The House's base bill, which passed in a 363-64 vote, authorizes nearly $340 billion for highway and transit program over six years. The original bill would have paid for just three years of funding, but an amendment adopted at the last minute Thursday could add an additional $40 billion, shoring up funding for the life of the bill.
But according to The Trucker, the political "break-through" may be almost too little, too late in terms of what is really needed.
Marcia Hale, president of Building America’s Future, an organization that promotes infrastructure investment, laid it on the line, reflecting many complaints about the need to address the nation’s highway, bridge and transportation network’s condition.
“Congress has a history of kicking the can down the road with short-term funding bills that make it highly difficult for projects — such as road and bridge maintenance, and transit network repairs — to start or continue,” Hale said. “While we see this long-term bill as a positive sign, we still believe that the funding levels outlined (in the bill) are less than optimal, and will hardly make a dent in the massive infrastructure and transportation funding deficit currently facing our country.”
Big changes in consumer purchasing behavior, increasing population concentration, and the new opportunities presented by the expansion of the Panama Canal -- to mention but a few -- converge to present significant transportation challenges for the next thirty-plus years.
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