-creating infrastructure projects” that could be fast-tracked through targeted permitting or review actions.

 

It is part of the administration’s planned job push, to give the economy a boost by speeding up large-scale things that are already in the pipeline.

 

Obama also called on Congress to extend transportation funding programs that expire in September to avert job-killing disruptions, and is asking to address a joint session of Congress Sept. 7 to lay out his broader jobs agenda.

 

The White House said the new presidential directive to speed up pending work covers the departments of agriculture, commerce, housing and urban development, interior and transportation, which will each select up to three high priority projects

 

Read more at: http://www.joc.com/infrastructure/fed-agencies-draw-top-infrastructure-projects

Why Towns With Good Transit Options Are Recovering Faster From the Recession

by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey  on 09. 3.11

CARS & TRANSPORTATION

 

Cities and towns with good public-transit options offer more convenience for residents and are, of course, more environmentally friendly places to live. Now it also seems these places are the ones bouncing back quickest from the economic recession.

 

Lack of access to public transportation is a major barrier keeping out-of-work people, especially those in lower-income groups, from finding jobs, according to a new report by the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program. "We knew there were pockets of households who are economically hampered by the fact that they own no car and have no access to transit, but we didn't fully understand the true scope of the problem until now," report author Adie Tomer told Wired magazine's Autopia blog.

 

Suburbanized Employers Compound The Problem

Transit advocates told Autopia that "more than 700,000 American households do not have a car and lack access to public transit, making them less likely to find and keep jobs.... Compounding the problem is the fact employers have suburbanized as well, moving from city centers to far-off office parks."

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/09/why-towns-with-good-transit-options-are-recovering-faster-from-recession.php

Obama changes rhetoric to get $50B for transportation

By Keith Laing - 09/11/11 06:15 AM ET

 

President Obama is changing his rhetoric in trying to get Congress to approve $50 billion in new spending on roads, bridges and railways.

 

Out are the words “stimulus” and even “infrastructure,” a term seemingly tied to the $787 billion economic stimulus package approved in 2009.

 

In is the word “jobs,” which is what the president says will be created if Congress approves his $447 billion package.

Read more at: http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/infrastructure/180753-obama-changes-rhetoric-to-try-to-sell-congress-on-new-transportation-spending

http://supporttransit.org/

 

Safe and reliable public transportation is at risk!

Posted on September 6, 2011

 

Congress has proposed to cut more than one-third of federal funding across the board for public transit and surface transportation programs. If these cuts are implemented, transit riders can expect service delays, fare increases and over-crowding.

 

The proposed cuts to funding will increase unemployment and leave many Americans stranded without access to their jobs and basic services such as grocery stores, doctors and faith services.

 

What Role Can You Play?

Get involved by taking action on September 20 and telling Congress that now is the time to invest in public transportation infrastructure! Now is not the time for cuts.

 

+ Attend a rally event near you

+ Contact your Congressional representatives

+ Spread the word

+ Ride public transit and WEAR RED!

 

In addition to taking the above actions, tell us why public transit is so important to you. Share your transit story of about 500 words with us by e-mailing us at dontx.publictransit @ gmail dot com. We may post your story here.

 

Don’t X Out Public Transit Rally Events

Events are happening in cities across America on September 20, including:

 

New York, NY

Boston, MA

Los Angeles, CA

Cleveland, OH

San Francisco, CA

Providence, RI

Washington, DC

Minneapolis, MN

Birmingham, AL

Springfield, MA

 

Find a Don’t X rally event in your area to attend. And remember to WEAR RED to show your support for federal funding for public transportation infrastructure.

Obama changes rhetoric to get $50B for transportation

By Keith Laing - 09/11/11 06:15 AM ET

 

President Obama is changing his rhetoric in trying to get Congress to approve $50 billion in new spending on roads, bridges and railways.

 

Out are the words “stimulus” and even “infrastructure,” a term seemingly tied to the $787 billion economic stimulus package approved in 2009.

 

In is the word “jobs,” which is what the president says will be created if Congress approves his $447 billion package.

Read more at: http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/infrastructure/180753-obama-changes-rhetoric-to-try-to-sell-congress-on-new-transportation-spending

 

"Stimulus" and "infrastructure" sure are big words. A good one-syllable four letter word is right up the "we're broke" right-wing-opposition crowd's alley.

^^In addition to the earlier post....

 

Don’t “X” Out Public Transportation Events next week in Cleveland!!

 

Monday, September 19 at 1:30 p.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 20 at noon.

 

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) General Manager and CEO, Joseph Calabrese, alongside Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) President, William Nix, will join together in a visual message: Don't "X" out Public Transportation.

 

On Monday, 1:30 p.m. at Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center (Prospect Ave, between E. 21st and E. 22nd), Calabrese and Nix will paint large Red Xs on several RTA vehicles to show what the elimination of funds would mean to RTA, if proposed federal budget cuts take away a possible 30 percent of transportation funding.

 

On Tuesday, Sept. 20, Cleveland residents will see dozens of buses and trains around the system with the huge Red Xs. At Noon, on Public Square, there will be 'Don't "X" Out Public Transportation Rally on the northwest quadrant. 

 

Cleveland is one of more than a dozen public transit agencies participating in 'Don't X Out Public Transportation' around the U.S. to highlight what massive cuts would mean to transit systems and customers. For more national info, go to http://supporttransit.org/

 

'Don't 'X' Out Public Transportation' is being coordinated around the U.S. by the American Public Transportation Association: www.APTA.com

 

Read more: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,4504.6870.html#ixzz1XmRMNPyR

For Immediate Release: September 20, 2011

Contact: Amanda Woodrum, 330-780-8321, [email protected]

Read Fact Sheet: http://www.policymattersohio.org/pdf/Highways_2011920.pdf

 

 

Who Pays for Roads in Ohio?

Brief Finds All Forms of Transportation Subsidized, Including Highways

 

A fact sheet released today by Policy Matters Ohio shows that all forms of transportation require public subsidies, that non-drivers contribute a substantial portion of highway costs, and that investment in public transit can be more cost effective than highway spending.

 

Federal funding for public transit and surface transportation programs is currently under consideration by Congress. The proposed reduction of more than a third of federal funding could mean service delays, fare increases and over-crowding. In Ohio, where public transit is already underfunded, these federal cuts would hurt our economy and severely affect residents who rely on transit.

 

The brief finds that out of Ohio’s $5 billion annual transportation budget for roads and highways, only 4 percent comes from tolls, the equivalent of a transit fare, while 34 percent come from a state gas tax, 14 percent from license and registration fees, 22 percent from federal funding, 10 percent from local government general revenue funds and property taxes, and 8 percent from a variety of other state and local taxes. An additional 8 percent is borrowed.

 

“If we start making different decisions about how to spend transportation dollars, we could have more choices that meet the needs of commuters, seniors and all Ohio families,”said Amanda Woodrum, Policy Matters researcher and co-author of the brief. “For many Ohioans, public transit is the most affordable, accessible, and environmentally-friendly way to get around.”

 

The total cost to drive a car is at least $1 per mile travelled (55 cents for vehicle costs and 47 cents for roads after adding costs like pollution and crashes), while commuter rail costs just 67 cents per passenger mile (18 cents for the fare, and 48 cents for capital and operating costs. Existing trends toward higher gas prices and increased transit ridership mean rail services will continue to get more economical over time relative to driving (raising the cost of driving while reducing cost per transit rider).

 

###

September 19, 2011

Advocates to rally to preserve transit nationwide

 

While the six-month extension of the surface transportation authorization bill passed by Congress last week is important, public transit advocates are concerned about the short and long-term outlook for public transit funding. 

 

The House of Representatives has proposed to cut more than one-third of federal funding across the board for public transit and surface transportation programs. If these cuts are implemented, transit riders can expect service delays and service cutbacks as transit systems will be forced to reduce service and forego critical service improvement and maintenance projects. Jobs in the private sector will be lost.

 

Public transit systems, businesses, employees, riders and advocates are joining together at rallies around the country on Sept. 20 with a message for Congress: ‘Don’t X Out Public Transit.’

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.metro-magazine.com/News/Story/2011/09/Advocates-to-rally-to-preserve-transit-nationwide.aspx?ref=Express-Tuesday-20110920&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Enewsletter

Nice reply sent to an All Aboard Ohio member from Ohio's senior senator. The AAO member has yet to hear from Ohio's junior senator on this issue....

 

 

                        September 21, 2011

 

Dear Mr. _________:

 

Thank you for sharing your support for public transportation. The continued and widespread development of mass transit is an important issue for Ohio.

 

Ohio’s public transportation system is made up of 59 rural and urban transits systems that are used by more than 500,000 Ohioans everyday.  Public transportation eases traffic congestion, improves air quality, and helps reduce energy usage. 

 

With rising energy costs spurring record use of public transportation across the country, it makes sense that more funds would be devoted to expanding routes and increasing ridership.  Yet, Ohio continues to rank near the bottom in both state and federal funding per rider.  Whether it is streetcars in Cincinnati, keeping fares affordable in Cleveland, or ensuring service in Greenville, increased investment in public transportation is desperately needed.

 

I appreciate hearing your thoughts and will continue to support meaningful, responsible funding for public transportation across our state. Thank you again for writing.

 

                        Sincerely,

             

                        Sherrod Brown

                        United States Senator

Transportation coalition stresses job creation in next surface transportation bill

 

The American Crisis in Transportation Coalition, formed earlier this year to call attention to deterioration in the U.S. transportation system, is calling on Congress to weigh job creation as lawmakers develop and consider the next long-term surface transportation bill.

 

Earlier this month, Congress passed a six-month extension of the current surface transportation law, which holds spending to current levels.

 

“While Congress ponders what to do with the next bill, unemployment remains at dangerously high levels, hovering around 9 percent,” said Frank Busalacchi, coalition chairman, in a prepared statement. “The next surface transportation bill could be a powerful tool to create good-paying jobs.”

 

Read more at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/Transportation-coalition-stresses-job-creation-in-next-surface-transportation-bill--28081

Below is an editorial that appeared in this morning’s issue of the Washington Examiner, a conservative-leaning free daily newspaper. This probably also appeared in other Examiner newspapers throughout the country, which are owned by the same company (Clarity Media Group, which also publishes the conservative Weekly Standard magazine). The Examiner's owner, Philip Anschutz, is also a board member of the American Petroleum Institute.

 

I encourage you to write letters to the editor of the Washington Examiner or your local Examiner to counter this, such as arguments for alternatives to driving so that Americans can regain the freedom of choice they once enjoyed, or that the automobile would be virtually useless without good roads that were paved and still owned by big government that subsidizes driving more than trains and transit. The Washington Examiner takes letters by email at [email protected].

 

__________________

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2011/09/automobiles-gave-americans-mobility-prosperity-and-greater-freedom#ixzz1YhJccCHU

 

Automobiles gave Americans mobility, prosperity and greater freedom

By: Examiner Editorial | 09/21/11 8:05 PM

 

As World Car-Free Day, Sept. 22 may be the most politically correct day on the calendar. That is why it likely isn't coincidental that the British Medical Journal chose this week to make public a study that found being exposed to auto pollution increases an individual's risk of having a heart attack within one to six hours by approximately 1.5 percent. Despite the tiny increment of purported risk, expect to see uncritical references to the study in coverage of World Car-Free Day throughout the liberal precincts of the mainstream media where anti-automobile studies are nearly as popular as automobile ads.

 

But fair-minded people with a knowledge of history understand that we should be exceedingly thankful for the automobile and its crucial role in the economic, social and political progress achieved since Henry Ford put America on wheels in 1908 with the Model T. Note that average life expectancy in America that year for men was 49.5 years and 52.8 years for women. Today, the overall average life expectancy in America is 78.37 years, a 58 percent improvement for men and a 48 percent gain for women. So much for the killer exhaust fumes.

 

Most Americans in Ford's day lived on farms and made their living through physical exertion. They also lived relatively isolated lives because they were separated by distances that could only be traversed using horses or walking. That meant their access to medical care, education, employment opportunities, and recreation was extremely limited. By pricing the Model T to make it affordable for the vast majority of Americans, and paying his employees wages that enabled them to buy what they built, Ford revolutionized American life for the better in virtually every way. It is no exaggeration to say Ford's Model T freed rural America from its isolation and thereby ushered America into an era of previously unthinkable opportunity.

 

The widespread affordability of the automobile in America made possible the nation's rapid evolution from agrarian society to industrial powerhouse. It is all but impossible to chronicle all of the great things made possible by the mobility created by the automobile. Farmhands with limited economic prospects were liberated to move to cities where multiple jobs were available, with incalculably greater opportunities for improved family, social, spiritual and educational lives for them, their spouses and their children. New industries sprang up everywhere in large part because of the mobility made possible by the Model T.

 

Sadly, it's precisely that individual mobility that makes Big Green environmentalists obsess about forcing "drivers out of their cars and into public transit." But the more they try, the more Americans reject subways and buses and choose instead to drive to work, school and a zillion other destinations. That's why Ford should have called his Model T the "freedom machine" and why we should celebrate it today.

And apparently that editorial was written before news that the share of U.S. households without a car rose again to 9.1% vs. 8.8% in 2006. Households with two or more cars dropped from 58% to 57.1%.

 

I'm sure that, had the Examiner known about this new information, it would have given their writers at least a moment of pause before writing that staff editorial....

 

Read more at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-22/Census-marriage-divorce-recession-education-lifestyle/50506164/1

The problem with the Examiner (like much of Internet "journalism") is that there is very little editorial oversight.  So, I doubt the census information would have been used, even if they were aware of it.  It doesn't fit their slant.

I was being facetious. I forgot to add a :-P after my "I'm sure..." comment.

On NPR yesterday, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett; Head of the Republican Mayors Association:

 

CORNETT: Well, we need to invest in our infrastructure regardless of the economic times. Plus, it would put people back to work. I think construction work also serves an additional asset in that if your citizens are seeing construction, it sort of gives them a feeling that people are investing in the long-term, that things are going to be better, it might help with consumer confidence. In Oklahoma City, we have a tremendous amount of construction going on right now – probably as much as we’ve had in 100 years – and our consumer confidence is very high. Our sales tax receipts are going through the roof. And I’m just thinking part of that consumer confidence is based on the fact that they see so much construction taking place in the city.

 

INTERVIEWER: The way you're speaking about infrastructure, you know, spending money on projects, putting people to work, you sound very much like what President Obama has said.

 

CORNETT: Well, if we agree on something, I'm glad. Because I believe in infrastructure, I believe in investing in your hard assets. Where I think government starts to fail is when it starts getting itself weighed down with the social programs. And I think the American public just feels like a lot of that money is tossed aside and wasted. But they like the idea that they can see a bridge or a road or a new railway station.

 

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/22/140694856/cornett-construction-is-good-for-the-economy-and-psyche

^Although transporation infrastructure is perhaps the most visible form of government spending, infrastructure is only a very small part of overall government spending. Social programs are huge.

 

 

^A lot of those social programs' costs are exacerbated by suburban development patterns, obesity, an unhealthy populace and lack of mobility.

An interesting video about urban development.

 

^Good visualization of the difference between a street and a road.

 

The one thing that I would add is that in the high growth years of the 1950's, it looked like the highways would be affordable indefinitely. The folks who planned the finances of our highways did not forsee economic conditions that we have today.

 

 

That video was great. Thanks for posting. Fifteen minutes well spent.

Opinions

The Washington Post

 

We already have the infrastructure bank we need

By Howard Schweitzer, Mark L. Alderman and Evan Bayh, Published: September 29

 

In the American Jobs Act, President Obama reiterated his call for a national infrastructure bank, building on bipartisan legislation introduced in March by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.). The media are awash with calls to pass legislation creating a government bank to support private-sector investment in projects that would revitalize our domestic infrastructure, which most experts agree is in disrepair. At the same time, Washington is desperately searching for tools to stimulate a struggling economy.

 

Yet even if the president’s proposal were enacted tomorrow, it would be years before such a new bank would be fully operational. While Congress and the administration debate the appropriate means of financing infrastructure, there is a way to begin financing projects and creating jobs today.

 

The Export-Import Bank of the United States, a self-funded government corporation that carries the full faith and credit of the United States, has been financing multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects and creating American jobs for more than 75 years. Why haven’t you heard of the bank? Because it finances these projects in Jakarta, Santo Domingo and Sofia, instead of in Chicago, Dallas and Boston.

 

Read full op-ed at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-already-have-the-infrastructure-bank-we-need/2011/09/27/gIQA59TI8K_story.html

Mica seeks six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill at current funding levels, spokesman says

 

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) is preparing a six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill that would drop a previously proposed 30 percent cut in funding.

 

Mica “is looking for ways to responsibly increase revenue to maintain our surface transportation infrastructure,” Mica spokesman Justin Harclerode said in a telephone interview yesterday.

 

What those additional sources of revenue might be have not yet been determined, although one option that remains off the table is an increase in the federal gas tax, Harclerode said.

 

Read more at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/Mica-seeks-sixyear-surface-transportation-reauthorization-bill-at-current-funding-levels-spokesman-says--28280

Mica reiterates opposition to national infrastructure bank

 

Yesterday, U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said at a committee hearing that President Obama’s proposal for a “national infrastructure bank” to help finance infrastructure maintenance and improvements is “dead on arrival in Congress.”

 

“We do not need more federal bureaucracy,” said Mica in a prepared statement. “The federal government also has existing financing programs that serve the same purpose as a national infrastructure bank, such as TIFIA, RRIF and others, that we can improve and strengthen.”

 

Thirty-three state infrastructure banks already exist, “and we can ensure financing and build upon this foundation” without creating new levels of federal bureaucracy, he said.

 

Read more at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/Mica-reiterates-opposition-to-national-infrastructure-bank--28418

A non-copyrighted article, cross-posted from the Amtrak thread.......

 

http://www.illini.utu.org/board/news-display-current.jhtml?DB=update/dbase&DO=display&ID=1318539359_20959&current=current

 

Amtrak now fastest-growing mode of travel in U.S., but GOP still wants to kill it

United Transportation Union

Illinois Legislative Board

Robert W. Guy, State Director

[10/13/2011]

 

ST. LOUIS (Oct. 13)—It’s official: Amtrak announced in a ceremony at the St. Louis rail station today that the national passenger rail carrier broke its all-time ridership record in Fiscal Year 2011, carrying 30.2 million passengers and far surpassing its pre-recession figure of 28.4 million carried in 2008.

 

The announcement came just as a new report from Democrats in the U.S. House documented that intercity passenger rail ridership has been growing faster than air and auto travel since at least 2001.

 

Amtrak records show that after the company’s 2008 ridership peak the 2009 recession dealt Amtrak a temporary setback in which ridership sagged back to 26.7 million.

 

But in 2010 the trains rallied, returning to the 2008 levels before staging the spectacular 2011 spurt that attracted 2 million new passengers to the company’s 23,000-mile system.

 

“Make no mistake, train travel is getting popular,” said UTU Illinois Legislative Director Robert W. Guy, who attended the St. Louis ceremony. “You cannot dismiss these kinds of numbers as a fad that’s going to go away tomorrow, nor can you attribute the growing popularity of train travel to the high price of gasoline. Gasoline prices have remained somewhat stagnant, but the growth in train ridership has continued.”

 

And despite the sudden eruption in ridership figures between 2010 and 2011, growth in train ridership is nothing new, Guy said.

 

“Actually, Amtrak has been the nation’s fastest-growing form of travel for 10 years now,” he said.

 

Guy pointed to a recent report published by the Minority Staff of the U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee that showed Amtrak’s popularity is growing faster than that of driving or air travel.

 

“In the decade since 2001, annual domestic emplanements—the number of people buying airline tickets—grew only about 4.58 per cent, and annual Vehicle Miles Traveled in private automobiles grew 10.69 per cent,” Guy said.

 

“But during that same period transit ridership grew 13.23 per cent, and Amtrak ridership showed the strongest growth rate of all—-28.49 per cent,” he said.

“Train-riding is growing nearly three times faster than driving and six times faster than flying,” Guy said. “You just can’t argue anymore that Americans won’t ride trains.”

 

Despite Amtrak’s steep and prolonged growth in popularity, however, the Republican-dominated U.S. House has proposed budget cuts that would sharply reduce Amtrak’s daily departures, particularly the daytime corridor trains supported by the legislatures of 15 states, including Illinois.

 

“Illinois has one of the most successful state-supported passenger-train networks in the nation,” Guy said. “We have four round trips a day between Chicago and St. Louis and two each on the Chicago-Carbondale and Chicago-Quincy routes. Ridership and revenues on all of them are up sharply, and on the Chicago-Carbondale route the growth is in double digits.”

 

Guy urged all UTU members to reach out immediately to their U.S. representatives with phone calls demanding that Amtrak’s 2012 budget for state-supported trains be sustained at the 2011 level.

 

“If you don’t know the name of your congressman just use the ‘Legislative Lookup’ feature on our Web site,” he said. “Then phone the representative’s Washington or District office and tell the person who answers the phone that you’re a constituent and you are urging the member to reject the Amtrak budget cuts and to support Illinois’ strong and successful corridor-train network with continuation of 2011 funding.

 

“Keep your message short, clear and courteous,” Guy said. “Feel free to mention that you are a UTU member.

 

“But feel free to reach out as well to your friends, neighbors and relatives who are not railroad employees and ask them to call their congressmen as well,” Guy said.

 

“For UTU members, maintenance of the Illinois passenger-train network is a jobs issue, and your congressman will understand that,” he said.

 

But for millions of other Illinoisians, he said, the state trains are a mobility issue and an economic-development issue.

 

“Thousands of young people from the Chicago area ride those trains to reach our four large Downstate universities, while Downstaters swarm the trains each weekend to reach attractions in Chicago,” he said. “During the middle of the week Downstate businessmen ride the trains to meetings in Chicago, and several Downstate communities have begun redeveloping their downtown areas with new businesses that thrive by serving people using the busy rail station,” Guy said.

 

“Trains are more than a jobs issue for railroaders now,” he said. “They are providing a new kind of mobility that millions of Americans are demanding, and they’re generating new business starts and new jobs for people who will never work for a railroad. We need to tell our congressional representatives that trains are good for everybody and deserve full funding.”

 

END

I missed this story!

 

LaHood won't stay for second term

October 13th, 2011

Posted by

CNN Political Unit

 

Washington (CNN) - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday he is staying in his post only through President Obama's first term, and will not run for public office.

 

LaHood, 65, the sole Republican in President Obama's cabinet, spoke to the Chicago Tribune on Thursday after a National Press Club event at which he urged passage of the President's jobs bill. LaHood told the paper he would not run for public office again, specifically ruling out a run for governor of Illinois. He previously served for 14 years as a member of Congress from the state.

 

He said he expects there will be some "wonderful opportunities" for him in the private sector when he leaves government.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/13/lahood-wont-stay-for-second-term/

Another government official eagerly awaiting "wonderful opportunities" post-government service (and with the bonus of a government pension)!

Depressing.

He probably won't wind up in the asphalt lobby unlike some other transportation director.

 

He said he expects there will be some "wonderful opportunities" for him in the private sector when he leaves government.

 

sounds like he already has the offers....

He probably won't wind up in the asphalt lobby unlike some other transportation director.

 

Who came BACK to be transportation director. Now that's a revolving door....

Are we reaching ‘peak car’?

anita elash

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Published Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011 8:00AM EDT

 

Anyone who has been stuck in big-city gridlock lately may find this hard to believe, but millions of Westerners are giving up their cars.

 

Experts say our love affair with the automobile is ending, and that could change much more than how we get around – it presents both an opportunity and an imperative to rethink how we build cities, how governments budget and even the contours of the political landscape.

 

Opting out of car culture The most detailed picture of the trend comes from the United States, where the distance driven by Americans per capita each year flatlined at the turn of the century and has been dropping for six years. By last spring, Americans were driving the same distance as they had in 1998.

 

Read more at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/are-we-reaching-peak-car/article2210139/

Senate Approves Austere Transpo Spending Bill; High Speed Rail Funding Plummets

By Todd Zwillich | November 1, 2011 – 12:27 pm

 

The Democratic-controlled Senate backed $108 billion in Fiscal 2012 federal transportation spending 69-30, flatlining budgets as Washington operates in a climate of spending cuts.

 

The bill passed after a long-delayed flourish of votes Tuesday.

 

It funds most transportation, transit and highway programs at or near levels for the Fiscal year that ended Sept 30. But when factored for inflation, it amounts to cuts to many programs. That’s largely because of new spending caps in place after Republicans and Democrats agreed to cuts during the federal debt limit fight last summer.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://transportationnation.org/2011/11/01/senate-approves-austere-transpo-spending-bill-high-speed-rail-funding-plummets/

Transportation groups want tax hike

By: Adam Snider

October 31, 2011 10:23 PM EDT

 

For the first time in two decades, major transportation groups have banded together and made a request that, in other circumstances, would be considered crazy — “Tax us … NOW.”

 

But the answer from Congress and the White House has been a resounding “No!”

 

It’s a fact of Washington: Politicians need cover before voting for most anything controversial, especially a tax increase. But even that is not always enough, much to the chagrin of advocates of a large hike in transportation infrastructure funding supported by a gas tax increase.

 

“That’s been the tragedy here. The frustrating thing is for the first time in decades, we’ve gotten all the key players on the same page in supporting an increase in the user fee,” said Pete Ruane, president and CEO of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

 

Read more at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67263.html

This would be like using taxes on alcohol to build more bars:

 

Coming Soon: Super-Partisan “Oil-For-Infrastructure” Transpo Bill

by Tanya Snyder on November 4, 2011

 

“In the coming weeks, House Republicans will formally introduce an energy & infrastructure jobs bill, and hope to move the legislation through the House before the end of the year,” House Speaker John Boehner announced yesterday.

 

Back in September, the Speaker let slip that the GOP would like to “link the next highway bill to an expansion of American-made energy production.” Turns out, two House Republicans have already put forth proposals to do just that. Both plans pay for infrastructure investment not with user fees like a gas tax, but with revenues from oil drilling.

 

Yoking transportation funding to fossil fuel extraction presents a horrific feedback loop. Drill for oil to pay for infrastructure to drive more cars to burn more oil — it’s a recipe to entrench oil dependence in transportation policy in a whole new way.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://dc.streetsblog.org/2011/11/04/coming-soon-super-partisan-oil-for-infrastructure-transpo-bill/

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/18/travel/pay-per-mile-transportation/index.html

 

(CNN) -- Remember your first road trip? That sweet taste of independence as you were finally unleashed on America's free and open highways?

 

For Pulitzer-winning automotive columnist Dan Neil, it was the day he turned 16 and passed his driving test.

 

"The minute I got my drivers license out of the laminator, I was on the road," he recalled. "I took the longest road trip I could take."

 

Neil pointed his Fiat 124 Spider convertible in the direction of the nearest city: Raleigh, North Carolina.

 

"I just had to go man, I just had to drive. I must have put 500 miles on that car that day."

 

Neil said he was part of a mindset that associated the automobile with freedom, mobility and self-determination.

 

Then the excitement in Neil's voice disappeared. "That was in the mid-1970s, and the road system was a little bit different then."

 

Indeed it was. The days of America's "free" and open roads are gone -- or perhaps they never existed at all.

 

Drivers often forget that they pay for highway construction and maintenance through federal fuel taxes: 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel. "The notion that the road has ever been free is sort of a self-delusion," said Neil.

 

But the fuel tax is running out of steam, experts warn, because more efficient vehicles are using less fuel and rising fuel prices discourage driving. As tax revenue falls, so does the nation's ability to pay for road construction and maintenance.

Wait, road's aren't free? And the government owns them? Oh the horror!!

 

Wait, road's aren't free? And the government owns them? Oh the horror!!

 

And they're all funded by my individual gas tax

Some interesting points made about the rail & transit naysayers....

 

Talking transportation with former Milwaukee mayor John Norquist 

By John Greenfield On November 17, 2011 ·

 

 

Whenever I visit Milwaukee I’m impressed by some of the more progressive aspects of its urban planning, like the many well-preserved old buildings, bike-and-ped-friendly bridges, the Milwaukee Public Market and the vibrant riverfront. Much of the credit goes to John Norquist, who served as mayor from 1988 to 2004, when he left to take his currrent post as president and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU).

 

This organization, headquartered in Chicago, promotes walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly, mixed-use development, advocating for urban design practices that were common before the rise of automobile after World War II. I recently caught up with Norquist by phone to discuss his achievements as mayor, and how preserving mass transit was the best thing Chicago ever did. We also talked about how this town could improve its economic prospects by restoring missing sections of its street grid, and how traffic congestion can be a good thing for cities.

 

Read full interview at: http://gridchicago.com/2011/an-interview-with-former-milwaukee-mayor-and-current-congress-for-the-new-urbanism-head-john-norquist/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GridChicago+(Grid+Chicago)

Wait, road's aren't free? And the government owns them? Oh the horror!!

 

And they're all funded by my individual gas tax

 

Not all roads are. Many local roads are funded by property taxes. And all roads are paid for by taxpayers, including railroads, private transit companies (especially prior to the 1960s), from lots of other places that continue to be paid regardless of whether you drive or not.

Five myths about your gasoline taxes

By Shin-pei Tsay and Deborah Gordon, Specials to CNN

updated 2:44 AM EST, Sat November 19, 2011

 

Editor's note: Shin-pei Tsay is director of the Leadership Initiative for Transportation Solvency in the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Deborah Gordon is a nonresident senior associate in Carnegie's Energy and Climate Program, where her research focuses on climate, energy, and transportation issues in the United States and China.

 

(CNN) -- A perpetual deadlock in Congress has resulted in eight extensions of the national transportation bill, causing roads to crumble, bridges to fall, and transit to break down.

 

Come March 2012, politicians will once again enter into a political debate about funding American mobility. Without a fiscal safety net in place, the Highway Trust Fund will go broke.

 

The Republican majority in Congress won't permit the transfer of federal funds from its general spending account to bolster the Highway Trust Fund. And despite the rationality of a user-fee system, neither party will lead the charge to raise the gasoline tax. Few taxes provoke more fury than those at the fuel pump and 2012 is an election year.

 

Read more at: http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/18/opinion/tsay-gordon-gas-tax-myths/index.html

Awesome article.

China wants to invest in U.S. roads and subways

Published: Friday, December 02, 2011, 9:38 AM    Updated: Friday, December 02, 2011, 9:44 AM

  By Associated Press business staff

 

BEIJING, China -- China wants to convert some of its mountain of U.S. government debt into investment in renovating American roads and subways, the commerce minister said Friday.

 

Speaking to a business group, Chen Deming said China wants closer cooperation with the United States in infrastructure, clean energy and technology.

 

Such investments would tie China more closely to Western economies and might help defuse fears Beijing will use its $3.2 trillion in foreign reserves -- some $1.15 trillion of that in Treasury and other U.S. government debt -- as a political weapon.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/china_wants_to_invest_in_us_ro.html

This could be posted in a few places.....

 

Monday, December 12, 2011

Transit’s Not Sucking the Taxpayer Dry — Roads Are

by Tanya Snyder

 

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Roads don’t pay for themselves.

 

But maybe they should.

 

“Taxpayers cover costs that should be borne by road users,” asserts the State Smart Transportation Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Road subsidies push up tax rates, squeeze government services, and skew the market for transportation.”

 

SSTI, along with the smart growth group 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, published a study in October showing that “between 41 and 55 percent of [Wisconsin’s] road money comes from non-users” [PDF].

 

Between 2004 and 2008, roads in the state cost an average of $4.24 billion annually. Of this, $1.74 billion came from revenue sources unrelated to road use—primarily property and sales taxes—while another $600 million was borrowed…

 

The fact is, roads constitute one of the biggest tax burdens we face.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://dc.streetsblog.org/2011/12/12/transit%E2%80%99s-not-sucking-the-taxpayer-dry-roads-are/#more-119623

^Here's the link to the Ohio version of the chart,

http://www.policymattersohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Highways_2011920.pdf

 

A really nice graphical representation of Ohio transportation funding.