BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM
With the recent passage of a new five-year, $305 billion surface transportation bill—Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act—Congress finally brokered a long-term agreement to address the nation’s infrastructure challenges. While the bill pumps needed spending into a range of highway, rail, and transit projects, albeit through some budgetary gimmicks, its most lasting achievement may center on freight.
The Infra Blog
FAST Act ushers new era for U.S. freight policy
Thursday, January 7th, 2016Guest on The Infra Blog: Rod Diridon, Sr., Emeritus Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute
Tuesday, December 29th, 2015
Rod Diridon, Sr., served as executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute from 1995, four years after the Institute’s creation, until 2014 when he moved to Emeritus status. Mr. Diridon has chaired more than 100 international, national, state and local programs, most related to transit and the environment.
“The minimum gas prices around the world are more than double, sometimes triple, the United States…Now the public in America wants a gas tax increase: the polls show it. The polls show that if the gas tax increase will be used for transportation and infrastructure improvements, then the public supports it sometimes as high as 80%…But the U.S. can’t do it because Congress doesn’t have the courage.”
View this complete Infra Blog post...Our Future with the FAST Act: Ed Rendell, Former PA Governor & Building America’s Future (BAF) Co-Founder
Monday, December 14th, 2015
“I do believe with a new Congress and a new administration, whatever the configuration of that is…I think we have a chance to get a blue-ribbon, six-month commission to propose ways to make significant investments in the American infrastructure. And I think that would lead to doing something like all of the G20 countries have done, and that’s a long-term infrastructure revitalization program…I think with Presidential and Congressional leadership looking at one of the most significant long-range problems facing this country, I think we have a chance to start anew. If we had such a commission I would love to be part of it or chair it, and I would do it as a labor of love.”
View this complete Infra Blog post...Our Future with the FAST Act: Bud Wright, Executive Director, AASHTO
Thursday, December 10th, 2015
“I think all of those who have been surface transportation advocates have in fact been heard by the Congress, because they are supportive of this program, but that said, many of those same groups who are advocating for transportation investment have also made the point that what we really need is that sustainable source of revenue for the longer term. And the Congress did not address that issue. They chose to use what revenues do flow into the Highway Trust Fund but are insufficient to support today’s program levels and supplement those with general funds.”
View this complete Infra Blog post...The New Federal Transportation Program: What It Means for Your Business – Webinar, December 14th, 1:30pm- 3pm EST
Wednesday, December 9th, 2015
Congress has finally approved a new, long-term surface transportation program – the FAST Act. The $305 billion package will boost investments in highway and transit projects, giving State and local transportation agencies five full years of dedicated federal assistance, unlocking stalled projects and unleashing a new wave of contracting opportunities for engineering firms…To preview how the FAST Act will impact the business outlook for A/E/C firms, The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) presents an exclusive on-line seminar: The New Federal Transportation Program – What It Means for Your Business.
View this complete Infra Blog post...Our Future with the FAST Act: James Corless, Director, Transportation for America
Wednesday, December 9th, 2015
“…I think unfortunately we’ve come to a point in the U.S. and in Congress that infrastructure writ large is still somewhat a bipartisan issue—and I think this sort of cemented that for at least the next 5 years—but the type of infrastructure is not. So we’d like to see a more performance driven system where you invest in the projects that give you the biggest bang for the buck, and unfortunately I think we’re still going to be stuck in these kinds of 20th century silos for the next 5 years.”
View this complete Infra Blog post...A Requiem for the Highway Trust Fund
Tuesday, December 8th, 2015Innovation Newsbriefs
Vol. 26, No. 8
The FAST Act, signed by the President on December 4, marks the beginning of the end for the Highway Trust Fund as we have known it. The $305 billion 5-year measure draws heavily on general funds (to the tune of $70 billion), and relegates to a virtual anachronism the “user pays” principle that was the philosophic foundation of the federal-aid highway program for the past 60 years.
Finally, the FAST Act Is Here!
Monday, December 7th, 2015
On Friday, December 4th, President Obama signed into law the first long-term transportation bill the U.S. has seen in ten years. The “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation” or “FAST” Act marks a long-awaited bi-partisan compromise. The act calls for an 11% increase in funding over its five-year span, and makes provisions for $16 billion in annual transportation funding not covered by the gas tax.
View this complete Infra Blog post...Guest on The Infra Blog: Radhika Fox, CEO, U.S. Water Alliance
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015
Radhika Fox is the CEO of the U.S. Water Alliance, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to uniting people and policy for water sustainability. Radhika also serves as Director of the Value of Water Coalition, a collaboration of water agencies, business leaders, and national organizations dedicated to educating and inspiring people about how water is essential, invaluable, and needs investment.
“It takes, for example, 2900 gallons of water to make a single pair of blue jeans, or 880 gallons to make one gallon of milk. And so water is in everything that we eat, it’s in everything we wear, it’s in all of our devices. We need clean water in order to have all the goods and services that we have in our lives. So what we’re really doing through the Value of Water Coalition is making that argument to people that water is essential…”
View this complete Infra Blog post...Guest on The Infra Blog: Andrew Curtis Right, Executive Director, Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC)
Wednesday, November 18th, 2015
Andrew Curtis Right is Counselor to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Executive Director of the Build America Transportation Investment Center. The Build America Transportation Investment Center serves as the single point of contact and coordination for states, municipalities and project sponsors looking to utilize federal transportation expertise, apply for federal transportation credit programs and explore ways to access private capital in public private partnerships.
“If you’re going to build a road today you’ve got to bid out the contract, and someone has to pay for it. And in the past the money has typically come from the Highway Trust Fund, or from the federal government, or from state and local taxes, et cetera. Going forward, the issue is a P3 really involves a different layer of procuring and risk sharing, and effectively of financing, where the state or the municipality or the sponsor doesn’t have to pay up front as part of a contract…”
View this complete Infra Blog post...    |
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