Secretary Chao to Headline Ports Conference April 5
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao is scheduled to headline the spring conference of the American Association of Port Authorities in Washington on April 5.
The secretary is expected to address the administration’s funding priorities for ports and freight infrastructure, the group’s CEO, Kurt Nagle, told Transport Topics in the week of March 27.
“I would expect she’ll talk pretty high-level in terms of a specific proposal in terms of what level of private investments versus direct funding,” Nagle said. “But we believe there is a recognition that we really need both if we’re going to be able to catch up with the condition of our overall transportation infrastructure and really build that 21st century infrastructure that we need if we’re going to be competitive moving forward as a nation.”
AAPA is asking federal policymakers to boost investments in seaport infrastructure, such as the freight programs in the five-year FAST Act highway law.
The White House has yet to unveil a $1 trillion plan that would invest in infrastructure over 10 years. In February, President Trump called on Congress to approve such a plan. He promised to have the plan ready during his first 100 days in office, which end April 30.
