Skip to main content

Foxx pushes Congress to pass transportation funding

US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx has called for lawmakers to pass a multi-year infrastructure funding bill, saying the cycle of temporary extensions is killing states' willingness for road and transit projects. It has been ten years since Congress last passed a transportation funding bill of longer than two years. "Last year we sent Congress a comprehensive multiyear proposal, the Grow America Act, which included 350 pages of precise policy prescriptions and substantial funding growth, all foc
January 30, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx has called for lawmakers to pass a multi-year infrastructure funding bill, saying the cycle of temporary extensions is killing states' willingness for road and transit projects.

It has been ten years since Congress last passed a transportation funding bill of longer than two years.

"Last year we sent Congress a comprehensive multiyear proposal, the Grow America Act, which included 350 pages of precise policy prescriptions and substantial funding growth, all focused on the future," he said during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee about transportation funding issues.  

He said the extension passed by Congress last year ‘averted a catastrophe but fell short’ of meeting the country’s needs. "It was not the first short-term measure, or patch, that has been passed,” he claimed. “It was, by my count, the 32nd in the last six years. And as a former mayor, I can tell you these short-term measures are doing to America what the state [Department of Transportation] says they're doing in Tennessee, literally killing their will to build."

Related Content

  • Oregon trials road user charging
    February 11, 2013
    In Oregon, gas-tax money funds about 58 per cent of the budget used to take care of the state’s roads. As vehicles become more fuel efficient, the gas tax, which is 30 cents a gallon in Oregon and 37 cents in Washington, will generate less and less money. “If we’re using gasoline and diesel sales to fund our transportation system, we’re going to be in big trouble,” said Patrick Cooney of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Recognizing the problem early, Oregon started studying alternatives to th
  • CBO report on federal highway spending ‘a breath of fresh air’ says IBTTA
    February 17, 2016
    The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) applauds a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, Approaches to Making Federal Highway Spending More Productive, which examines the economic advantages of tolling as one means of funding the nation’s highway system.
  • Wabtec announces PTC contracts with Metra
    December 18, 2015
    Wabtec Corporation has signed contracts worth about US$45 million Metra and Parsons Transportation Group (PTG) to provide equipment and services for a Positive Train Control (PTC) system for the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (Metra). Metra operates commuter rail service in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, serving more than 100 communities at 241 rail stations, with a fleet of 146 locomotives, 843 passenger cars and 185 electric-propelled cars. Under the contracts, Wa
  • Transport planning consultation is culturally important
    February 2, 2012
    Andrew Bardin Williams explores the efforts under way in North Dakota to consult with native tribes during the early stages of transportation project development. These efforts have led to the signing of a Programmatic Agreement between the state DOT and local tribes and the creation of a tribal consultation committee that allows Native Americans to advise on the identification, evaluation and treatment of historic properties, including those of religious and cultural significance