Poll Says It All—Most Americans Willing to Pay More at the Pump
July 25, 2017
From structurally deficient bridges to dilapidated roads, there’s no question our infrastructure suffers from a lack of funding. Fortunately, most Americans are now willing to pay to reverse this trend. According to a recent Bloomberg national poll, 55 percent of Americans say they would pay a higher gas tax to repair their infrastructure. Even more......
Federal Infrastructure & Science Programs Receive House Appropriations
July 21, 2017
The House Appropriations Committee had a busy week, passing the remaining five (out of 12) appropriations bills this week, part of the process Congress goes through to create the federal budget. Here are the highlights of the bills affecting infrastructure and engineering. Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies National Science Foundation is funded at $7.3......
Infrastructure in the News: Let’s Hear it for Investment
June 30, 2017
Our country’s underinvested infrastructure is not a secret—but some weeks it’s more obvious than others. This is one of those weeks. Transit failures of our nation’s largest subway systems and continued dissatisfaction with surface transportation infrastructure makes Americans more willing to invest. Tuesday’s derailment of the NYC subway was a brutal wakeup call for how......
Rural Transportation Facing a Rough Road
June 30, 2017
This week, TRIP, a national transportation research group, released a new report, Rural Connections: Challenges and Opportunities in America’s Heartland. With the nation’s roads as a whole receiving a “D” grade in ASCE’s 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, the condition of rural roads is a major contributing factor to the low grade. TRIP’s new report outlines......
Majority of House Signs Letter Asking to Fix the Highway Trust Fund
June 13, 2017
Yesterday 253 congressmen sent a letter to the leadership of the House Ways & Means Committee asking that a long-term fix for Highway Trust Fund be included in their tax reform efforts. “As the Committee on Ways and Means continues to work toward a much-needed update of the U.S. tax code, you have an opportunity......
President Trump Announces “Massive Permit Reform” Push
June 09, 2017
Capping off his Administration’s ‘Infrastructure Week,’ President Trump held an event this morning on permitting reform at the U.S. Department of Transportation. President Trump, joined by Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, met with heads of state departments of transportation and then addressed a group of transportation officials and stakeholders.......
Legislation to Create National Infrastructure Bank Reintroduced
June 02, 2017
Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), along with seven other bipartisan cosponsors, recently introduced S. 1168 – BRIDGE Act to establish a national infrastructure bank to give state and local governments another tool in the toolbox for financing infrastructure projects. The bank would help state and local governments better leverage private funds to......
Trump Administration Proposes Budget
May 26, 2017
On May 23, 2017, President Donald Trump released his budget request for Fiscal Year 2018, which follows the blueprint, or “skinny,” budget released in March 2017. The proposal cuts funding for all federal departments except the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security. The agency with the largest percentage decrease in funding is the......
Infrastructure Week: Time to Build
May 15, 2017
The fifth annual Infrastructure Week is underway. More than 100 events are being held around the country this week, with the goal of elevating infrastructure as a critical issue impacting all Americans. Things kicked off Monday morning with an event at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, featuring Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Los Angeles Mayor Eric......
Infrastructure in the News: No Rest for Weary Infrastructure
February 17, 2017
Romantic dates, the Grammy awards and celebrating black history are not the only milestones of this week; the Oroville dam crisis in California and the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)’s 2017 national bridge report are drawing equal media attention. The recent Oroville dam crisis in California, captured by sources like National Geographic, Los......