Congress could approve a six-year transportation bill by the end of this week, when authorization for federal transportation programs expires. Unfortunately, the legislation will not do nearly enough to improve aging bridges, fix highways or expand the capacity of mass
Congress could approve a six-year transportation bill by the end of this week, when authorization for federal transportation programs expires. Unfortunately, the legislation will not do nearly enough to improve aging bridges, fix highways or expand the capacity of mass transit and rail systems. Worse, it could make traveling on American roads and railways less safe.
Members of the House and Senate are now meeting in a conference committee to iron out differences between the bills passed by each chamber to authorize money for transportation projects and change federal policy on issues like car, motorcycle, bus, rail and truck safety.
While Congress wrestles with the money, this much is clear: America’s transportation system is badly in need of repair and investment. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s railways and bridges a “C+” grade and its roads and transit systems a “D” in a 2013 report. The Transportation Department estimates that 10 percent of bridges are structurally deficient.
In a speech in September, Anthony Foxx, the transportation secretary, said the government must spend $400 billion over the next six years just to maintain the current transportation system; to improve the system would take an additional $78 billion. Yet the House passed a bill this month that budgets only $325 billion for six years. Lawmakers could have easily come up with more money had they been willing to raise the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gasoline tax, which was last increased in 1993. But members of Congress were determined not to raise the tax ahead of an election year.
The bills are just as deficient when it comes to safety. The Transportation Department and safety experts wanted Congress to substantially increase the maximum fine for violations of federal auto regulations, currently set at $35 million. Given the recalls of tens of millions of cars by companies like General Motors in the last two years, an increase is clearly needed. The department proposed raising the limit to $300 million, an amount that is still small compared with the automakers’ annual profits. But the House bill does not increase the fine at all, and the Senate measure only raises it to $105 million.
Another provision in both the House and Senate bills would prevent states from using money they get from the federal government to enforce motorcycle helmet laws. A recent Transportation Department report estimated that helmets saved 1,630 lives in 2013, and that another 715 people could have been saved if every motorcyclist had worn a helmet. The bills will also undermine public safety by requiring detailed studies before safety rules can be adopted, making it harder for federal officials to regulate buses and trucks. The House bill would also allow teenagers to drive big trucks across state borders.
In recent years, Congress has repeatedly failed to pass legislation that authorizes transportation programs for more than two years at a time. House and Senate leaders consider this six-year authorization an improvement, but in terms of policy and funding, it is far from adequate.
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