ITS America Government Affairs Update

The U.S. House of Representatives took up debate last week on a Continuing Resolution (CR) that would fund government programs through the end of the 2011 fiscal year, while cutting numerous budgets including several transportation programs such as high-speed rail, Amtrak, and FAA’s Next Gen initiative.  The current CR is set to expire on March 4, a critical deadline by which Congress and the President must come to an agreement on the spending bill or risk a government shutdown.  More than 400 amendments have been introduced and are being debated.

Also last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood held a briefing with key transportation stakeholders including ITS America to unveil U.S. DOT’s portion of the President’s Fiscal Year 2012 budget proposal, which calls for $129 billion in transportation spending in FY2012 as part of a broader six-year, $556 billion transportation reauthorization plan.

According to LaHood, the plan will lay a new foundation for economic growth and competitiveness by rebuilding the nation’s transportation systems, enabling innovative solutions to transportation challenges and ensuring the highest level of safety for all Americans.  “President Obama’s budget…is a targeted investment in America’s economic success,” said LaHood.  “If we’re going to win the future, we have to out-compete the rest of the world by moving people, goods, and information more quickly and reliably than ever before.”  While proposing cuts to other areas of the budget, President Obama has stressed the need to balance these with investments in areas such as infrastructure, innovation, research and education that will help grow the economy and create jobs.

According to ITS America President and CEO Scott Belcher, “President Obama and Secretary LaHood should be commended for working to balance important budget cuts with the need for targeted investments in our infrastructure to keep us safe and competitive with the rest of the world. While we will spend much of this year debating the details, this proposal would put Americans to work getting our infrastructure back in a state of good repair, while advancing new innovations and technologies that will modernize our transportation network, make it safer and more convenient for the public, and support the 21st century jobs and businesses that are vital if the U.S. hopes to out-succeed our competitors.  We look forward to working with Secretary LaHood, his leadership team, and Congress to refine these proposals so that state and local agencies can take advantage of the most effective transportation technologies and innovations available today while building a smarter, more performance-based transportation system for future generations.”

The Administration has stated four broad goals for the proposal: (1) strengthen our infrastructure, (II) spur innovation, (III) ensure safety, and (IV) reform government and exercise responsibility.  There are a number of highlights for ITS stakeholders, including a stronger emphasis on technology deployment and new funding for cutting-edge research and competitive deployment of wireless transportation technologies through the President’s new Wireless Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative.  Additional highlights include:

$556 billion over 6-years for surface transportation programs, an increase of 60 percent on average above inflation-adjusted levels from the previous authorization; which includes:

• $336 billion for highway infrastructure programs, a 48 percent increase over the previous authorization;
  $119 for transit programs, a 128 percent increase over the previous authorization;
• $53 billion for high-speed rail and Amtrak to support the President’s goal of providing 80 percent of Americans with access to passenger rail within 25 years;
• Creation of a National Infrastructure Bank (I-Bank), funded at $30 billion, to provide loans and grants to support large-scale projects of significance to the Nation’s economic competitiveness with a focus on projects that provide the biggest “bang for the buck” to taxpayers and the economy; and
  A first year funding boost of $50 billion to spur job creation.

Expansion of the scope of programs supported by the Highway Trust Fund, which would be renamed the Transportation Trust Fund;

Consolidation of 55 highway programs into five streamlined programs, including:

• A revamped, performance-based Highway Safety program funded at $17 billion over 6 years;
• A new performance-based National Highway Program funded at $257 billion over 6 years, split between a Highway Infrastructure Performance Program designed to improve infrastructure condition and performance and a Flexible Investment Program that provides flexibility to states to invest in system preservation, congestion mitigation, or performance improvements on any Federal-aid eligible highway;
• A new Livable Communities Program, funded at $28 billion over 6 years, that would establish place-based planning, policies, and investments to help communities increase transportation choices and access to transportation services, improve air quality in large metropolitan areas, and improve quality of life in both rural and urban areas;
• A consolidated Federal Allocation Program dealing with road improvements on Federal and Tribal lands, disaster recovery, and workforce development; and
• A Research, Technology and Education Program, funded at $4 billion over 6 years, to accelerate innovation delivery and technology implementation, with a specific focus on highway research and development, a technology and innovation deployment program, and training and education.

A focus on providing states and localities with added flexibility while holding them accountable for performance, making Federal funding decisions based on more sound and inclusive transportation plans, reforming programs to increase efficiency and deliver cost-effective transportation solutions, and making optimal use of current capacity;

A new Transportation Leadership Awards program that would provide competitive grants to reward innovation and incentivize state and local agencies to pursue reforms in areas such as safety, livability, and demand management (examples of best practices that applicants might implement to compete in this program include use of lifecycle cost analysis, aggressive deployment of operating practices that reduce the need for more costly congestion solutions, and implementation of a performance-based funding distribution system);

Application of innovative, data-driven methodologies to highway and transit safety programs, including a new performance-based program to advance commercial vehicle safety and new federal oversight authority over rail transit safety;

A continued investment of $110 million in FY2012 to research and facilitate the deployment of ITS technologies to enhance the safety, efficiency, convenience, and environmental sustainability of surface transportation through the Research and Innovative Technology Administration’s (RITA) ITS Joint Program Office;

An additional $100 million in FY2012 to be used by the ITS program over a 5-year period to pursue groundbreaking research and competitive deployments of wireless technology applications for transportation, with funding provided through the Wireless Innovation (WIN) Fund, part of the President’s new Wireless Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative.

Continued research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on standards and technologies to improve vehicle crashworthiness and crash avoidance;

Deployment of Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to improve safety and productivity;

Creation of a new Research and Technology Deployment account within the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) budget that will align applied research and demonstration projects and combine technical assistance with workforce development to help prepare transit agencies for future challenges; and
An $8 million increase for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to modernize core statistical programs and support the development and improvement of transportation system performance measures.  

The Administration is calling for the six-year bill to be fully paid for, but does not specify funding sources.  In addition, many of the details behind the authorization framework are still being developed.  The President has stated that he is committed to working with Congress to ensure that funding increases for surface transportation do not increase the deficit.  ITS America is committed to working with the Administration to further refine this proposal in order to make better use of technology to solve our nation’s transportation challenges, including to provide innovative, efficient financing mechanisms that will adequately fund our nation’s transportation future while providing users with an equitable and transparent return on their investment.