When asked whether transportation funding is raised and spent in a way that reflects how we actually use the highway system Emil Frankel points out, in his latest National Journal blog entry, that the federal gasoline tax no longer provides a sustainable and adequate source of revenue for investment, nor does it serve as an adequate proxy for use.
Mr. Frankel points out that America's transportation system is currently under priced and over utilized. We need to consider certain costs and benefits that we don’t currently take into account when devising funding options. Improving user-pay funding mechanisms, accurately related to the full cost of providing transportation services and of maintaining and restoring the transportation infrastructure, is necessary.
Check out Emil’s full blog entry, as well as the entries and opinions of other leading transportation policy stakeholders, here.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
FREIGHT Act of 2010
The topic for this week’s National Journal blog was whether the Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to Help Transportation (FREIGHT) Act of 2010 will enhance the nation’s freight system.
Emil Frankel, Director of Policy for the NTPP, argues in his latest entry that the problems facing freight transportation are dealt with most efficiently when a broad, programmatic approach to transportation investment is employed. Through this lens, the NTPP views the issues plaguing freight transportation (i.e. increasing congestion, unreliable delivery times) as problems that reach beyond the freight mode and need to instead be dealt with across modal and agency lines.
Mr. Frankel argues that the FREIGHT Act could be strengthened by including, along with goals for economic growth, NTPP’s goals of accountability toward increasing national connectivity and metropolitan accessibility of investments. These goals would make any freight investment benefit the national transportation system as a whole rather than a particular region or state. Furthermore, the FREIGHT Act should include a mode-neutral freight fee in order to further tie funding to investments, enabling performance benchmarks to be met.
Read Emil’s blog post here.
Emil Frankel, Director of Policy for the NTPP, argues in his latest entry that the problems facing freight transportation are dealt with most efficiently when a broad, programmatic approach to transportation investment is employed. Through this lens, the NTPP views the issues plaguing freight transportation (i.e. increasing congestion, unreliable delivery times) as problems that reach beyond the freight mode and need to instead be dealt with across modal and agency lines.
Mr. Frankel argues that the FREIGHT Act could be strengthened by including, along with goals for economic growth, NTPP’s goals of accountability toward increasing national connectivity and metropolitan accessibility of investments. These goals would make any freight investment benefit the national transportation system as a whole rather than a particular region or state. Furthermore, the FREIGHT Act should include a mode-neutral freight fee in order to further tie funding to investments, enabling performance benchmarks to be met.
Read Emil’s blog post here.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
JayEtta Hecker WMATA Appointment
JayEtta Hecker, NTPP’s Director of Transportation Advocacy was recently appointed to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Governance Review Task Force. The task force is being convened to recommend improvements to WMATA’s governance structure. Along with other transportation experts, JayEtta will be serving on the task force with business leaders as well as former elected and appointed officials.
JayEtta’s appointment is featured in the Eno Foundation’s monthly newsletter, which can be found here. Ms. Hecker also serves as a member of the Eno Foundation Board of Advisors.
JayEtta’s appointment is featured in the Eno Foundation’s monthly newsletter, which can be found here. Ms. Hecker also serves as a member of the Eno Foundation Board of Advisors.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Transportation Equity
Joshua Schank, Director of Transportation Research for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project (NTPP), was recently a member of a transportation equity panel on HITN’s show Destination Casa Blanca.
The panel, which included Deron Lovaas from the NRDC and Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America, discussed how previous transportation investments have benefit the wealthier segments of the population while lower-income and minority communities have not reaped the rewards of transportation investments.
The NTPP advocates for transportation investments to be a “bottom-up” process. Instead of investing in particular projects and delivered mainly in the form of federal earmarks, federal investments should be held accountable to achieve distinct national goals, thereby creating a national transportation system that meets the needs of all citizens, regardless of whether they have access to a car.
Check out the highlights of the show here.
The panel, which included Deron Lovaas from the NRDC and Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America, discussed how previous transportation investments have benefit the wealthier segments of the population while lower-income and minority communities have not reaped the rewards of transportation investments.
The NTPP advocates for transportation investments to be a “bottom-up” process. Instead of investing in particular projects and delivered mainly in the form of federal earmarks, federal investments should be held accountable to achieve distinct national goals, thereby creating a national transportation system that meets the needs of all citizens, regardless of whether they have access to a car.
Check out the highlights of the show here.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Transportation Earmarks Rescinded
A bill authored by Rep. Betsy Markey (D-CO) that calls for the elimination and redirection of $700 million in unspent transportation earmarks towards reducing the federal deficit overwhelmingly passed the House 394-23 today.
Pushing for “common-sense spending cuts,” Rep. Markey’s bill is supported by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
The bill comes at a time when Rep. Markey, a vulnerable Democrat in this year’s midterm elections, could be attempting to curry favor with voters unhappy with the increasing federal deficit. Still, Rep. Markey urges her fellow lawmakers to exercise a sense of fiscal responsibility and “especially with regards to transportation funding.”
A new transportation funding bill will be debated in the House later in the week.
Read the story here.
Pushing for “common-sense spending cuts,” Rep. Markey’s bill is supported by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
The bill comes at a time when Rep. Markey, a vulnerable Democrat in this year’s midterm elections, could be attempting to curry favor with voters unhappy with the increasing federal deficit. Still, Rep. Markey urges her fellow lawmakers to exercise a sense of fiscal responsibility and “especially with regards to transportation funding.”
A new transportation funding bill will be debated in the House later in the week.
Read the story here.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Transportation funding in Pennsylvania
A stalwart of infrastructure development, Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) on Monday called for the Pennsylvania legislature to reach a consensus on a state transportation funding plan before the midterm elections in November. Gov. Rendell, who is serving the final months of his second and final term in office, said that a new funding plan for infrastructure would allow for needed maintenance and immediately create badly needed jobs in Pennsylvania.
Gov. Rendell’s effort to invest more money into his state’s crumbling infrastructure re-emphasizes the fact that more money needs to be spent towards infrastructure development, even in a time of grave fiscal constraints because of needed maintenance and the ability of transportation investments to quickly create well-paying jobs.
Read the story here.
Gov. Rendell’s effort to invest more money into his state’s crumbling infrastructure re-emphasizes the fact that more money needs to be spent towards infrastructure development, even in a time of grave fiscal constraints because of needed maintenance and the ability of transportation investments to quickly create well-paying jobs.
Read the story here.
Friday, July 9, 2010
High-Speed Rail as a Business Engine
Emil Frankel, Director of National Transportation Policy posted his latest entry on the National Journal’s transportation expert blog.
This week’s topic concerns the benefits of high-speed rail, which were extolled recently in a report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The report focused on four cities: New York, Chicago, Miami, and Albany finding that implementing high-speed rail in each of the cities made business travel more efficient, encouraged mixed-use development, and helped expand markets.
Has the uncertainty surrounding the utility of high-speed rail as a business engine been settled?
We should be careful to not blindly embrace or prioritize any one mode as the solution to our economic woes. Emil makes the point that high-speed rail, or improved intercity passenger service needs to be evaluated in the context of broad strategic transportation plans or programs that strive toward a set of clearly defined national goals. Putting in place broad strategic goals and programs can help demonstrate that there is no single solution to improving a particular region. Check out Emil’s entry here.
This week’s topic concerns the benefits of high-speed rail, which were extolled recently in a report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The report focused on four cities: New York, Chicago, Miami, and Albany finding that implementing high-speed rail in each of the cities made business travel more efficient, encouraged mixed-use development, and helped expand markets.
Has the uncertainty surrounding the utility of high-speed rail as a business engine been settled?
We should be careful to not blindly embrace or prioritize any one mode as the solution to our economic woes. Emil makes the point that high-speed rail, or improved intercity passenger service needs to be evaluated in the context of broad strategic transportation plans or programs that strive toward a set of clearly defined national goals. Putting in place broad strategic goals and programs can help demonstrate that there is no single solution to improving a particular region. Check out Emil’s entry here.
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