A bipartisan transportation reauthorization bill being prepared by four key United States senators would map out a national network of freight corridors and dedicate a percentage of Highway Trust Fund dollars to road projects within that network, a Senate staff member said.

Four key members of the U.S. Senate unveiled an outline of a bipartisan transportation bill that would authorize about $339 billion in spending over six years, as a move to break the long impasse over highway spending.

The total number of people killed in traffic accidents in the United States in 2010 declined 3% from a year earlier, despite the fact that Americans drove about 20.5 billion more miles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported.

Members of a key House panel began hearing proposals Tuesday from members of Congress about ways to fund a six-year highway reauthorization bill without exceeding Highway Trust Fund revenues that are mostly derived from federal gas and diesel taxes.

American Trucking Associations Chairman Barbara Windsor told a congressional panel Tuesday that the trucking industry needs a new surface transportation bill, with a focus on highways, as soon as possible.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted last week to not support the Obama administration’s transportation budget proposals because administration officials have not identified revenue sources to fund multibillion dollar increases for existing and new programs.

WASHINGTON — American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said the next long-term transportation funding bill may not pass until after the 2012 elections.

For years, we all have watched the travails of the Highway Trust Fund, as the nation’s infrastructure has crumbled and the nation’s roadway and bridge needs have grown along with the population.