Politico (01/30/2012)
Transportation bills: House and Senate versions have major differences ...
With two months remaining to get a long-term surface transportation bill done, the House and Senate are racing this week to mark up several portions of their dueling legislation.
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PTP Blog (01/23/2012)
Ports-to-Plains Webinar on January 20, 2012 (Video) ...
Federal Update ... Senate Transportation Reauthorization Bill ... House Transportation Reauthorization Bill ... Details on Washington D.C. Spring Fly-In ... Transportation Advocates of Texas Update
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Dickinson Press (01/11/2012)
Building tomorrow's roads today: Legislators to learn about design-build…
Cal Klewin, Theodore Roosevelt Expressway Association executive director, has been making his way around the state to educate officials on design-build, a method of construction th
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PTP Blog (01/11/2012)
Time to reassess our national transportation program ...
The Ports-to-Plains Alliance finds this an interesting article addressing national transportation needs and possible funding. Several comments are certainly supported.
“Thinking local is not enou
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The Atlantic Cities (01/09/2012)
The Best Ways to Pay for Our Failing Infrastructure ...
…suggested that infrastructure banks might be the best way to fund our failing highways and public transit systems.
…calls on drivers to pay their share.
…proposed public-private partnerships…
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Denver Post (01/03/2012)
Editorial: Highway funding stuck in slow lane: While state and U.S. roads wait for upgrades and repairs, the government keeps ignoring reforms...
News that Colorado has lost out on a federal grant to make needed highway improvements across the state — inc
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Great Falls Tribune (12/27/2011)
Outlook for federal transportation funding foggy ...
Montana's roads and public transportation systems might be affected by congressional action — or inaction — in 2012.
But figuring out what will happen is no easy task, especially given recent debate
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Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) (12/15/2011)
Building a Better Gas Tax: How to Fix One of State Government’s Least Sustainable Revenue Sources ...
A first of its kind, 50-state report reveals that state governments are losing out on over $10 billion in transportation revenue every year, contributin
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Washington Post (12/06/2011)
Experts struggle to express direness of infrastructure problem to a wary public ...
Alaska’s bridge to nowhere is so seared in the minds of voters as the epitome of wasteful federal spending that experts say hardly anyone is willing to pay more to revita
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Great Falls Tribune (11/28/2011)
Highway Bill moves U.S. life blood, should pass (Opinion) ...
Leaders in transportation have long understood that there are no such things as Republican or Democratic bridges, just as there are no Democratic or Republican roads.
This fundamental underst
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CNN (11/19/2011)
Five myths about your gasoline taxes ...
…In reality, cutting the gas tax exacts a steep cost on the entire economy. The gas tax funds a broad range of economy-bolstering transportation projects across the country and it is already too low to meet curren
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Washington Post (10/24/2011)
Federal transportation funding mandates the coming Capitol Hill battle ...
Calibri (Body)
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Politico (10/24/2011)
Transportation's future a rocky road ...
Transportation experts said the federal highway and transit program needs two big changes — major systemic reforms and a large increase in funding. Problem is, you can’t have one without the other.
As Congress lo
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Best of the TxDOT Podcast (10/14/2011)
AAA Report Explores the Hidden Costs of Driving ...
AAA Report Explores the Hidden Costs of Driving - With gasoline prices on the rise for the fifth straight week, we're all feeling a pinch at the pump. But what does it really cost to drive your car? The
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Washington Post: Ezra Klein’s Wonkblog (10/03/2011)
Can’t Congress agree on highways, at least? ...
To hear Eric Cantor tell it, the president’s jobs bill is dead and rotting in the House — at least in its current form. But that doesn’t mean Obama’s ballyhooed jobs speech last month was totally ineffectiv
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Bloomberg Business (09/27/2011)
Gas Tax Should Yield to Mile Fee as Cars Evolve: James M. Whitty ...
For 80 years the U.S. has relied on motor-fuel taxes to pay for road repairs, transit systems and highway construction. This system needs an overhaul because soaring fuel efficiency and
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Ports-to-Plains Alliance (09/24/2011)
Ports-to-Plains Alliance Webinar on September 19, 2011 ... Ports-to-Plains updates it membership with a Federal Update by Jack Schenendorf of Covington & Burling, along with information on the Keystone XL Pipeline, the TxDOT Unified Transportation Plan an
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Ports-to-Plains Alliance (09/14/2011)
Transportation Funding Status Report ... Jack Schenendorf, Covington and Burling, summarizes the current status of Federal Transportation Reauthorization with a focus on Highways. Jack wades through the many layers and tries to simplify a new and changing
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Detroit Free Press (09/14/2011)
Editorial: Transportation disinvestment costs jobs, damages economy ... he aging and neglected hardware that binds, sustains and connects this nation is falling apart -- a victim of myopic politicians who can't see beyond the next election cycle. After dwi
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The White House (09/09/2011)
President Obama’s American Jobs Act
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AASTHO Journal (09/02/2011)
TRIP Report: Rural Connections: Challenges and Opportunities in America’s Heartland ... America's rural roads are facing tremendous challenges including deteriorating conditions and a higher fatality rate than other roads and highways, according to a new r
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Journal of Commerce (09/01/2011)
Chamber Calls for Multi-Year Transport Bill: Business group repeats call for increase in federal fuel tax ... The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday called on Congress to act more boldly to pass a new long-term transportation funding bill, saying Preside
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Politico (08/17/2011)
Grover Norquist: I'm OK with extending gasoline tax ...
Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist says it's fine with him if Congress extends the soon-to-expire gasoline tax for now - a statement that may allow room for lawmakers to defuse a brewing confrontatio
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Time.com (08/17/2011)
Why Dropping the Gas Tax Would Be a Disaster ...
In the wake of last month's game of chicken/debt deal compromise, the country was almost paralyzed again by another fiscal dispute—this time over funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Cong
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Billings Gazette (08/10/2011)
WYDOT's 2012 roadway projects list focuses on maintenance ...
The Wyoming Department of Transportation’s draft improvement program lists nearly $330 million in projects for the 2012 federal fiscal year.
The document also lists engineering and environmen
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Progressive Railroading (08/09/2011)
Bipartisan coalition calls for major investment in U.S. infrastructure ...
Yesterday, Building America's Future Educational Fund, a bipartisan and national infrastructure coalition, released a report that examines the economic challenges posed by the Uni
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The Infrastructuralist (08/08/2011)
Have We Seen the Last of the Federal Gas Tax? ...
Politico recently brought to our attention the possibility that lawmakers may let most the 18.4-cent federal gas tax expire at the end of September. Now it reports that this possibility has real legs — so
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CNN Money (08/04/2011)
Gas tax may be next Tea Party target ...
You may want to consider investing in some good shock absorbers for your car this fall.
Fresh from blocking any new tax increases during the debt ceiling debacle, some lawmakers in Congress may now oppose renewin
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Transportation Issues Daily (08/01/2011)
How Might Transportation Funding be Impacted by Debt Deal? ...
Whether by the hands of the new fiscal commission or through the alternative automatic cuts, federal transportation funding is going to decline dramatically compared to recent years. The Sen
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CE News (08/01/2011)
Proposed reforms a good start to reauthorization policy debate ...
As Congress works to reauthorize federal transportation funding before the current program expires on Sept. 30, 2011, an important debate has revived over the role of the federal governme
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Reuters (07/25/2011)
Infrastructure woes take toll on US economy-engineers ...
Failing infrastructure will cost the United States billions of dollars in lost productivity, income and trade in coming decades, according to a civil engineering report released on Wednesday that
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Carinsurance.org (07/25/2011)
15 Startling Facts about America’s Infrastructure ... The infrastructure of a nation is what holds civilization together. It includes roads, water supplies, sewers, electrical grids, and telecommunications — things without which the world might prove a dif
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The Hill’s Transportation Blog (07/22/2011)
Road builders: Highway bill not like other 'government spending' ...
With lawmakers in the Senate discussing their version of a new federal surface transportation, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association is out with a new ad arguing that
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The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (07/22/2011)
America’s national surface transportation network is in crisis, writes Jack L. Schenendorf, of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP. Without additional transportation investment, the United States economy will suffer. While raising motor fuel taxes, which comp
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El Paso Times (05/29/2011)
NAFTA: Mexican truckers to drive cargo into US interior ...
As the Obama administration prepares to honor a 17-year-old treaty with Mexico allowing that country's long-haul trucks into the U.S. heartland, emotions are again at fever pitch as businesses o
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Mileage Based User Fee Alliance (05/20/2011)
MBUFA Releases Fact Sheet on VMT User Fees
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CNBC (05/17/2011)
Tightening Screws on Infrastructure Spending ,,,
Debating whether government should back away from more roads, bridges, airports and let private companies take over, with Rep. Terry Morrow, (DFL-MN) and Rep. Larry Phillips, (R-TX).
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The Hill: Floor Action Blog (05/17/2011)
CBO says taxing cars by the mile could raise money for highways ...
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday said the imposition of a new tax on cars and trucks based on how many miles they drive would be one way of generating revenues for the fe
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Washington Post (05/16/2011)
Study: $2 trillion needed for U.S. infrastructure ...
The United States is falling dramatically behind much of the world in rebuilding and expanding an overloaded and deteriorating transportation network it needs to remain competitive in the global marke
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ARTBA (05/12/2011)
Reagan, Clinton star in push for transportation bill ...
May 12, 2011
The unlikely duo of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton is featured in a new ad campaign from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and the American Public Transportati
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USA Today (05/12/2011)
Should drivers pay by the mile instead of the gallon? ...
For nearly 80 years, motorists have paid a tax every time they put gas in their cars. What if they were taxed based on how far they drive instead?
That's just what a number of groups, including t
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Heavy Lift (04/30/2011)
Wishing we were elsewhere ...
With shippers losing confidence in the US permitting system for heavy loads, industry organizations are now calling for a more structured approach across the country.
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The Economist (04/28/2011)
America's transport infrastructure: Life in the slow lane ...
Americans are gloomy about their economy’s ability to produce. Are they right to be? We look at two areas of concern, transport infrastructure and innovation…
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Daily Yonder (04/26/2011)
A Transportation Bill for Rural America ...
Any federal transportation policy needs to insure that rural communities have the same level of choice in pursuing multiple transportation goals and options as their urban counterparts...
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Scottsbluff Star-Herald (02/15/2011)
Heartland Expressway message heard in US, state capitals ...
Heartland Expressway supporters used a two-pronged strategy last week as representatives visited with Congressional representatives in Washington, D.C., and western Nebraska representatives tra
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AASTHO (02/11/2011)
Federal FY 2011 Funding Bill Includes Transportation Cuts ...
…Last week Rodgers directed the House Transportation, Housing & Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee to trim FY 2011 budget authority to $56.3 billion from the F
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DCVelocity (02/02/2011)
Bumpy road ahead for transport reauthorization (Editorial) ...
Ray LaHood may be one of the few optimists left in Washington.
In January, the Secretary of Transportation told the SMC3 winter meeting in Atlanta that he believes prospects are good for Con
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PTPBlog/USAToday (01/15/2011)
'Earmarks' to nowhere: States losing billions ...
Cannot help but comment on this USAToday article. Clearly throws every earmark under the same bus … poorly conceived, incompetent, and political, but carefully avails a major issue with every transportat
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Texas Transportation Forum/TxDOT (01/04/2011)
Keynote Address: Governor Edward G. Rendell, State of Pennsylvania ~ Texas Transportation Forum ~ January 4, 2011 (Video) ...
This was a highlight of the Texas Transportation Forum. Every transportation advocate would benefit from watching this video.
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Congressional Research Service (01/03/2011)
Transportation Spending Under an Earmark Ban ...
Earmarks—formally known as congressionally directed spending—have directed a significant amount of federal transportation spending in recent years. Proposals to ban earmarks in authorization and appropriat
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PTPBlog/ARTBA (12/29/2010)
House Rules Changes May Affect Transportation Funding ...
The article below addresses a probable change in House rules that could certainly affect transportation funding in the 112th Congress. Our team in Washington, DC is very involved, along with other
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Bond Buyer (12/27/2010)
Transport Issues Still Snarled … Prospects Seem Grim for 2011 ...
Improving economic conditions are likely to put new stresses on the nation*s roads, airports and ports in 2011, but congressional gridlock could stymie efforts to pass already delayed fund
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Lone Star Report (12/17/2010)
Texas Transportation Commission takes look at miles-driven tax method ...
The Texas Transportation Commission, in its Dec. 15 meeting, took a look at a taxation method to eventually replace the state motor fuels tax.
The Texas Transportation Institute r
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Transportation Nation (12/03/2010)
Jim Oberstar, Exit Interview after 17 Terms with House Transportation Committee (MP3) ...
Rep. James Oberstar (Dem-Minn.) is about to leave the House after serving 17 terms representing the 8th Congressional District of Minnesota. He’s spent 15 years as
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PTPBlog (12/02/2010)
Earmarks ... Earmarks ... Earmarks ... What about Transportation Funding! instead of Debt ...
Thankfully the Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was released on December 1st. Perhaps it will shift the focus from earmark
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PTPBlog (12/01/2010)
The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform: a Focus on Transportation and its Role in the Economy ...
The Ports-to-Plains Alliance agrees with the statements made by John Horsley, executive director of the
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PTPBlog (11/19/2010)
Ports-to-Plains Editorial: Earmarks at top of Congress’ list ...
There is a great deal of focus upon earmarks. Earmarks are controversial and greatly misunderstood. There is no doubt about it. Many criticize the practice of earmarking and say it shoul
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Wall Street Journal (11/11/2010)
Deficit Panel's Leaders Push Cuts ...
Proposal to Save $3.8 Trillion Targets Medicare, Pentagon, Middle-Class Tax Breaks ...
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform co-chairs Alan Simpson, a retired Wyoming Republican senator, and Erski
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New York Times (11/11/2010)
Panel Seeks Social Security Cuts and Higher Taxes ...
The chairmen of President Obama’s bipartisan commission on reducing the national debt outlined a politically provocative and economically ambitious package of spending cuts and tax increases on Wednes
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National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (11/11/2010)
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform CO-Chair Proposal
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EOP (11/11/2010)
$200 Billion in Illustrative Savings-Federal Debt Reduction Proposal
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Texas Good Roads/Transportation Association (11/08/2010)
Rough Roads Ahead ...
The Ports-to-Plains Alliance would like to thank Texas Good Roads Association for its development of the excellent tools describing the current situation and potential answers regarding transportation funding in Texas. What is desc
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Wall Strret Journal (11/03/2010)
Game of Musical Chairs Begins for Committee Posts ...
In a surprise, senior Democratic Rep. James Oberstar was defeated in his attempt to win a 19th term in the House.
Mr. Oberstar was chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a posit
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AASTHO / APA (10/29/2010)
APA Report Suggests Tying Transportation Funding Objectives to Sustainability Goals (Article, Report and Comment) ...
From my viewpoint, this report is very urban oriented and misses a large portion of the transportation needs of the economy of this Uni
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PTP Blog/National Journal Transportation Expert Blog (10/22/2010)
Let's Not Lower Our Sights ... Jack Schenendorf represents the Ports-to-Plains Alliance in Washington, D.C. ... . It’s time for the two political parties to work together for the common good. We must put America first. A visionary, bipartisan transportatio
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ABC News/Associated Press (10/21/2010)
US Shuns Some Big Public Works Projects ...
No more thinking big: Has the US lost its appetite for huge public works projects?…In many of the 48 states in between, infrastructure projects are languishing on the drawing board, awaiting the right mix of cr
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AASTHO Journal (10/15/2010)
More than half of the respondents in a Pew Center on the States survey released last week said they would support raising taxes to pay for education as well as health and human services, but only about 25% indicated they would be willing to pay higher taxe
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AASTHO Journal (10/15/2010)
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has outlined for congressional staff an option that would convert the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel from a cents-per-gallon basis to a percentage basis, a mechanism that could
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New York Times (10/11/2010)
Obama to Press for Infrastructure ...
President Obama will join mayors, governors and current and former transportation secretaries on Monday to argue for a major initiative to repair and modernize the nation’s roads, rails and air systems, just weeks be
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Best of the TxDOT Podcast (10/08/2010)
Outside the Box: Future Transportation May Take You on a Drive ...
With crude oil production reaching its peak, the dollar weak, and the nation's highways bursting at the seams with congestion, Americans are having to think outside the traditional box ab
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New York Times Editorial by Paul Krugman (10/08/2010)
The End of the Tunnel ...
The Erie Canal. Hoover Dam. The Interstate Highway System. Visionary public projects are part of the American tradition, and have been a major driver of our economic development.
And right now, by any rational calculation, wou
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AASTHO Journal (10/08/2010)
New Methods Needed to Keep Economy Competitive, Miller Report States ...
Without new ways to fund America's ailing transportation system, the nation will not be able to continue to compete economically with the rest of the world, according to a report re
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AASTHO Transportation TV (10/08/2010)
Two Former USDOT Secretaries Issue Report ... VIDEO
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Christian Science Monitor (10/05/2010)
Taxing drivers by the mile and not by the gallon ...
A tax on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) was shot down last year by President Obama. But a new study by respected transportation experts – and a successful pilot program in Oregon – should revive the idea
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Construction Equipment Guide (10/04/2010)
Congress Punts on Six-Year Highway Bill ...
A new six-year highway and surface transportation bill, which may be enacted within the next six months, would have to increase infrastructure spending to almost half a trillion dollars to meet critical needs o
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Journal of Commerce (10/04/2010)
Lawmaker Proposes Diesel Tax Hike ...
Increase would add 12 cents per gallon tax on diesel used to move freight
A freight transportation bill filed Thursday calls for a Goods Movement Trust Fund financed by a hike in diesel fuel taxes, but leaves open
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AASTHO Journal (09/17/2010)
AASHTO Reports Inform Congress of States' Capacity Needs ...
Congress returned this week to Washington after its summer recess concluded, reconvening for a few weeks before adjourning Oct. 8 so members can campaign until the Nov. 2 midterm election. Sev
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Capitol News Connection (09/15/2010)
Lack of Congressional Infrastructure Focus Frustrates Transportation Officials ...
AUDIO ...
WASHINGTON -- Although Republicans are savaging the Obama proposal for a $50 billion infrastructure upgrade bill, transportation leaders in states across the
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Theodore Roosevelt Expressway (08/25/2010)
Statement of Cal Klewin, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway Association to the U.S. Senate Committee on Budget
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AASTHO (08/20/2010)
Business Groups Launch Nationwide Effort to Build Support for Transportation Bill ...
A new national effort by the construction industry and other private-sector businesses to push for congressional passage of the long-delayed federal surface transportat
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Scottsbluff Star Herald (08/17/2010)
Transportation Summit about dollars, sense ...
Dollars and lots of them are needed to fix and build roads across Nebraska. Third District Representative Adrian Smith opened the Transportation Summit meeting with comments about opportunities the western p
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smartplanet.com (08/11/2010)
How electric cars could pull the plug on U.S. highway funding ...
The U.S. Department of Transportation has a faulty business model when it comes to funding highways. And the problem will only get worse as electric cars start hitting the road in 2011 and
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Logistics Today (08/09/2010)
ATA Gives Thumbs Up to Safe and Efficient Transportation Act ...
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) strongly supports the "Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (SETA) of 2010," S. 3705, introduced Aug. 4 by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Susa
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AASTHO (07/30/2010)
LaHood: Creative Thinking Needed to Fund Multiyear Bill ...
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told attendees at an American Road & Transportation Builders Association conference that while the Highway Trust Fund is receiving insufficient revenue to
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AASTHO (07/30/2010)
House Approves Bill to Rescind $713 Million in Unspent Highway & Transit Earmarks ...
The House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday that would rescind unspent funds authorized for lawmakers' earmarks in surface transportation bills dating back
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AASTHO Journal (07/23/2010)
Suppliers of Pavements & Aggregates Urge White House to Support Raising Fuel Tax ...
Five national organizations representing pavement and aggregate suppliers wrote President Barack Obama on Wednesday urging his administration to work promptly to enact a
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Journal of Commerce (07/23/2010)
Highway funding to come from tolls, Obama’s proposed infrastructure fund ...
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said a combination of current-level gas tax receipts, road and bridge tolling and President Obama’s proposed infrastructure fund could offer
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USA Today (07/01/2010)
Gas taxes give us a break at the pump ... When drivers hit the road in large numbers for the Fourth of July holiday, they will have something extra to celebrate — the lowest gasoline taxes since the early days of the automobile...
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CNBC (06/28/2010)
Breaking America's Oil Addiction ...
Rich Moskowitz, Vice President and Regulatory Affairs Counsel of American Trucking Associations, participated in an interview “Breaking America’s Oil Addiction” on CNBC.
...more
ForConstructionPros.com (06/15/2010)
DOT's Transport Strategy May Take Trucks Off Roads ...
The U.S. Department of Transportation said it plans to develop a national freight transportation strategy to boost economic competitiveness balanced with safety, livability and environmental sustaina
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AASTHO Journal (06/11/2010)
LaHood Puts Funding Needs at $500-600 Billion ...
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Fast Lane -- Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation (06/10/2010)
Obama Administration moving freight more safely, smoothly, and sustainably ...
This morning I addressed the Freight Transportation Policy Forum of the National Industrial Transportation League. I was grateful to have this opportunity to talk about moving
...more
Prairie Public Broadcasting (06/06/2010)
LaHood: Rural America will not be left out of the new highway bill
{Audio} Cal Klewin, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway Association and Brad Bekkedahl, board member from both Theodore Roosevelt Expressway Association and Ports-to-
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Grand Forks Herald (06/03/2010)
North Dakota Senate candidate recognizes the need and importance of the federal role in dveloping a four-lane highway along the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway. He Stated: "The federal government can help respond to infrastructure needs in western North Dako
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Journal of Commerce (03/24/2010)
DOT Rebuffs New Talk of Raising Fuel Taxes ...
Porcari stresses need to keep emerging recovery on track ...
President Obama remains opposed to raising federal fuel taxes while the economy is trying to recover despite calls in Congress to increase
...more
Cascadia Prospectus (08/10/2009)
Funding Conundrum Persists For U.S. Transpo Overhaul
...more
Dow Jones Newswires (08/04/2009)
Caterpillar CEO Calls For More Spending In Highway Bill
...more
AASHTO (07/30/2009)
Senate Approval Sends $7 Billion Highway Trust Fund Transfer to President ... The Senate voted 79-17 this evening to pass a bill that would deposit $7 billion into the Highway Trust Fund from the federal government's General Fund to ensure state transporta
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AASHTO (07/27/2009)
New Transportation Website Targets Greenhouse Gases ...
(Washington D.C.) - A new website is being launched by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials to highlight strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from tra
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