Infrastructure in the News: January 3, 2012

BAF IN THE NEWS

New York Times: For High-Speed Rail, Support in the Past From G.O.P. Presidential Hopefuls

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/us/politics/for-high-speed-rail-support-in-the-past-from-gop-presidential-hopefuls.html?_r=1 

“If you want to be the most competitive country in the world in 2040 or 2050, you have to think large,” Mr. Gingrich said in 2009 at a videotaped forum sponsored by the National Governors Association and Building America’s Future, an infrastructure advocacy group. Mr. Gingrich’s large thought was for America to build high-speed magnetic levitation trains, as China has.

NATIONAL NEWS

Politico: Reid wants to move FAA, highway bills in 2012

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70818.html 

Fresh off his win on the payroll tax break, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday he plans to prioritize aviation and highway legislation in 2012. He sold both bills as job-creators — the Federal Aviation Administration bill would create “a couple hundred thousand” jobs, he said, and the highway/transit measure “will create jobs, not just save jobs.”

New York Times: The Recession Squeeze On Buses and Trains

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/opinion/sunday/the-recession-squeeze-on-buses-and-trains.html 

For the average American driver, the time wasted in traffic jams has more than doubled in 30 years. The best way of easing that gridlock — not to mention saving gas, curbing pollution and finally finishing that novel — is public transit. Yet, as more Americans are sensibly leaving their cars at home and opting for the bus or train, mass transit is in deep financial trouble.

Construction Digital: Proposed Infrastructure Bank has $250 Billion Tab

http://www.constructiondigital.com/innovations/proposed-infrastructure-bank-has-250-billion-tab 

The looming infrastructure crisis in America has received increasing media attention over the last few years as crumbling roadways and malfunctioning water works threaten to slow the already pained economic recovery. Lee’s plan calls for a federal startup investment of $250 billion, with over $750 billion in projected private investments, to kick start the investment bank and begin funding projects.

The Transport Politic: Opening and Construction Starts Planned for 2012

http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2012/01/02/opening-and-construction-starts-planned-for-2012/ 

The uncertainty in Congress over the future of funding for the nation’s transportation programs has not yet hit local transit authorities, which will collectively spend billions of dollars this year on enhancements to their local public transportation networks. At least 33 metropolitan areas in the U.S. — and five in Canada — are planning to invest in new BRT, streetcar, light rail, metro rail, or commuter rail projects in 2012. Virtually every American project listed here is being at least partially funded through federal capital grants.

STATE NEWS

Winona Daily News (MN): Gabriel Roth: Who should pay for highways?

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/opinion/article_79413856-319d-11e1-a33e-001871e3ce6c.html 

When Congress returns to Washington after New Year’s, its unfinished business will include a proposed new highway bill, which threatens to jettison a long-standing financing principle — user pays — for a politically more-expedient principle: taxpayer pays. The old funding principle has served the country well. For example, when Congress established the Highway Trust Fund in 1956, to finance the Interstate Highway System, it insisted that only monies paid into the fund by road users could be appropriated to meet its objectives.
 

Denver Post: Editorial: Highway funding stuck in slow lane

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_19648466

News that Colorado has lost out on a federal grant to make needed highway improvements across the state — including easing congestion on Interstate 25 north of Denver — is the latest example of the country's faltering transportation funding system. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that U.S. transportation infrastructure is due for $2.2 trillion in upgrades and repairs. Roads are in need of fixes of between $130 billion and $240 billion by 2020, the group says.