Obama optimistic about transportation bill

President Obama said in his year-end press conference on Friday that he believes Congress can reach a bipartisan agreement on a long-term transportation funding bill next year, despite years of temporary extensions emanating from Washington.
December 23, 2014 Read time: 1 min

President Obama said in his year-end press conference on Friday that he believes Congress can reach a bipartisan agreement on a long-term transportation funding bill next year, despite years of temporary extensions emanating from Washington.

Obama has sent Congress a proposal for a four-year, $302 billion transportation bill that would be paid for largely with revenue from corporate tax reform proposals that have stalled on Capitol Hill, but lawmakers have ignored the president’s infrastructure measure.

Congress had a chance to pass a multi-year transportation funding package earlier this year, but lawmakers could not agree on a way to pay for more than a couple of months’ worth of projects, resulting in a temporary extension that provided funding for only eight months.

Obama said on Friday that he was hopeful transportation funding would be an area of bipartisan agreement when the GOP takes over both houses of Congress for the first time since 2006 in January, despite the prior inaction.

“Historically, obviously, infrastructure has not been a Democratic or a Republican issue,” he said. “And I'd like to see if we can return to that tradition.”

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Moody's: tolls will have a greater role in closing US highway funding gap
    April 28, 2017
    In light of stagnant federal funding and limited capacity for states to increase spending, toll roads will play an increasing role in addressing the funding gap for road and bridge infrastructure needs in the US, according to a new report from Moody's Investors Service. Based on historical trends, Moody's projects more toll roads and increased tolling in areas with existing traffic congestion and growing economies, population and per capita income. The 2017 Infrastructure Report Card by the American Society
    Read More
  • Travel times halve for tolling converts
    August 5, 2013
    The Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver is a prime example of how the latest ITS systems enable new infrastructures to be built and paid for while still providing additional user benefits. Vancouver has 2.2 million inhabitants and, like so many major cities, is divided into two by a river, the Frazer river. This combination makes Vancouver the second most congested city in North America and the most congested in Canada. Through the middle of the city runs the Trans-Canadian Highway 1 which crosses the Frazer Riv
    Read More
  • Lorry levy a success after only four months
    August 15, 2014
    The HGV road user levy has made more than £17 million in the four months since it came into operation, says the UK Department for Transport. More than 618,000 levies have been purchased for over 112,000 vehicles from 76 different countries since the HGV road user levy was introduced in April 2014 – which has produced enough money to patch more than 320,000 potholes on the UK’s roads. Recent evidence shows over 95% of heavy goods vehicle operators are paying the new levy in Great Britain. Roadside chec
    Read More
  • Israel aspires to ITS-led future
    May 29, 2013
    Shay Soffer, Chief Scientist with the Israel National Road Safety Authority, talks to Jason Barnes about his country’s current ITS outlook and how he sees this developing in the future. Israel ranks alongside countries such as the US and France in the road safety stakes, with an average 7.1 deaths per billion kilometres driven. But at that point the similarities end, as the country’s overriding issue is pedestrian safety. This is driven by several factors, including being a relatively small country where pe
    Read More

Highlighted Content