Rebuilding Americas Infrastructure for Global Competitiveness

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Rebuilding Americas Infrastructure for Global
Competitiveness

• Jack Basso
• Director of Program Finance and Management

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SESSION OBJECTIVES

• To provide participants with an overview of
  AASHTOs Proposals for Authorization
• To outline the resources proposed to implement
  this new vision for the future
• To answer questions about these topics

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Rebuilding Americas Infrastructure for Global
Competitiveness

• A restructured 21 century program

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Program Structure

• The National Surface Transportation Policy and
  Revenue Study Commission recommended that the
  federal program be consolidated and reformed to
  address objectives of genuine national
  interest. We support the idea of program and
  process reform to address the national objectives
  recommended by AASHTO.

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Key Assumptions

• Ability to flex highway funds to transit and vice
  versa
• A planning process that looks first at mobility
  and after weighing alternatives, then decides
  which modal improvement is best highways,
  transit or rail
• Maintain eligibility previously established to
  invest HTF resources in freight rail

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Key Assumptions

• Restore to 90 the portion of the federal highway
  program apportioned to the states
• The proposed 375 billion Highway program level
  is based on prior AASHTO policy recommendations
  to ensure sufficient funding necessary to restore
  purchasing power

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Program Structure

• Preservation and Renewal Program
• Freight Program
• Highway Safety Improvement Program
• Operations and Management Program
• Transportation System Improvement/Congestion
  Reduction Program
• Environment Program Air Quality and Climate
  Change

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Preservation and Renewal

• 28.4 Billion for preservation, including
  reconstruction and expansion
• Maximum flexibility
• Expanded transferability when tied to performance
• Three subcomponents
• Interstate Preservation
• NHS Preservation
• Bridge Preservation

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Freight Program

• 5 Billion apportioned and 2 Billion
  discretionary
• Eligibilities full Highway Team set, including
• Bottleneck improvements
• Intermodal access to ports and distribution
  centers
• International gateway improvements
• Improve trade corridors
• Develop truck only lanes

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Highway Safety Improvement Program

• 2.6 Billion
• Includes
• RR Crossing set aside
• Operation Lifesaver set aside
• High Risk Rural Roads set aside
• Continued funding for Safe Routes to School

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Operations and Management Program

• 3 Billion
• To improve system performance in both rural and
  urban areas
• Encourage but not require the use of funds for
  low-cost, quick turnaround improvements

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Transportation System Improvement/Congestion
Reduction Program

• 11 Billion
• Urban States with Metros gt 200K
• Metro Mobility/Congestion Reduction Program
  62.5 to areas based on relative share of
  population consultation with locals
• Statewide Connectivity 37.5 to any area in the
  state consultation with locals

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Transportation System Improvement/Congestion
Reduction Program (cont.)

• Non Urban States
• Transportation System Improvement Program Funds
  distributed to any area in the state
  consultation with locals

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Environment Program Air Quality and Climate
Change

• 3.4 Billion
• Two components
• 50 to ozone, CO and PM non-attainment areas
• 50 for climate change initiatives
• If no non-attainment areas, current eligibilities
  continue to apply

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Performance-Based Program
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Refocus Program Structure on Ten Objectives of
National Interest

• Preservation
• Freight/Economic Development
• Safety
• Congestion ( mobility and accessibility in rural
  and urban areas)
• System Operations
• Environment
• Intercity Passenger Rail
• Federal Lands
• Research
• Consolidated National Programs

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Restructure the Highway Program and Revise the
Transit Program to Meet the National Objectives

• Highway Programs should be restructured into
• Preservation and Renewal Program Operations
  Program Transportation System Improvement
  /Congestion Reduction Program Environment
  Program Air Quality And Climate Change
• Transit Programs should be revised as well

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Establish National Goals

• National goals should be established in six areas
  including safety, preservation, congestion,
  system operations, freight and environment. For
  safety, the congress should enact the national
  goal of halving fatalities in two decades.
• Authorization legislation should direct AASHTO
  and APTA in consultation with the MPOs, and the
  U.S. DOT to establish national performance goals
  for each of the other five areas by two years
  after enactment .

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Develop a State Driven Performance Management
Approach

• Each state adopt state developed performance
  targets for State selected measures in each of
  the six key national goal areas.
• Changes to the eight planning factors to be goal
  oriented objectives are recommended.
• This is all it takes to integrate the concept
  into the current planning and programming
  requirements

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State Measurements and Reports

• Each state will be called on to develop a process
  to track and report on performance results in
  each of the six key national goal areas of
  safety, preservation, congestion, system
  operations, freight/economic development, and
  environment.
• AASHTO must recommend a process by which states
  self-define a set of measures and targets that
  would work in their unique context rather than
  have measures and targets imposed through some
  other process including federal statute,
  regulation or funding distribution.

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State Measurements and Reports (Continued)

• Establish a Performance-Oriented Pilot Program,
  similar to what USDOT has recently proposed for
  those states and metropolitan areas that have
  established and met performance measures and
  targets in the six national goal areas that are
  acceptable to the USDOT.
• Regulatory relief and funding flexibility would
  be provided in terms of planning requirements,
  conformity requirements, 4(f) requirements, and
  engineering oversight.
• Ten states are eligible in the first two years,
  an additional 15 in the next two years and no
  limit on the numbers from then on.

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GOALS ALIGNED WITH FEDERAL PURPOSE AND
PERFORMANCE AREAS

• ENHANCE ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS
  ,INTERSTATE COMMERCE AND NATIONAL DEFENSE THRU AN
  ENHANCED FREIGHT SYSTEM
• REDUCE CONGESTION AND IMPROVE URBAN AND
  RURAL ACCESSIBILITY AND CONNECTIVITY USING
  MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION SOLUTIONS
• SUPPORT SYSTEM RELIABILITY, NATIONAL
  SECURITY AND NATURAL DISASTER RESPONSE THRU
  ENHANCED SYSTEM OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT
• ENHANCE THE ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITY
  QUALITY OF LIFE

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Dedicated Funding for Intercity Passenger Rail

• Separate account from highways and transit
• Funded from diversified portfolio of revenue
  sources
• Same budgetary protections as HTF
• Firewalls
• Guaranteed funding
• Contract authority

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Capital Program for States

• Multi-year Federal/State program
• 80/20 Federal/State share
• 5 billion annually
• Grants awarded to States (not Amtrak) for State
  selected capital projects
• Track
• Equipment
• Stations
• Signals

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Other Policies

• Continue Section 130 Grade Crossing Program
• Articulate National Rail policy
• Bring NEC to a State of Good Repair
• Provide Guidelines for Public/Private Freight
  Railroad Relationship

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Other Policies

• Develop National Performance-Based Measures
• Authorize a High Speed Rail Grade Crossing
  Elimination Program
• Provide Federal Tax Credits for Freight Railroads
  for Investments with Public Benefits

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Freight

• A NEW SET OF IDEAS

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• National Freight Transportation System
• Establish a framework for freight policy,
  planning, operations, and investment by better
  defining the nations freight transportation
  system, the demand for freight transportation,
  and the associated infrastructure requirements.
• Freight Corridor Organizations
• Authorize funding to support state-driven
  multistate, multimodal corridor planning and
  investment organizations
• State Freight Transportation Program
• Authorize a state-administered freight
  transportation program within the Highway Trust
  Fund funded at 18 billion for six years,
  apportioned annually to states

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National Freight Corridors Investment
Fund Authorize investment fund for freight
related projects on national freight corridors to
total 42 billion over six years (revenues from
new sources-- half apportioned to states, half
allocated to fund national projects from a fund
administered by US DOT. New Sources of
Revenue From resources outside the Highway Trust
Fund (HTF), authorize new sources of revenue for
investment in freight transportation
infrastructure
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• Existing Programs
• Reauthorize Freight Transportation Programs
  Authorized in SAFETEA-LU.
• Other AASHTO Recommendations
• Support positions on freight transportation
  taken by other policy teams, standing committees,
  and the AASHTO Board of Directors

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Financing and Funding

• A VASTLY EXPANDED FUNDING PROPOSAL

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Preamble

• Federal government must continue to play a strong
  role in investing and maintaining an integrated
  and multimodal national surface transportation
  system
• States and local governments should be provided
  with maximum flexibility to use federal revenues
  from existing core sources to meet systemic
  transportation needs
• Strong accountability measures must accompany
  substantially increased funding to ensure
  resources are spent as efficiently and
  effectively as possible

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Preamble

• We need to restore purchasing power
• Investment levels over the long-term need to
  correlate with documented needs
• Investments in safety and research remain a
  compelling need
• The impact of inflation on commodities and
  construction costs must be addressed in setting
  investment levels

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Legislative Recommendations

• Between 2010 and 2015, in order to invest
  in a robust surface transportation program to
  meet significant national needs, Congress should
  fund a 545 billion multimodal program comprised
  of
• Highway program funded at 375 billion
  (2015 level 75 billion)
• Transit program funded at 93 billion
  (2015 level 18.5
  billion)
• Freight program funded at 42 billion
  (2015 level 9
  billion)
• Intercity passenger rail program funded at 35
  billion
  (2015 level
  6.5 billion)

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Legislative Recommendations

• Maintain the current federal and state shares for
  highway and transit capital programs.
• Eliminate or drastically limit earmarking in
  federal transportation programs.
• Develop policies that support maximum flexibility
  to allow for use of both conventional and
  innovative funding and financing tools.

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Legislative Recommendations

• Create a Commission to recommend to Congress
  periodic adjustments for revenues necessary to
  meet program needs.
• Adopt a long-range approach to funding the
  surface transportation system that gradually
  moves away from dependence on the current motor
  fuels tax to a distance-based direct user fee
  such as a fee on vehicle miles traveled.
• Assure that any climate change legislation that
  creates a new revenue source, either through a
  carbon tax or cap-and-trade, provides substantial
  funding for transportation.

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Proposed Program Funding Levels
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Funding Options Matrix
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AUTHORIZATION

• QUESTIONS ?
• Contact Jack Basso
• Email jbasso_at_aashto.org
• Phone [phone]