Forget donkeys and elephants, the political scene is an entirely different animal these days. Democrats vote for Republican measures; Republicans vote for Democratic measures. The hard party line is more al dente, so it wasn’t surprising that in a recent survey Roads & Bridges readers took a 50/50 stance when asked if a change in leadership in Washington, D.C., would truly make a difference.
Forget donkeys and elephants, the political scene is an entirely different animal these days. Democrats vote for Republican measures, Republicans vote for Democratic measures. The hard party line is more aldente, so it wasn’t surprising that in a recent survey Roads & Bridges readers took a 50/50 stance when asked if a change in leadership in Washington, D.C., would truly make a difference.
The type of person in charge, however, may indeed determine the road and bridge building world’s short-term fate heading toward 2008 and the next major transportation bill. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a conservative Republican, but his imagination ran wild for years en route to establishing one of the largest public infrastructure construction jobs in the world—the interstate system. Ronald Reagan, another Republican, initiated the first increase in the federal gas tax in decades when he was in office, and Democrat Bill Clinton signed ISTEA and TEA-21 into law.
“The reality is, whoever is in office in Congress or in the White House has some tough political choices to make when it comes to the future financing of the highway program,” Matt Jeanneret, senior vice president of communications and marketing for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), told Roads & Bridges. “They are really at the edge of the cliff.”
Funding, however, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to current issues in the industry. The R&B survey also revealed an ongoing concern on material costs, a great need for tighter security measures and a warm reception for new U.S. DOT Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters.
A wider wallet
The month of November had Congressional seats and money changing hands. The Democrats regained control of both the House and Senate, and voters also approved 23 ballot measures that will generate almost $40 billion in new revenue for transportation infrastructure work. California and Minnesota punched the biggest ticket. Voters in California passed a bond issue of up to $19.9 billion for transportation improvements, while a Minnesota constitutional amendment dedicating all sales tax revenue from car and truck sales is expected to generate $300 million annually for road and bridge work.
However, the Democratic-controlled House is already calling for “pay-as-you-go” budgeting, which requires all increased federal spending to be supported by either spending reductions elsewhere in the federal budget or the generation of new revenues.
When asked how they felt the funding levels of SAFETEA-LU are performing, just over 4% of R&B readers surveyed said it was above average, while 37.5% said below average. Over 55% of respondents went on to say over $400 billion is needed in the next major federal funding bill.
Despite the SAFETEA-LU disappointment, Jeanneret was quick to point out that there was a record 7.5% growth in road and bridge construction in 2006.
“[ARTBA economist Bill] Buechner predicts that the value of all the work performed this year on highways and bridges will end up at about $75.5 billion,” he said. “That’s up from $64.8 billion in 2005. “I think next year we are predicting steady growth at this [current] level. We will not see significant growth, but it will be steady.”
“Although $400 billion seems excessive to a lot of people, it’s probably still not enough,” Dan McNichol, author of several industry books including Paving the Way: Asphalt in America and The Roads that Built America, told Roads & Bridges. “There hasn’t been enough and we are sliding backward into a post-World War II mode where the federal government is walking away from responsibility to build a national program to facilitate interstate commerce.
“It’s neglect of duty when the federal government is not building and maintaining the system the states depend on.”
Finding the means to pay for a dominant $400 billion highway bill is something that will scour the mindset of lawmakers for the next couple of years. Over 61% of R&B readers believe it will take a combination of many different types of funding mechanisms (federal and state taxes, privatization, public-private partnerships and road-user taxes) to come up with such a number.
The primary purpose of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission is to seek out new ways to fund road and bridge work. There is currently a proposal in the House and Senate to extend their work for another six months. A report should be made available by the end of 2007.
“There is not one silver bullet,” insisted Jeanneret. “We would argue in the short term that the federal gas tax will continue to meet the primary needs, but that in and of itself is not sufficient to get to that $400 billion.
“The most obvious thing to do, which is also the most politically challenging, is to increase the gas tax. It hasn’t been increased in 14 years. Your dollar doesn’t go as far as it did 14 years ago, and when you factor in all these construction and material costs, we are not coming close to keeping pace if we are trying to address the needs.”
Jeanneret said the price of materials in highway and bridge construction have increased a crippling 35% in the last three years, and over 90% of R&B readers are still concerned about the cost to construct. The biggest worry is with asphalt prices (47.7%), followed by steel (25.6%), cement (21.8%) and aggregate (4.9%).
Infrastructure security is another enlarged sensitivity among readers. Over 84% believe not enough is being done to secure our roads, bridges and tunnels.
“[The system] is woefully insecure, and the 16% [who believe enough is being done] are lying. They just don’t want to pay for it,” said McNichol.
Something about Mary
The current administration may have executed an important first step in finding the right type of leadership when it appointed Mary Peters to the U.S. DOT secretary of transportation position. More than 78% of R&B survey respondents approved of the move, which also received high praise from the industry.
“Peters is a committed roadway safety advocate, who, as an example, has placed significant emphasis on roadway work-zone safety initiatives by participating in community awareness events to help bring work-zone safety issues to the attention of the motoring public,” Jim Baron, director of communications for the American Traffic Safety Services Association, told Roads & Bridges.
McNichol and Jeanneret offered similar accolades.
“She’s been a champion of the public and private ventures and I think she’ll continue to talk about that going forward,” said Jeanneret.
“I think she is symbolic, but more importantly she is very capable of negotiating that dangerous, turbulent river she is going to be flowing down,” added McNichol.
