Virginia’s Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would automatically increase the state’s per-gallon gasoline tax each year at the rate of inflation.”The state’s gasoline tax has been set at 17.5 cents per gallon since 1986,” The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg reported. “In recent years, repeated attempts to raise the tax, or make it a percentage sales tax, have failed in the House of Delegates.”

The indexation effort is contained in a larger transportation bill sponsored by Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach. Wagner’s bill proposes using the U.S. Department of Labor’s “producer price index for other nonresidential construction” to annually adjust the fuel tax that supports transportation investment in Virginia.

A fiscal impact statement estimates indexing the tax could generate an additional $7.7 million in 2013, and up to $124 million by 2018.

President Barack Obama unveiled his $3.8 trillion Fiscal Year 2013 budget Monday, $74 billion of which is slated for the U.S. Department of Transportation. The budget also recommends a six-year surface transportation reauthorization totaling $476 billion.The administration proposes paying for the six-year bill using money saved from reduced military operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq, along with Highway Trust Fund money. Obama’s budget came out during a week when the House (see related story) and Senate (see related story) are working on separate surface transportation reauthorization bills.

“We are encouraged to see in the president’s budget continued support for a multi-year, fully funded surface transportation bill,” said John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “With the Senate and the House of Representatives also moving ahead on surface transportation bills this week, we see real progress on reauthorization that will provide states with the certainty they need to plan the right projects for their communities and will enable states to deliver projects faster.”

Some of the priorities outlined in the president’s budget include $2.7 billion for high-speed rail ($47 billion over six years); $1 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next-Gen air traffic control modernization efforts; and $50 billion for immediate investments in fixing roads, bridges, rail systems, and transit systems. The budget also calls for the consolidation of 55 highway programs into seven.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testified Wednesday before the Senate Budget Committee to further explain and advocate on behalf of the president’s transportation priorities and allocations. A video of the hearing is available at 1.usa.gov/senhearing.

“President Obama’s budget for the Department of Transportation reflects our commitment to investing in an America that is built to last,” LaHood said in a statement. “A strong American economy depends on the roadways, runways, and railways that move people and goods from coast to coast and around the globe. President Obama’s plan will enable us to build the American infrastructure we need for tomorrow while putting people back to work today.”

A 68-page summary of the FY 2013 USDOT budget is available at 1.usa.gov/fy2013usdot. All USDOT 2013 budget justifications are available at 1.usa.gov/budgetjustif.

The House of Representatives began debating Wednesday a surface transportation and energy package, which was split into three parts after 300 amendments were filed with the House Rules Committee. Floor debate and amendments this week were limited to the energy provisions; work on the highway/transit and revenue sections was postponed until the week of Feb. 27 after a delay was announced Wednesday by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.During a five-hour-long House Rules Committee meeting Tuesday evening, the panel decided to move the massive bill ahead as three separate parts and spread out debate over two weeks. In addition to the transportation section, the other pieces raise revenue to pay for certain transportation projects and authorize expanded oil and gas drilling.

“Given the volume of amendments and the need for a full, fair, open, and transparent process, we may not finish energy/infrastructure this week,” Boehner told his party caucus Wednesday, The Hill reported. “If we need more time to debate and consider amendments, that’s perfectly fine with me. It’s more important that we do it right than that we do it fast.”

Media reports also indicated that the postponement was prompted by leadership’s decision to spend one of the transportation offsets related to federal employee pension contributions on a separate measure to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. That bill cleared the House and Senate today and is on its way to the president. The House will now need to come up with additional revenue raisers to fund the five-year, $260 billion transportation reauthorization, which is designed to maintain current funding levels until 2016.

The Rules Committee will resume its meeting after the Presidents Day week-long recess to review amendments to the transportation provision and adopt a rule structuring the floor debate.

A full list of submitted amendments is available under the “Amendments” tab at bit.ly/HRC733. These include a manager’s amendment offered by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Florida, making technical corrections and modifying various provisions.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee filed Monday its 983-page report on the transportation provisions (House Report 112-397). And the Congressional Budget Office released Monday its cost estimate for the consolidated House transportation and energy package (based on the Rules Committee Print released Feb. 8).

The Senate is also in the midst of considering a surface transportation reauthorization measure, and the Congressional Research Service published a report analyzing both chambers’ bills. (see related story)

The Senate voted 54-42 this morning to limit debate on a package of committee-approved amendments to a two-year, $109 billion surface transportation reauthorization measure, falling six votes short of the 60 required. Work is expected to continue behind the scenes during next week’s recess to reach an agreement limiting amendments, with floor consideration resuming Feb. 27.Senators voted 85-11 last week to proceed to a full debate on the surface transportation reauthorization legislation, S 1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. (see Feb. 17 AASHTO Journal story)

Progress was slowed this week by the introduction of non-germane amendments including, for example, insurance coverage for birth control, foreign aid to Egypt, and energy development.

AASHTO joined 26 other organizations in a letter to senators Monday urging them to pass S 1813.

“The undersigned organizations are concerned that progress may be impeded if non-germane amendments are offered as part of the deliberations on this bill,” the letter states. “The organizations that we represent may hold diverse views on social, energy, and fiscal issues, but we are united in our desire to see immediate action on the Senate’s bipartisan highway and transit reauthorization measures.”

The House of Representatives is also in the midst of considering a surface transportation reauthorization measure. (see related story) Congress is in recess next week due to Presidents Day.

State DOT officials from across the country will gather in Washington Feb. 27-29 for AASHTO’s Washington Briefing. Many of them are scheduling meetings with their congressional delegation.

CRS Report Summarizes House & Senate Re-authorization Bills

The Congressional Research Service published last Friday a report summarizing the surface transportation reauthorization proposals currently being debated by the House and Senate. The document provides brief overviews of legislative provisions related to highways, mass transit, passenger rail, freight transportation, environmental review of projects, highway safety, commercial trucking safety, and financing.

Included in the CRS report are the Congressional Budget Office’s Highway Trust Fund projections; proposed apportionments contained in the House and Senate bills; and tables indicating proposed funding levels for transit, Amtrak operating assistance, highway safety grants to states, and truck safety grants to states.

The 28-page report, “Surface Transportation Re-authorization in the 112th Congress: Summary and Sources,” is available at bit.ly/CRS021012.

Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez reviewed Wednesday preparations for the construction of the new Memorial Bridge connecting Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Kittery, Maine.”It’s a great day for this region,” Mendez said in a statement. “Work will start soon, which means jobs as well as a much-needed new bridge.”

The $90 million project relies on $72 million in federal funding, including a $20 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant awarded in October 2010.

The old Memorial Bridge now undergoing demolition was permanently closed in July 2011 for safety reasons, drastically inconveniencing residents and businesses in the region. Trucks and emergency vehicles were already prohibited by a three-ton weight limit imposed because of severe deterioration, including extensive corrosion and loss of steel sections. In the past, an average of 12,100 vehicles used the bridge each day.

Scheduled to open to traffic in 2013, the new bridge will accommodate future traffic volumes with no load restrictions as well as bicyclists, pedestrians, and marine vessels. It replaces a bridge that was ranked highest on the state’s priority list, according to the Federal Highway Administration, and the costs to operate and maintain the new bridge will be lower than with the old bridge.

The Transportation Research Board is sponsoring a webinar next week that will explore a project conducted by the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 focusing on accelerated bridge construction.Part 1 of this webinar was held last month and discussed SHRP2′s ABC toolbox that was developed under Project R04: “Innovative Bridge Designs for Rapid Renewal.” Part 2 of this webinar — which takes place from 1 to 2 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 16 — will describe how the toolbox was used in two bridge construction pilot projects.

The first project, built in 2011, was the U.S. 6 bridge over Keg Creek in Iowa, which used prefabricated elements to conduct a bridge placement with only a 14-day road closure. The second project, to be let later this year, is the Interstate 84 bridge over Dingle Ridge Road in New York, in which two adjacent bridges carrying I-84 will be laterally slid into place, each over a weekend.

Learn how the standard plans and details in the toolbox have been used to ensure success on these projects. There is no fee to register for the webinar, and one professional development hour will be provided. Registration is available at bit.ly/ABC021612. Please direct questions about this webinar to abc AT fiu.edu.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics recently published the “Pocket Guide to Transportation 2012″ — a quick reference guide to significant transportation data.The 15th annual pocket guide covers data on transportation safety, state of good repair, system use and performance, economic competitiveness, and environmental sustainability.

BTS’ pocket guide is available online at 1.usa.gov/BTSPG2012. Free printed copies may be requested by e-mailing ritainfo AT dot.gov or calling 800-853-1351.

The House Rules Committee released Wednesday the 979-page text of its consolidated surface transportation reauthorization bill, pieces of which were marked up in various committees last week. It established a deadline of 11 a.m. Monday for representatives to file any amendments they desire to offer on the floor when the bill is called up next week.A hearing has yet to be scheduled by the Rules Committee but is expected to take place early next week. The committee determines (with subsequent approval of the full House) which amendments will be allowed on the House floor and how long the debate will last.

The Rules Committee Print of HR 7, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, incorporates highway, transit, rail, and safety sections approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; revenue provisions passed by the House Ways and Means Committee; expanded domestic oil and gas drilling policies cleared by the House Natural Resources Committee; and a section dealing with federal review of the Keystone XL pipeline added by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (see Feb. 3 AASHTO Journal story for details of last week’s committee markups)

Funding components in the merged bill include modifications to federal employee pensions that are similar to HR 3813, a measure approved 22-16 Tuesday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that would increase federal government employee contributions to their retirement plans by 1.5% of their salaries. This funding would be used to close the Highway Trust Fund gap. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the plan would raise about $45 billion in revenue — more than enough to cover the $40 billion General Fund transfer the Ways and Means Committee has proposed to fund a new “Alternative Transportation Account” within the Highway Trust Fund.

Transit advocates have objected to eliminating the trust fund’s existing Mass Transit Account and shifting the 2.86-cents-per-gallon dedicated federal motor-fuels tax from transit to roads and bridges. (see related story)

Full text of the Rules Committee Print is available at bit.ly/HR7RCP. A 91-page summary is available at 1.usa.gov/HR7RCPanalysis. A list of floor amendments filed is available at bit.ly/HR7amendments. Republican-prepared House T&I Committee funding charts for each state are available at bit.ly/HR7majority and Democratic-prepared House T&I Committee charts are available at bit.ly/HR7minority.

The Texas Transportation Commission approved Thursday raising the speed limit on roughly 1,500 miles of interstate highways to 75 mph, a 5 mph increase from the current restriction.Texas’ Department of Transportation has been reviewing existing 70 mph speed limits across the state since last September to determine the areas best suitable for the 5 mph increase. These changes are a result of a law enacted last year allowing TxDOT to establish higher speed limits if studies determine it could be done safely.

“These new speed limits increase highway efficiency while maintaining the safety of the transportation system,” Carol Rawson, TxDOT’s Traffic Operations Division director, said in a statement.

Once signs are changed on the highway segments approved Thursday, Texas will have almost 3,600 miles of 75 mph or higher zones. (Some interstates in West Texas are posted at 80 mph, the highest speed limit in the country.)

More information on the new 75 mph locations is available at bit.ly/texasspeed.

Contractors are not hopeful for increased transportation work in 2012, according to a report issued Monday by the Associated General Contractors of America and Computer Guidance Corp.The firms surveyed reported they were anticipating increased demand for construction within the energy sector and for hospitals and university facilities. Contractors in the public sector had no such optimism, however, forecasting a decrease in the construction of highways, public buildings, and K-12 schools.

AGC’s projections stemmed from survey results gathered from more than 1,300 construction firms across 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Roughly 40% of respondents expect the highway market to continue to drop this year, while only 19% expect it to grow. Stephen Sandherr, AGC’s CEO, said these expectations could change with the passage of a surface transportation reauthorization bill, which saw signs of movement this week in both the House (see related story) and Senate (see related story). A multiyear Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill is also moving along in the legislative process (see related story).

“I’m pleased to see a breakthrough on negotiations between the House and Senate on an aviation bill,” he said during a teleconference with reporters. “Perhaps that bodes well for other transportation action, maybe to shake loose some projects.”

Though the overall picture for construction in 2012 is mixed, AGC executives are happy to see that fewer firms anticipate having to lay off workers this year. Roughly 9% of construction companies surveyed said they would be making layoffs this year versus the 37% reported last year and the 55% reported in 2010.

“There are definitely some conflicting trends when it comes to contractors’ expectations for 2012,” Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist, said in a statement. “The construction industry will improve this year, but we are going to have to wait until at least 2013 before contractors experience the kind of recovery this industry needs.”

“The 2012 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook” is available from AGC at bit.ly/agc2012report.

Moving innovative ideas, products, and techniques into mainstream department of transportation practices was among the priorities outlined Tuesday by Michigan Transportation Director Kirk Steudle, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials president, during the keynote speech at the International Road Federation Annual Awards Luncheon in Washington.”Research informs our decision-making processes. We use it every day to solve problems, large and small,” Steudle said. “The investment, once moved into practice, results in increased efficiencies; real products that states can use; cost savings to states and to the taxpayer; increased collaboration; and safer, smarter transportation options for users.”

Steudle said his priorities include supporting passage of a federal surface transportation reauthorization and increasing emphasis on asset-management practices.

“AASHTO has had a strong role, along with the [Federal Highway Administration], in encouraging greater pavement and bridge asset management — caring for our system — in order to keep our system in a state of good repair,” he said. “And now we are looking toward greater usage of the concepts for safety and traffic hardware, as well as for transit. The public expects us to care for what we already have and to keep it in good working condition with the resources we have.”

The IRF Annual Awards Luncheon recognized the 2011 winners of the Global Road Achievement Awards, a worldwide competition to recognize excellence, innovation, and exceptional achievement across the road industry. Two state departments of transportation — Texas and Rhode Island — received IRF awards.

“Much of what road builders do is lost or forgotten by the hundreds of millions of people who benefit so greatly from the work of the road development industry,” said IRF Chairman Abdullah Al-Mogbel. “This is precisely why IRF’s Global Road Achievement Awards provide a rare opportunity to celebrate our industry’s successes and highlight how our work helps achieve broader development goals.”

A detailed list of award winners is available from IRF at bit.ly/IRF-GRAA.

With just two months remaining on the current federal highway and transit program extension, the Americans for Transportation Mobility coalition delivered Wednesday an open letter to Congress pressing for action on a multiyear reauthorization bill. The letter is signed by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials as well as more than 1,000 companies, other organizations, and chambers of commerce from all 50 states.Wednesday’s letter marked the launch of a multifaceted campaign to tell Congress to “Make Transportation Job #1″ and to pass a highway and transit bill early this spring. Legislation is advancing in the House (see related story) and the Senate (see related story).

“Addressing our transportation challenges is critical to economic growth and national competitiveness,” Janet Kavinoky, vice president of Americans for Transportation Mobility, said in a statement. “Our country can’t get back on its feet economically if we can’t move people and goods efficiently.”

The eighth extension of the 2005 highway and transit authorization law known as “SAFETEA-LU” expires March 31.

“For the last six months, leaders in Washington — both Republicans and Democrats — have repeatedly stated that a surface transportation bill is an important item for the jobs agenda,” Kavinoky said. “It’s time Congress and the president follow words with action and make transportation job number one.”

The ATM coalition is launching an ad campaign in Washington and in key states and districts around the country during the month of February. It will include television, radio, and online ads. The “Make Transportation Job #1″ campaign will also include a radio tour and a grassroots initiative next month. The coalition is a nationwide effort by business, labor, transportation organizations, and concerned citizens to advocate for improved and increased federal investment in the nation’s aging and overburdened transportation system.

“Our message to the Congress is simple: ‘It’s time to do your job,’” Pete Ruane, president of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, said in a statement. “Pass a properly funded surface transportation bill to kick-start the economy and get America moving again.”

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-California, called Wednesday’s letter and its massive amount of signatories “historic in its breadth and width.”

Boxer said in a statement: “Now is the time to act to save 1.8 million jobs and create up to 1 million more jobs. There is no excuse to delay further, especially when the transportation authorization expires on March 31. … I call on every senator to work across party lines to find the necessary funds to move forward on this critical jobs bill.”

One of the video ads is available at bit.ly/ARTBAvideoad. More information is available from ATM at www.fasterbettersafer.org.

The last two Senate committees whose approvals are necessary before a surface transportation reauthorization package can be called up on the floor will act next week, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-California, said during a press conference Thursday.Both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will meet next week to mark up the revenue and transit components of the two-year, $109 billion legislation, Boxer said. The Finance Committee must identify $12 billion in revenue sources to pay for the bill’s cost beyond what the Highway Trust Fund is projected to be able to cover.

Boxer’s committee has already approved the highway portions of the bill, “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century.” (see Nov. 10 AASHTO Journal story). The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has passed the highway safety and transportation research pieces (see Dec. 16 AASHTO Journal story).

The current surface transportation authorization extension is set to expire on March 31.

A video of Boxer’s nine-minute press conference is available on YouTube at bit.ly/Boxer012612.

Three House of Representatives committees will mark up next week a five-year, $260 billion highway and transit reauthorization bill. (see related story) Also in the news this week, more than 1,000 organizations sent a letter to Congress urging prompt action on a highway and transit reauthorization bill, and the Americans for Transportation Mobility coalition announced it will launch an advertising campaign in February in support of such action. (see related story)

Three House of Representatives committees will mark up next week a five-year, $260 billion highway and transit reauthorization bill. The key policy legislative language is expected to be released by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Monday or Tuesday, followed by a committee meeting Thursday morning to consider amendments and vote on the bill, the “American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act.”State transportation department executives were briefed on the measure Thursday evening by House T&I Committee staff during a conference call organized by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials. Two draft bill summaries circulating on Capitol Hill this week indicate the House measure will include many provisions that state DOTs have long called for.

“We are encouraged to hear that the House will propose a long-term bill that will maintain existing funding levels. This will provide important long-term certainty to state DOTs,” said AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley. “We are hopeful that reforms beneficial to state DOTs are included in the legislation such as offering maximum flexibility in using federal highway and transit grants, consolidating programs, accelerating project delivery, and providing innovative finance solutions.”

To streamline the transportation project approval process, the House’s reauthorization bill “will delegate more authority to states, establish hard deadlines for federal agencies to make decisions, and cut the amount of federal red tape currently involved in getting projects built,” House T&I Committee Chairman John Mica, R-Florida, wrote in The Hill on Tuesday. “Cutting this cumbersome review process time in half while still ensuring the proper environmental protections will allow improvements to move forward with much greater efficiency.”

Mica wrote that “states will be given more flexibility to determine their greatest transportation needs and priorities, with fewer mandates coming from bureaucrats in Washington. Less federal bureaucracy will translate into less waste, and this will help increase the value of available resources.”

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Washington state, today announced that his panel will hold a markup Wednesday that will include the energy portion of the American Energy Infrastructure & Jobs Act. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced in November that royalties from expanded domestic oil and natural-gas production would help provide new revenue for the Highway Trust Fund. (see Nov. 18 AASHTO Journal story)

“Expanding access to America’s abundant offshore and onshore energy resources will create millions of new American jobs, lower energy prices, and generate new revenue to help pay for infrastructure improvements,” Hastings said in a statement. “When new energy resources are developed, we’ll need updated infrastructure to bring it to market. This creates a link that will allow for both American energy jobs and American infrastructure jobs to be created simultaneously.”

Media reports this week indicate the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over all revenue provisions in the reauthorization legislation, will hold a markup next Friday. That session has yet to be formally announced by the committee.

House Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcomittee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pennsylvania, told a Transportation Research Board seminar Wednesday that once all three committees approve their portions of the bill, they will be merged together and debated on the House floor the week of Feb. 13.

The Senate is considering a two-year, $109 billion highway and transit reauthorization bill, which cleared the Environment and Public Works Committee in November. (see Nov. 10 AASHTO Journal story) The Senate Finance Committee is expected to mark up the revenue provisions of that measure next week. (see related story)

Also this week, more than 1,000 organizations sent a letter to Congress urging prompt action on a highway and transit reauthorization bill, and the Americans for Transportation Mobility coalition announced it will launch an advertising campaign in February in support of such action. (see related story)

A new Transportation TV video released Wednesday by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials showcases the Utah Department of Transportation’s cutting-edge solutions to deliver a 24-mile, $1.7 billion interstate improvement faster, safer, and cheaper.The video — “Innovation in Motion, Utah DOT’s I-15 CORE Project” — highlights four key innovative solutions being used by UDOT including “Fixed-Price, Best-Design Procurement,” a method of conducting the competitive bid process for a highway construction project based on a fixed price and other requirements.

“When we first started the bidding process, we anticipated we’d get something in the 17-mile range; but in the end, we were able to get a total of 24 miles of freeway under construction for the same fixed price,” said John Njord, UDOT’s executive director. “This is about doing something that saves money and people time out on the highway. We’re using innovative techniques to speed project delivery and get more for every dollar we spend.”

The video also focuses on three other innovation solutions:

• Accelerated Bridge Construction, which is demonstrated through the record-setting move of a 3.8-million-pound bridge;
• A Diverging Diamond Interchange, one of only a handful of such facilities in the United States; and
• UDOT’s Innovative Strategic Communications and Public Outreach Program, which is keeping stakeholders informed and engaged in new ways.

The I-15 CORE Project is Utah’s largest highway construction effort. The massive investment will restore, expand, and renovate I-15 in Utah County to meet transportation demands through 2030.

“This project is 100% state funded, because we’re trusted,” Njord says in the video. “And the reason we’re trusted is because of this type of work that we do.”

Watch “Innovation in Motion, Utah DOT’s I-15 CORE Project” at www.TransportationTV.org to hear Njord’s interview, watch the massive bridge move, and hear from some of project’s leading contractors.