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NCSL 2006 Spring Forum

Session:  Federal Transportation Funding

April 2006

Speaker: David Kelly, US DOT

SAFETEA-LU was a big piece of legislation and we are still analyzing the details of the bill.  Obviously, safety is a big component.  The US DOT is excited about the flexibility available to the states to determine the best finance options for funding projects.  The next bill will not be like this one because the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) can’t support it.  There are several good pilot programs for tolling in the bill that will hopefully set the stage for reauthorization in a few years.  Biggest area of improvement is the use of public/private partnerships.  The private sector has a big interest in maintaining the infrastructure and looking at congestion beyond the traffic jam.  We have congestion at the airports, ports, roads, etc.  Congestion at one point leads to a huge problem for the whole system. 

The Texas transportation corridor was a catalyst in starting the public/private partnership movement.  The agreement facilitates the construction of a highway through Texas from Mexico to Oklahoma.  The private company pays the state upfront for the costs.  The latest examples of similar partnerships are in Chicago (Chicago skyway) and in Indiana.  Both projects leveraged toll roads as assets.  The private companies made payments to the state.  Each contract has language built in regarding tolls, safety and enforcement on the roads.  Each of these states had a backlog of transportation projects.  With this type of deal, the backlog is gone with money to spare. 

Another priority is to streamline environmental processes.  It can take decades to get through the entire environmental permitting process for transportation projects.  There is a problem with law suits at every point in the process.  The US DOT has started environmental streamlining.  We are working with other agencies to cut down on the timeframe and improvements have been made to TIFIA process.  Eighteen states right now have laws that allow states to enter into public/private partnerships but not a lot of progress is being made regarding the issue of charging tolls on roads currently without tolls.

Public Private Partnerships

 Transportation Presentations