The American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) comprehensive plan to “reform, refocus, restructure and refinance” the nation's federal surface transportation programs is essential to help improve an aging infrastructure network and ensure future U.S. global competitiveness, the group's chief executive Feb. 19 told participants of a conference at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y.
ARTBA President Pete Ruane delivered his remarks at the “Infrastructure: A Pathway to Prosperity” event hosted by Connecticut-headquartered Terex Corp. Sessions outlined the challenges facing America's aging infrastructure and how to fix the problem, including new methods for financing public works.
The objective of the conference, Terex said, was to help advance public understanding and foster dialogue leading to broad-based and non-partisan support to bring about action to address infrastructure challenges in the wake of the bridge collapse in Minnesota, the steam pipe explosions and electrical blackouts in New York and the devastation following Hurricane Katrina.
ARTBA's “vision” for the next highway/transit investment bill was detailed in a comprehensive 72-page report sent to Congress in late 2007 and can be found online in the “government affairs” section of www.artba.org PDF format 2.57MB. It calls for calls for new—and a substantial increase in existing—federal transportation user fees to protect and upgrade past investments and to finance a new, 25-year “Critical Commerce Corridors” construction program to add needed multi-modal capacity across the nation to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of freight. The current transportation law—SAFETEA-LU—expires Sept. 30, 2009.
Ruane noted projected increases in U.S. population and doubling of freight traffic, ever worsening traffic congestion, more than 43,000 annual highway fatalities and massive infrastructure investments in China, India and European Union are compelling reasons why the U.S. needs to act now. He also said it was a positive development that the condition of the nation's transportation network has been elevated as a national issue and was receiving attention from the presidential candidates.
Ruane spoke on the panel “Innovation, Crisis Response and Lessons Learned” with former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, president & CEO of the Gephardt Group; former Michigan Governor John Engler, who now serves as president of the National Association of Manufacturers; Tyler Duval, U.S. Department of Transportation assistant secretary for transportation policy; and Janette Sadik, New York City Department of Transportation commissioner. The session was moderated by former New York Governor George Pataki.
Other speakers in the day-long event included House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.), AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Eisenhower Group President Susan Eisenhower.
