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May 2008

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Oberstar Forum participants seek transformation of nation’s transportation policy

The current law defining the federal role for the nation’s surface transportation systems expires next year. Many are seeking to transform federal transportation policy rather than just reauthorize this legislation, known as SAFETEALU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users). State and national transportation policymakers, professionals, and research leaders joined U.S. Rep. James L. Oberstar on April 6 and 7 to consider policy options for the successor to SAFETEA-LU.

This was the seventh meeting of the transportation policy and technology forum named in honor of Oberstar, who became chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last year. The forum was again hosted by CTS.

Much of the discussion at the forum centered around the recent National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission report Transportation for Tomorrow, which recommends dramatic institutional reform and revamping of federal transportation programs and policy.

“We’re at a serious crossroads,” Oberstar said, stressing the urgency of addressing the nation’s transportation problems. “Either we make sound decisions or we fall back.”

Oberstar also discussed details of his legislative priorities for the coming months. “We have to look at every option and every alternative and then we have to craft a new transportation policy for the future of America,” he said.

Speakers at the public portion of the forum included U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, a member of Oberstar’s House transportation committee, as well as a panel with National Commission vice chair Jack Schenendorf, commissioner Steve Heminger, and USDOT deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy David Horner. A second panel featured Pete Ruane, president and CEO of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association. CTS director Robert Johns moderated the event.

Walz, serving in his first term representing the First District in southeastern Minnesota, said elected congressional officials must convey to federal officials the importance of local transportation issues. “The problem lies when ideology drives the policy instead of the policies and facts driving the legislation,” he said.

The first panel then gave an inside look at the commission’s report. Schenendorf described policy reforms necessary to repair existing systems while building new capacity, which will require an outlay of at least $225 billion annually from all sources for the next 25 years. “These are national problems that need national solutions,” he said, reiterating Oberstar’s sense of urgency. “If we don’t get started now, we’ll fall so far behind that we’ll never catch up.”

Heminger emphasized the commission’s support for significant policy reform and restructuring of programs. “We do not recommend reauthorizing the program in its current form,” he said, noting there are currently more than 100 spending categories. “We believe it’s fundamental before we invest in new funding that we reform the program.”

Horner, representing U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, who chaired the commission, said there is great support across the country and across the political spectrum for the commission’s recommendations. Horner also put forth the commission’s minority view. “The commission’s report is too much of the past and not of the future,” he said. Instead, he proposed higher levels of state innovation to address the transportation crisis.

The next panel discussed the likelihood of policy transformation. Horsley said the group supports the commission’s findings. “Now, the challenge to us in the industry is to craft recommendations to Congress that resonate with the American people, in sync with what the commission has recommended,” he said.

Millar, citing recent increases in the use of public transit, including intercity rail and bus transit, said the commission’s recommendations support a multimodal approach. “We are going to need all the transportation capacity in a variety of modes,” he said. “We appreciate some big issues they [the commission] didn’t duck, like getting America to catch up with the rest of the world in passenger rail transportation or figuring out how we can encourage the freight railroads to be more active participants in this and improve transit investment.”

Ruane, representing the private sector that builds and designs much of the nation’s roads and ports, said policy transformation at all government levels is imperative. He underscored earlier comments about public safety and the high number of U.S. highway fatalities, noting that legislators have ignored programs to improve safety, including design and modernization of roads. “We face a 40 percent cut in the federal highway program if this problem isn’t addressed in the coming weeks or months,” he said.

The public portion of the forum followed a series of presentations and discussions for invited leaders, which began with an introductory report on national transportation policy options from Steve Lockwood of PB Consult. According to Lockwood, the scope and scale of new transportation policy could range from a diminished role for the federal government to far greater involvement if programs are expanded. “We need to confirm the acceptability of tax increases, as well as other kinds of finance, with the public to support this kind of program if we’re going to move it forward,” Lockwood said.

In addition, a panel of University of Minnesota researchers moderated by CTS associate director Laurie McGinnis provided insight into two significant aspects of the national transportation policy debate. Larry Jacobs, professor at the University’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, discussed the national political environment on transportation policy, noting that transportation still ranks low on the list of the most important problems to Minnesotans despite the recent I-35W bridge collapse. Lee Munnich, senior fellow and director of the State and Local Policy Program at the Humphrey Institute, presented an overview of transportation finance and congestion pricing initiatives in the United States and other countries.

To close the forum, which attracted more than 200, Oberstar reiterated National Commission support for continued federal involvement in transportation policy and funding. “We will set to the task for the balance of this year and going into next year on building a worldclass transportation system that will move America forward, create jobs here at home, keep us at the forefront of the world economy, and build a greater future for America,” he concluded.

More information about the seventh James L. Oberstar Forum for Transportation Policy and Technology is online at www.cts.umn.edu/oberstarforum. A detailed report summarizing the forum will be available next month.