With a new majority in the House, a new chairman and many new members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as a changing national economic picture, it is worth asking the question, “What’s ahead for transportation in 2011?”
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has compiled a list of issues that loom at the local, state, and federal levels.
“We are urging Congress to write a balanced bill next year that meets the needs of preservation and new capacity, meets the needs of rural and urban America, and meets the needs for highways as well as transit,” says John Horsley, AASHTO’s executive director, in a written statement. “If we get a bill passed with these elements, we have a shot of meeting the country’s needs.
“It’s important to remember that for every dollar that we don’t spend today to preserve highways, five years from now it will cost us $7,” Horsley continues. “In addition, President Obama wants exports to lead our national economic recovery. But you can’t move goods competitively to markets without a solid aviation, water, and rail system, and if we let those systems decline further, we won’t be able to sustain that export-led growth. Bottom line: It’s vital to the national economic recovery to have a world-class transportation system.”
Here’s a look at the top 10 transportation topics that we think will be part of the national conversation in 2011 – in the media, in government, and around the dinner table.
1. Enacting a long-term transportation bill that will keep America moving.
In 2010, there was a lot of talk about the need for a new long-term transportation bill, but in the end, Congress opted for a short-term extension until March 4 of the existing law. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), new chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has said he would like a new bill ready for consideration in the spring. Short-term extensions can create difficulties for state departments of transportation who must juggle major, multi-year public works projects such as reconstructing bridges or interchanges. In addition, these projects require that states have secure, long-term financing before any contracts can be signed. A multitude of associations, states, counties, cities, businesses and highway users will continue to work to ensure that a balanced, long-term and multi-year bill is adopted in 2011.
