Several organizations representing users, trade groups and industries weighed in on House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica’s unveiling of his principles for a transportation reauthorization this morning. The recurring theme in most of them appears to be ringing disappointment in a bill that would spend less money than the last transportation reauthorization in [...]

We noticed that the folks at AASHTO are asking all their visitors to weigh in and “tell Congress” what they want to see in a transportation bill, and more broadly, what they think we need to be building and doing with our transportation dollars. During the six-week campaign, people can use AASHTO’s Facebook page to [...]

A coalition of Americans from rural areas pushed back this week against a proposal to continue the status-quo transportation policy that places highway expansion above all other options. While highway and road building remains integral to connectedness, “it is not enough to address the economic and mobility needs of small-town and rural America,” the statement stressed.

Two reports out this week speak, in quite different ways, to the urgent need for a fresh approach to federal transportation policy. In “Road Work Ahead”, U.S. PIRG sounds the alarm on the escalating deterioration of America’s infrastructure and the need to get serious about repair and restoration. The “Unlocking Gridlock” report from AASHTO emphasizes the problem of congestion in our increasingly urbanized nation, offering highway expansion as the solution.

AASHTO’s president says gas taxes need to go up. (Baltimore Sun) Protecting our climate and gaining more energy independence begins, and doesn’t end, with the climate bill making its way through Congress. (Reuters) The speed of spending federal stimulus dollars remains a contentious issue. (USA Today) Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar looks to [...]