By Ron Thaniel
June 29, 2009

Transportation and Communications Committee Chair Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper convened the committee where members approved new resolutions pertaining to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP), renewal of the federal aviation law, inclusion of a metropolitan mobility program and bringing an urban focus in the next federal surface transportation bill, high'speed rail, and streetcar revitalization.

Committee members also heard reports prepared for The U.S. Conference of Mayors, designed to aid the Conference's advocacy for increased federal funding commitments to transportation infrastructure in cities and metropolitan areas. Members also heard a presentation on the work of the National Transportation Policy Project.

Continuing The U.S. Conference of Mayors' push for increased transportation investments in cities, Hickenlooper told the committee that the highest priority for the Conference in the next surface transportation bill is the creation of a Metropolitan Mobility Program.

"The mayors Metropolitan Mobility Program proposal ensures that congested areas actually receive funding, and can budget for transportation investments that compliment centers of housing and employment," said Hickenlooper.

Performance Driven: New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy

Dennis Archer, Co-Chair of The Bi-Partisan Policy Center's National Transportation Policy Project (NTPP) and former mayor of Detroit, discussed NTPP's recent release of its plan for transforming federal surface transportation policy. Archer said, "If adopted by the Administration and Congress, the plan would constitute the first major overhaul of transportation policy in more than 50 years."

Of interest to the committee, Archer said that NTPP is calling for a "Sustaining Core Assets (SCA) that would distribute funds to metropolitan areas with more than 200,000 people based on their share of gross domestic product." The U.S. Conference's Metropolitan Mobility Program would provide funding to cities and their metropolitan areas within states calibrated to the economic output of qualifying metropolitan areas.

In addition, NTPP is recommending a program to fund transportation'system expansion across all modes in metropolitan areas with populations of greater than 500,000, with a set-aside for smaller areas. To view NTPP's report, go to www.bpcntpp.org.

Tom Phillips, Director of Government Affairs with Siemens Corporation, and Rob Kerr, Vice President with GlobeScan Incorporated, highlighted key findings from the 140-cities/40 states U.S. Conference of Mayors Metropolitan Infrastructure Sustainability Study. The study, prepared for the Conference of Mayors by GlobeScan and sponsored by Siemens Corporation, will support USCM's agenda for more sustainable metropolitan infrastructure investments.

USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran wrote in the Foreward, "The nation's infrastructure, including our transit, streets and highways, aviation, energy, and water systems, is the backbone of our economy."

"The U.S. will not be economically competitive in the future global marketplace if we fail to invest in our infrastructure, especially systems in our cities and metropolitan areas which underpin so much of the nation's current economic output," said Cochran.

Phillips said, "The single greatest infrastructure challenge — raised by three in five respondents (59 percent) — is obtaining the funding to meet infrastructure needs."

"Transportation (including streets/highways and public transit) is the area of infrastructure that cities would most like to see targeted by stimulus funding," and, Phillips said, "Respondents identify improvements to public transportation as the most promising policy measure for cities to reduce their contribution to climate change."

Speaking to a USCM priority in the next federal surface transportation authorization, Phillips said, "A solid majority (79 percent) of mayors agree that current federal/state practices must be reformed to give their city greater decision-making power over infrastructure investments." Go to USCM's website at www.usmayors.org to view the sustainability study.

James Diffley, Managing Director with IHS Global Insight, presented key findings of a report prepared by IHS Global Insight, Inc, for The U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The report analyzed the largest single source of infrastructure spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—the $18.62 billion in surface transportation funds apportioned to the states under program categories administered by the Federal Highway Administration.

The nation's major metropolitan areas have been short-changed in the receipt of federal stimulus funds for transportation infrastructure administered by governors and state highway departments, according to a preliminary report.

The report also finds that state governments do not allocate funds effectively to reduce congestion costs in the economy. The largest 85 metro areas account for 86.6 percent of traffic congestion costs, but receive again only 48.3 percent of state-approved funding. This gap results in a $7.1 billion shortfall that could be used to fund metro projects that relieve traffic congestion and reduce costs to travelers and local economies.

For example, the three most congested areas in the U.S.— Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago — account for 26.5 percent of the nation's congestion costs, but receive only 6.3 percent of federal surface transportation funds allocated by the states, thus far.

Among the reports other findings:

• In Ohio, Cleveland and Cincinnati, combined, account for 40 percent of the State of Ohio's economy, yet receive less than 5 percent of what was allocated to their state. Similarly, Indianapolis generates 39 percent of Indiana's economic activity, and receives only 4 percent of available ARRA funds to the state.

• Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Omaha, Memphis, Dallas, and Seattle are also seen to be seriously under-funded by their respective state, relative to their contribution to Gross State Product.

The report concludes that to optimize the national economic benefits of ARRA-funded surface transportation investments, states and federal decision makers should increase funding to metro areas due to their high levels of economic output, traffic congestion, and volume of freight transport and exports. This report is available at usmayors.org.

The Transportation and Communications Committee adopted the following resolutions:

• United States Conference of Mayors 2009 Communications Policy — reaffirms the Conference's 2008 adopted communications policy; expresses gratitude to President Obama and the Congress for specifically protecting local governments as eligible recipients of ARRA broadband programs; and calls on all federal agencies charged with broadband responsibilities to embrace the tenet that unaffordable broadband is unavailable broadband.

• Modernizing America' Aviation System for the 21st Century through the Reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — calls upon President Obama and the Congress to act now to reauthorize the FAA rather than utilizing continuing resolutions; to fully fund NextGen; provide at least $3.8 billion in Airport Improvement Program (AIP funding); raise the maximum Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) cap to $7.50 per flight; provide resources to finance research and development of alternative fuels and engines; and ensure that the proposed National Rail Plan and successor legislation to SAFETEA-LU and Vision 100 increase flexibility and streamline planning processes to encourage a more systemwide intermodal approach to transportation planning and development in order to deliver more integrated air and rail networks.

• Modernizing America's Aviation System for the 21st Century — calls upon The United States Conference of Mayors to adopt as its policy the actions urgently needed to reform and modernize America's aviation system as identified by the mayors in the National Action Forum on Arts and Tourism including urging President Obama and Congress to take steps to inoculate metropolitan areas from the financial woes of the airline industry; integrate air and rail networks, whereby many short-range flights are replaced by high speed rail and intercity passenger rail; and fully fund the Essential Air Service (EAS) program.

• Encouraging Investment in High Speed Rail — calls on Congress to provide the full $5 billion funding level over the next five years ($1 billion per year) to begin moving toward the development of high speed rail corridors and calls on state and regional departments of transportation to make high speed rail a priority.

• Renewing America's Commitment to Surface Transportation Infrastructure — calls upon The United States Conference of Mayors to adopt as its policy the investments identified by the mayors in the National Action Agenda on Infrastructure including urging President Obama and Congress to adopt a national rail investment strategy that sets forth a long-term financial commitment to expand rail investment between and within cities and their metropolitan areas; make the next surface transportation law more "climate and energy centered;" and ensure that new highway and transit capacity investments in metropolitan areas are decided by local elected officials.

• Transportation Policy — calls upon The United States Conference of Mayors to adopt as its next surface transportation authorization platform policy called for by mayors in the National Action Agenda on Environment and Energy including urging President Obama and Congress to support a metropolitan mobility program; ensure that investments reflect energy and climate challenges; eliminate program silos; adopt procurement policies, at the federal level, that would require plug-in vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and/or other alternative fuel vehicles; and accelerate investment in rail transportation, both freight and passenger rail.

• Bringing an Urban Focus to the National Transportation Program — states that federal investment in transit capital projects should be significantly increased; federal support of transit operations should be restored; the unequal local match required for new road projects and new transit projects funded by the federal government should be equal; the definition of local match for transit projects should be expanded to include local investments in transit networks related to the FTA eligible project; criteria for new transit projects should include real estate value capture and land use and environmental benefits; and the federal transportation program should prioritize spending to bring existing infrastructure to a state of good repair.

• Investing in the Engines of America's Growth Through a Metropolitan Mobility Program — calls upon President Obama and the Congress to develop new-targeted metropolitan investment policies to ensure increased funding commitments to transportation infrastructure in cities and their metropolitan areas through the creation of a Metropolitan Mobility Program; new and existing federal surface transportation funds should be sub-allocated and subject to local project selection within states calibrated to the economic output of metropolitan areas; project selection should be performance based, specifically those that advance national goals (e.g., less energy consumption, shift mode share away from solo driving, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions); and should coordinate transportation land use using transit-oriented development with the measurement of increasing affordable housing investments near transit and employment opportunities.

• Metropolitan Mobility Improvements through Successor Legislation to SAFETEA-LU — calls on President Obama and the Congress to establish a new Metropolitan Mobility Program focused on the nation's large metropolitan areas that provides funding supplemental to regular highway and transit allocations based on a formula that reflects size, transportation needs, and economic activity; vest decision-making in a broader Metropolitan Mobility Authority that directly involves mayors and exercises project selection authority over all federal transportation funds expended in the region; reauthorize the Projects of National and Regional Significance program; and should consider modifications in the decision-making processes of MPOs that strengthen the regional targeting of resources for the greatest return on investments, such as MPO participation and voting structures.

• Streetcar Revitalization in American Cities — urges that the forthcoming surface transportation authorization legislation contain provisions designed to expand, streamline and accelerate federal streetcar investments, including authorizing the U.S. Department of Transportation to designate that urban streetcars located primarily within existing rights-of-way as eligible for categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act.

• Roundabouts and Transportation Policy — urges the U.S. Department of Transportation to make the increased use of roundabouts on the nation's roads a higher priority and urges adoption of new directives in the forthcoming transportation authorization to ensure consideration of roundabouts by project sponsors in lieu of signalized intersections, including federal surface transportation funds to fully fund roundabouts.

• Accelerating Locally'sponsored Transportation Projects in the Federal Program through Local Grant Administration — calls on Congress to incorporate reforms in successor legislation to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) that would expedite delivery, and allow local government transportation agencies to "opt-in" to directly administer grants from FHWA for locally'sponsored projects.