Highways' "golden parachute"

By: Larry Flynn

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge has long been a favorite staging area for suicide jumpers. In January, one particular jumper tempted fate; not to end his life, but apparently to experience the thrill of life and living. The difference between this jumper and those that have jumped and perished before him is that he wore a parachute and lived to tell about it. Moments after leaping from the bridge, his shoot opened, and he plunged into San Francisco Bay unharmed. Cohorts then ushered the parachutist onto a boat and whisked him away.

No, the purpose of this anecdote is not to say that bridges like the Golden Gate should be maintained so that people can continue to jump from them. The stunt was risky and others in addition to the jumper could have been hurt. To me, the parachutist's leap into the new year, however ill advised, is symbolic of the highway industry as a whole, as it prepares to plunge into the reauthorization of ISTEA.

As the parachutist had to lay out a plan for his jump, the industry has prepared for the push for reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) for more than a year. The act, which provided a long-term plan for surface transportation and authorized record amounts of federal funding for transportation, expires Oct. 1. Associations have adopted recommendations and coalitions have been formed to give the industry a voice in discussions. The Federal Highway Administration has held numerous public forums across the country to gauge people's thoughts on ISTEA--what has worked and what has not.

The parachutist could not have been 100% sure of his success; the wind might have blown him off the bridge before he was ready to jump; his chute could have failed him or he could have become entangled in it.

Successful passage of ISTEA II is by no means a sure thing either. Despite industry efforts to form a unified front, the unknown influences of the Step 21 states, a coalition of gas-tax donor states that is seeking a more equitable return for the gas-tax funds its members send to Washington, and "devolution," a movement to dismantle the federal highway program and return jurisdiction to the states, could cut the industry's parachute chords leaving it hurtling toward an icier version of ISTEA as it pertains to highways and bridges.

Transportation funding will be one of the major issues in Congress this year. If the industry keeps its parachute chords in line and in tact a safe splash landing can be achieved.