By Ron Thaniel
June 28, 2010

Transportation and Communications Committee Acting Chair and Advisory Board Member Tallahassee Mayor John Marks convened the committee at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Conference of Mayors in Oklahoma City on June 12. The members of the committee approved new resolutions calling on increased investments in high-speed rail and transit, continuation of the TIGER competitive grant program, sustainable transportation investments, and the allocation of "D-Block" spectrum for public safety.

With introductory remarks provided by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Tom Phillips, Director, Government Affairs, Siemens Corporation, and Stephen Fitzroy, Director, Operations Research, Economic Development Research Group, Inc., presented key findings from The U.S. Conference of Mayors new study assessing the many positive economic impacts of high-speed intercity rail on cities and their metropolitan areas (see Benefits of high-speed Rail on Cities story). Dyer called on the mayors to step up their lobbying of the Congress and the Obama Administration for a well-funded and dedicated high-speed intercity rail program in the pending authorization of the federal surface transportation law.

The report, prepared by the Economic Development Research Group and sponsored by Siemens, analyzed the potential economic impact of high-speed rail in the four cities of Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando, and Albany (NY). To download the study and view the accompanying video, go to the website www.usmayors.org/highspeedrail.

Erik Garr, former General Manager for the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) National Broadband Plan, provided the committee with a thorough review of the National Broadband Plan (Plan) with a focus on the rights-of-way sections. He also addressed the concerns raised by the Conference of Mayors prior to the release of the Plan in March. After a successful local government lobbying campaign earlier this year led by the Conference of Mayors, the Plan, mandated by last year's economic stimulus package, did not include recommendations that would have limited local government rights-of-way authority or would have undermined local budgets by imposing a less than fair market value as the standard for fair and reasonable rights-of-way compensation.

While the Conference of Mayors defended local government's authority and compensation with the release of the Plan, the Conference of Mayors is continuing to monitor implementation of the Plan. As the FCC announced in April, the agenda for implementing recommendations of the Plan will involve more than 60 rulemakings and other notice-and-comment proceedings.

Speaking to the Conference's rights-of-way concerns, Conference of Mayors Trustee Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said, "Cities would be remiss if they did not charge fair market rent for the management and use of public rights-of-way. Mayors cannot ask our taxpayers to completely subsidize management of public property for the benefit of a private entity."

To show that this debate is not simply a theoretical one but one with potentially serious consequences, Leppert shared a story about an incident in Dallas in the middle of the last decade.

"Right in the middle of that debate [the Telecommunications Act of 1996], a telecommunications provider, working without a permit or the knowledge of city staff responsible for managing city rights-of-way, struck a major water main as they attempted to lay line down a city street," Leppert said. "This accident created havoc, flooding adjacent buildings and parking garages and causing considerable damage to other infrastructure in that particular street, including the infrastructure of other telecommunications providers."

"Partly as a result of that incident, the House overwhelmingly and on a bipartisan basis approved inclusion of what became Section 253 of the Communications Act, despite industry objections," he continued. "Section 253 is a well-crafted piece of legislation that strikes a good balance and has stood the test of time. Section 253 prohibits local governments from barring entry to any telecommunications provider but also preserves local right-of-way authority, including the ability to collect reasonable compensation for the use of rights-of way in a "neutral and nondiscriminatory manner."

Leppert closed the National Broadband Plan discussion stating, "As the FCC and Congress move forward, we need to ensure that the lessons of 1996 and of the subsequent 14 years are not undermined."

Dedicated Funding for Amtrak, high-speed Rail in Surface Transportation Authorization

Transportation and Communications Committee Vice Chair for Rail Policy and Amtrak Mayors Advisory Council Chair North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays urged the mayors "to continue to advocate for a dedicated and sustainable funding source for Amtrak and high-speed intercity passenger rail."

"The best place to do that is through the surface transportation reauthorization," continued Hays.

Reconnecting America President and CEO John Robert Smith, former mayor of Meridian (MS), urged the mayors to continue to press for sustainable transportation policies in the pending authorization of the federal surface transportation law.

• Investing In America's Emerging High Speed Rail Network — calls on Congress and the Obama Administration to include in the transportation authorization a well funded and dedicated revenue source for high-speed rail.

• The TIGER Grant Program — urges the continuation of the grant program beyond FY10 with a wider distribution of the grants among cities.

• Improved Transit Funding — urges Congress to expand existing and/or establish new federal tax preferred bond programs with very high subsidies that would allow state and local governments to issue tax-preferred debt at or near zero percent interest for transportation projects that meet national criteria, such as reduction of greenhouse gas, and already have significant non-federal sources committed and to modify the TIFIA loan program to enable USDOT to make an upfront credit commitment to a project sponsor at an earlier stage of development for projects that already have the majority of non-federal funding committed and that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Calling Upon the Federal Government to Expand Existing Means of Leveraging Local Revenues for Constructing Transit Projects that Address Congestion and Air Quality Issues — urges Congress to expand methods of leveraging local revenues for constructing transit projects.

• Promoting Sustainability and Local Economies Through Public Transit — affirms the Conference of Mayors- commitment to sustainability initiatives in the area of public transit.

• Streetcar Renaissance and Leadership — states that the Conference of Mayors supports the Small Start Program.

• Calling on the Obama Administration to Create an Office Dedicated to the Promulgation of Sustainability Principles, Practices, and Policies — recommends and endorses the creation of an office to encourage sustainability.

• HUD, DOT and EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities — states that The U.S. Conference of Mayors will continue to work with HUD, DOT and EPA to promote Sustainable Communities principles.

• Support for Sustainable Development in Cities — calls on Congress to adopt the Livable Communities Act.

• America's Clean, Domestic, and Affordable Urban Transportation Solution — calls on the President and Congress to enact the New Alternative to Give Americans Solutions Act, enact The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users Act's provision that provides a tax credit of 50-cent per gasoline-gallon-equivalent of CNG or liquid gallon of LNG for the sale of CNG and LNG for use as a motor vehicle fuel and expand federally funded research, development, and demonstration programs to expand product offerings of natural gas engines.

• 700 MHz "D Block" Spectrum Assignment to Public Safety — opposes the FCC proposal in the National Broadband Plan to auction the D Block spectrum to a commercial provider.

• Upgrading the 9-1-1 Emergency System to Next Generation — urges the Administration and the Congress to implement Next Generation 9-1-1.

• Recommendation of The U.S. Conference of Mayors that a National High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Funding Source Be Included in the Surface Transportation Reauthorization — urges the Administration and Congress to include sustainable funding for high speed and intercity passenger rail, and Amtrak, in the surface transportation reauthorization.