At the direction of Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell, mayors on the Conference's Transportation and Communications Committee discussed legislative priorities for the 107th Congress, focusing their attention on the upcoming renewals of last year's aviation law (AIR-21) and the 1998 surface transportation law (TEA-21). Meeting January 18 during the Conference's 69th Winter Meeting, the panel members also discussed follow-up to the Mayors' Rail Summit which was held the previous day.

In discussing the renewals of AIR-21 and TEA-21, Campbell said, "the Mayors lobbying on these bills made a real difference." He reminded the panel members that "the dollars are so large, it is helping cities and local areas make needed infrastructure investments." He also noted that because of the mayors' efforts, both bills contain strong local control features. Campbell indicated that the mayors have to be prepared to influence legislation renewing these infrastructure investment statutes.

Campbell also talked about the non-partisan nature of infrastructure investment, pointing out that there were strong bipartisan majorities behind the legislation. He set forth the likely legislative sequence for action on these investment programs. "We will need to do AIR-21 renewal in this Congress, TEA-21 in the next Congress, and our work on RAIL-21 is just as important." RAIL-21 is the term now being used to describe initiatives to increase federal commitments to the nation's rail infrastructure. The Conference, he noted, is advocating prompt action on the high speed rail bond legislation and increased funding for rail-related infrastructure, such as the accelerated investment in commuter and light rail projects.

Mayors' Rail Summit

In discussing the January 17 Rail Summit at Washington's Union Station, Campbell emphasized the importance of rail investment at this time. "In most communities, highways are tapped out. The more we build, the more they drive. And, increasingly, we can't spend funds on highways due to air quality constraints." He added further that "as mayors, we have got to convince the new Administration that increased rail investment is needed."

Meridian (MS) Mayor John Robert Smith, who serves as the panel's vice chair on rail issues, said, "yesterday was a great day. Our Conference President and Vice President have elevated passenger rail as a top priority." He also talked about the status of the high speed rail investment legislation, noting that 21 senators have already signed on, urging the mayors to engage their Congressional delegations on the legislation.

In addition to Senator Lott's commitment to support a national passenger rail system, mayors expressed interest in his proposal for relocating freight lines in and around cities. Mayors also noted the importance of rail safety and the need to get freight railroads involved in sharing tracks for intercity, commuter and light rail projects. The need to help underserved communities improve air service was also discussed.

During a discussion of telecommunications issues, mayors renewed their concerns about zoning and the placement of telecommunications towers, ordinances to control street cuts and franchise agreements on compensation for the use of rights-of-way and other local property.

Video Traffic Information via Internet

The Committee concluded the session with a special presentation by Raymond Sczudlo, Senior Vice President with EYECAST, Inc., a Herndon, VA-based company and new member of the Conference's Business Council. Sczudlo explained how his company has developed a system to deliver real time video data from traffic monitoring cameras via the Internet. He indicated that the system can be deployed at no cost to the local and state transportation agencies, providing another outlet for delivering traffic information to the public.

Campbell also pointed out that the Committee would be reaching out to the new Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta to begin working on issues of concern to mayors. Concluding the panel session with an acknowledgement of the many contributions of Bill Kennard, the outgoing Chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Campbell talk about Kennard's work with mayors on the E-rate initiative and other efforts to increase public benefits from the deployment of new telecommunications services and technologies.