Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Coalition urges transportation system overhaul

A coalition co-founded by Gov. Ed Rendell yesterday urged the Obama administration to overhaul the nation's transportation programs, calling the current system obsolete.  "Our nation's current transportation system is simply outdated and unable to meet the demands of the 21st Century," said Kerry O'Hare, policy director of Building America's Future. 

"We cannot continue to channel billions of dollars through the same old programs which lack innovation, accountability and an outcome-driven focus."  The bipartisan coalition was founded by Mr. Rendell, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg last year.  

In a memo released yesterday, the coalition said "federal transportation policy has devolved into a cash transfer program driven more by politics than outcomes." It urged the administration to mimic the leadership of former presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, who pushed for development of the interstate highway system, and John F. Kennedy, who championed an expanded federal role in mass transit.  

Among its recommendations were a "fix it first" policy of maintaining and repairing existing infrastructure; expanding public transit, including intercity passenger rail; emphasizing environmental protection by encouraging "livable and sustainable communities;" and reducing congressional earmarking as a means of funding transportation projects.  

"Funding decisions today are based more on politics than merit," the memo said. Earmarks have grown from 10 in 1981 to more than 6,000 in the last surface transportation bill, passed in 2005. "While not all of these earmarks funded 'bridges to nowhere,' a politicized method of distribution increases the risk of funding inefficient and wasteful projects," it said.  

Congress is set to debate a new transportation bill this summer, and members have submitted nearly 7,000 earmark requests. As part of reforms instituted for this year's legislation, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee required members to submit extensive documentation of each project and to post the requests on their Web sites.  In the past, the identities of those who requested earmarks were kept secret.

Commenting last week on their earmark requests, U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, and Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, defended the process.  Mr. Doyle said he expects that earmarks requested by members will make up less than 5 percent of the funding in the final bill.  Without earmarking, "local projects would never get funded," Mr. Murphy said, because decision-makers in Washington and Harrisburg "may not see the same priorities" as local leaders.

The coalition also urged the administration to give state and local governments more flexibility, including the ability to implement tolls and variable pricing, which charges motorists more to use highways in times of peak travel, and to encourage public-private partnerships to finance transportation improvements.  

It urged consideration of new ways to create a stable stream of revenue for transportation. The federal gasoline tax has not been increased since 1993 and the Highway Trust Fund is on the brink of insolvency because of dwindling revenue due to reductions in driving, better fuel efficiency and inflation in the construction industry.  

Coalition spokeswoman Laura Braden said the group hasn't yet taken a position on specific revenue options, including an increase in the gas tax.