Obama Signs Highway Law That Draws Cautious Praise

This story appears in the July 16 print edition of Transport Topics.

President Obama signed a new transportation reauthorization law on July 6 that drew measured praise from truckers, shippers, road builders and others who said they were relieved a new law was enacted, even if it does not address long-term funding for the nation’s highway system.

The new reauthorization bill — named MAP-21 for “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” — was signed a week after Congress approved the measure and nearly three years after the previous transportation authorization law expired (7-9, p. 1).

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which drafted the highway section, said that, “with a stroke of the president’s pen, nearly . . . 3 million American jobs will be saved and created nationwide.”

American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said that, while MAP-21 contains many positives, the measure does not provide “adequate” funding to improve the nation’s infrastructure network.

“If America is to maintain its place as the world’s pre-eminent economy, then we must do more to maintain and improve our . . . roads and bridges to ensure that goods move freely and efficiently from factories to ports and from farms to markets,” Graves said in a statement the day of the White House signing.

MAP-21 authorizes $105 billion in spending for highways and public transit over two years — $52.2 billion in fiscal 2013 and $52.95 billion in fiscal 2014.

The measure replaces the 2005 transportation authorization law known as SAFETEA-LU, which expired in 2009 but was extended temporarily nine times when Congress could not reach agreement on a new law to authorize funding for highway construction and public transit.

ATA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have urged Congress to raise the 24.4-cent diesel tax and the 18.4-cent gasoline tax to generate more money with which to support the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for construction and maintenance of the highway system.

Revenue flowing into the fund no longer is adequate to meet the nation’s transportation needs, which means billions of dollars in general fund money will continue to supplement transportation spending.

The bill must be seen “as the start of a broader effort to address the long-term funding challenges that still threaten the federal transportation program,” said Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America. “That is why we look forward to resuming work on an even longer-term transportation measure that includes key revenue reforms as soon as Congress returns later next month.”

The law has provisions that ATA supported, such as a mandate that trucks have electronic onboard recorders and that a federal drug and alcohol clearinghouse be set up so employers can check driver records.

However, the bill does not address the truck size and weight issues ATA and the National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council hoped to see.

Both want heavier trucks and longer double trailers to be allowed on highways.

The bill calls for a national freight program and for more safe parking for drivers, but does not provide funding for either.

Natso, a national association representing truck stops, praised the truck-parking provision in the bill called “Jason’s Law,” saying it would result in more funding for parking.

Jason’s Law is named for a driver who was robbed and murdered in his truck cab after pulling off the highway to rest. “Jason’s Law” orders the U.S. Department of Transportation to assess truck parking in each state. States that want to build parking can use some funding mechanisms that have been restricted to other uses.

Despite the bill’s failure to deal with long-term funding, it is positive because it improves “the public perception of transportation,” said Greg Cohen, president, American Highway Users Alliance.

“Under the previous . . . series of bills, the public became less en-chanted with transportation policymaking, and that . . . had to do with earmarking and the number of diversions” to nonhighway uses, he said.