Call for Proposals for Pedestrian Congress Due 12/03

The bipartisan leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unveiled their TEA-21 renewal proposal on 11/19, calling for $375 billion over six years for the nation’s highway, transit, and transportation research efforts. H.R. 3550, “The Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users,” commits approximately $69 billion to public transportation investment, while proposing $298 billion in highway program investment. 

“America’s congestion and safety crises will not just go away – it must be dealt with immediately. Our proposal will play a major role in moving our aging transportation system into the 21^st Century,” said Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK).

The committee’s request dwarfs the Administration’s six year plan by 50 percent and is substantially higher than the Senate measure, which is estimated to total $311 billion over six years.  The House transportation leaders’ plan does not specify how additional revenues will be raised to pay for the $375 billion package, but committee leaders have supported indexing the federal gas tax as a method. 

In his statement, Subcommittee Chair Tom Petri (R-WI) said, “The Department of Transportation has told us that we need $375 billion to maintain and start to address our highway and transit problems. If we don’t do it right this time, our highways, roads and bridges will be in total disrepair when the next bill is written in 2009.”

The legislation is not a full package in that it excludes provisions dealing with project streamlining and clean air conformity, which has been at the center of the debate on legislation moving its way through the Senate. Importantly, the basic program structure of ISTEA and TEA-21 are preserved in the package, and an expanded safety initiative, new programs for immediate congestion relief and increased attention to intelligent transportation systems are also proposed.  

While the bill provides many assurances to the states about annual funding commitments, it does not provide a complete structure of how funding will be allocated.  Nearly all of the House panel members cosponsored the bill, which is expected to move to full Committee markup by late February.

A summary of the bill, its funding tables and other statements can be found at www.house.gov/transportation.  

Senate Banking Panel Leaders Seek Funding Assurances

Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), the Chair and the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, recently praised leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for their successful action on the highway title of TEA-21 renewal legislation, but also indicated that the Banking Committee’s work on the transit title will not move forward until resources to support the six-year transportation are identified.

In a November 12 statement following the EPW panel’s adoption of highway and research titles of TEA-21 renewal legislation, Shelby said, “I applaud Chairman Inhofe and the Ranking Member Jeffords for moving forward with a bill that seeks to address the growing highway transportation needs for this country. The Banking Committee shares the goal of creating jobs, relieving congestion and expanding our transportation options.”

The statement by the Senate transit leaders also said, “The Banking Committee will mark up the transit title of TEA-21 reauthorization when an appropriate source of revenues is identified to pay for the six-year bill.”

For more information, visit http://banking.senate.gov/ .

Senate Majority Leader, Speaker Pledge to Address Ethanol Losses to Trust Fund

Following an exchange of letter requests from transportation leaders in the House and Senate, Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) pledged to support changes next year in tax provisions that would replenish the Highway Trust Fund for foregone revenues due to the favorable tax treatment of ethanol blended fuels.

Under the agreement, the Highway Trust Fund would gain about $2 billion annually in revenues that are lost due to the lower federal excise tax that now applies to ethanol blended fuels and the diversion of a portion of the existing tax that is deposited in the general fund. The ethanol agreement is one part of several steps that is needed to secure additional revenues to support planned Senate and House TEA-21 renewal bills that increase spending above levels that can be sustained with current revenue commitments.

The issue has received increased attention due to slower growth in trust fund receipts as a result of the use of ethanol fuels and the emphasis of the now stalled energy bill which calls for a doubling of ethanol fuel use within the next 10 years.

To read an 11/21 announcement on the ethanol agreement, visit http://www.house.gov/transportation/

The Transportation Appropriations bill is often among the most reliable of the government’s thirteen annual funding bills to clear Congress for a timely enactment. This year it is among a handful of the appropriations bills that have not been cleared yet by Congress, and will instead be taken up as part of the omnibus spending measure filed earlier today. 

Although a conference committee finished its work on the FY’04 Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill earlier this month, the final report has been delayed. While the House Appropriations Committee has issued a general statement, providing total spending for Amtrak, highway and transit investment, specific details on the agreement will not be available until the report is filed.

As Congress races to clear their agenda for the Thanksgiving Day recess, the transportation funding bill is one of several measures operating under a continuing resolution.  The stopgap funding measure keeps government agencies operating at last year’s levels, and is expected to carry many federal programs into January or until the omnibus spending measure is approved.  It is unclear whether the House and Senate will take up action on the FY ’04 omnibus appropriations bill before the end of the year.   

SUVs, Pickups, and Vans More Dangerous For Child Pedestrians

According to new research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 12.6 percent of pedestrians killed between 1992 and 2001 were children 15 years or younger.  During this period, 6,679 child pedestrians were killed, making pedestrian injury the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children 5 to 12 years old. 

The recent NHTSA Research Note also found that pedestrians of all ages, and especially young pedestrians, were more likely to be struck by sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks, and vans than passenger cars.  “Younger pedestrians are more likely to be struck by higher elevated vehicles...because drivers of the more highly elevated vehicles are more likely to have their view of the smaller children obstructed.” 

To read NHTSA’s Research Note, visit http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/Rnotes/2003/809-640/index.html

To read STPP’s Mean Streets 2002 report on child pedestrian safety, see http://www.transact.org/report.asp?id=202