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In his Sept. 8 speech before a joint session of Congress, President Obama cited the nation’s crumbling infrastructure—including public transportation—as a major priority in his proposal to lower U.S. unemployment levels and return people to work.
The president’s plan calls for $50 billion in immediate federal investments for transportation, including $9 billion for public transportation; $4 billion for high-speed rail corridors; $2 billion for other intercity passenger rail; and $5 billion for the multimodal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) and Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) programs. It also calls for a National Infrastructure Bank and includes enhancements to infrastructure-related job training opportunities for individuals from underrepresented groups to ensure that small businesses can compete for infrastructure contracts.
“Building a world-class transportation system is part of what made us an economic superpower,” Obama said in his survey of the proposed American Jobs Act. “And now we’re going to sit back and watch China build newer airports and faster railroads? At a time when millions of unemployed construction workers could build them right here in America? There are private construction companies all across America just waiting to get to work.”
Obama specifically referred to “a public transit project in Houston that will help clear up one of the worst areas of traffic in the country.”
“Those of us here tonight can’t solve all of our nation’s woes,” the president said. “Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers. But we can help. We can make a difference. There are steps we can take right now to improve people’s lives.”
Earlier, in his Sept. 3 radio address, Obama addressed concern over the Sept. 30 expiration of the latest extension to the long-term, well-funded, multimodal surface transportation bill—SAFETEA-LU (the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users). The address, titled “Extending the Transportation Bill to Keep America Moving,” included a call for Congress to pass a “clean” extension—in other words, a bill focused solely on transportation with no attachments or amendments.
“At the end of September, if Congress doesn’t act, funding for our roads and bridges will expire. This would put a stop to highway construction, bridge repair, mass transit systems, and other important projects that keep our country moving quickly and safely,” the president said. Calling the expiration of this bill “a disaster for our infrastructure and our economy,” he predicted that “serious consequences” would result: to cite just three examples, 19,000 jobs placed at risk in Virginia, more than 12,000 in Minnesota, and more than 35,000 in Florida.
“This isn’t a Democratic or a Republican issue—it’s an American issue,” Obama said, noting that many groups, including 128 mayors from both parties, are asking Congress to pass this extension.
At the local level, said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a Sept. 7 post on his blog, The Fast Lane, “the economic impact—in addition to the lost jobs—will be severe. Because state and local authorities expend their own resources before being reimbursed by federal surface transportation accounts, letting the law expire will subject them to significant financial exposure they will be unable to withstand.”
“These are outcomes we simply cannot afford,” LaHood continued. “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce knows this. The AFL-CIO knows this. And the U.S. Conference of Mayors knows this.”
Reiterating the need for this funding program, LaHood said: “We need to put differences aside and do the right thing for our economy. The clock is ticking.”
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