After working through more than 200 proposed amendments to a proposed five-year, $548 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill dubbed the INVEST in America Act, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the measure 38-26, with only two Republicans votes in support. House leaders quickly announced the bill will be considered by the full House during […]

The House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure unveiled its five-year, $547 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill on June 4. Dubbed the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America or INVEST in America Act, the committee plans to markup the bill on June 9. [Above photo by the […]

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America are suing the Federal Communications Commission in federal court to stop the agency’s plan to reallocate swaths of the 5.9-gigahertz (GHz) wireless communication spectrum to non-transportation uses. [Above photo by the District of Columbia Circuit Court] ITS America and […]

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed a five-year, $303.5 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill on May 26 by a unanimous vote of 20-0. Entitled the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021, the bill boosts total highway funding from fiscal year 2022 to 2026 by 34 percent over the baseline established by the […]

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, (above at right) and Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, (above at left) reintroduced the Toll Credit Marketplace Act on May 25 to establish a program to help states increase resources for highway and transit projects. The bill would direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish a “marketplace” for the sale and purchase […]

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a Request for Information or RFI on May 25 to help it to gain insight on the data and assessment tools available to assess transportation equity. [Above photo by the USDOT] The RFI – which closes on June 24 – is also in response to an executive order issued by President […]

The Federal Highway Administration issued $5.6 million in Accelerated Innovation Deployment or AID demonstration program grants to seven state departments of transportation on May 26 speed up their use of innovative traffic, safety and construction practices. [Above photo by the Michigan DOT] “With the help of these grants, states can more easily deliver cutting-edge roads, […]

Without timely reauthorization of surface transportation funding legislation, revenue for the Highway Trust Fund will become uncertain. That uncertainty presents a problem for state departments of transportation, which will find it “nearly impossible” to plan future infrastructure investments without knowing if they will have the necessary multi-year funds available. Those are some of the arguments […]

Formula funding mechanisms are critical to building more resilience into the nation’s transportation system, argued Edwin Sniffen (seen above), deputy director of highways for the Hawaii Department of Transportation, during a May 13 Senate Committee on Appropriations. Appearing before the subcommittee on transportation, housing and urban development, and related agencies, Sniffen said transportation resilience is […]

The U.S. Department of the Treasury outlined specific transportation-related rules regarding the disbursement of $350 billion in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds – money provided through the American Rescue Plan or ARP legislation passed in early March – to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments. [Above photo of Treasury Department headquarters by Matt Robinson] […]