Senate EPW approves transportation extension
September 08, 2011
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved, by a unanimous vote, a draft bill that would extend federal surface transportation programs through January 31, 2012. The legislation would be a clean extension of surface transportation programs and allows the Committee time to continue work on the Senate proposed two year surface transportation authorization bill.......
August 31, 2011
In the wake of an earthquake and Hurricane Irene pummeling the East coast, there is now a spotlight on infrastructure. Thousands of bridges and roads needed to be inspected to make sure that they were safe for use. The graphic shows the grades from the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. These......
Falling Apart & Falling Behind
August 11, 2011
Building America’s Future (BAF) unveiled their own study on transportation infrastructure titled, Falling Apart and Falling Behind, which highlights how crumbling transportation system makes the nation less competitive. Falling Apart and Falling Behind findings fit with the results of ASCE’s recent Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation Infrastructure.......
August 05, 2011
On Thursday the House and Senate reached an agreement on a new FAA extension. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced a bipartisan deal to reopen the FAA and restore the government’s authority to collect airline excise taxes and fund airport construction. The agreement was the result of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood using the waiver authority granted......
Leaving on a Jet Plane: The Plight of FAA
August 04, 2011
In the rush of the debt ceiling debate over the last few weeks, Congress failed to address a Federal Administration (FAA) program which has left thousands of FAA workers out of work. Members of Congress (ironically) left on flights out of Washington, DC for the August recess while FAA remained partially shut down due to......
Failure to Act report released
July 27, 2011
“We cannot solve the budget deficit without solving the infrastructure deficit.” – Representative Earl Blumenauer Today, ASCE released Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation Infrastructure. The report found the nation’s deteriorating surface transportation infrastructure will cost the American economy more than 870,000 jobs, and suppress the growth of......
July 26, 2011
Have you ever wondered how much congestion costs you or what underinvestment in infrastructure really means? As if the nation’s economy isn’t struggling enough, a new study about to be released by ASCE finds the cost of deficient transportation infrastructure to American households and businesses is staggering. Wednesday, July 27th ASCE will release, “Failure to......
Hotel industry to be hurt by aging infrastructure
June 10, 2011
Earlier this week Jonathan Tisch, CEO of Loews Hotels, commented that the nation’s aging infrastructure will be the next hurdle the travel and hospitality industries will need to overcome. Tisch was speaking at New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, where he asked fellow hotel industry leaders to band together and create momentum for......
Traffic Congestion is Hazardous to Your Health
June 08, 2011
The Transportation Construction Coalition, of which ASCE is a member, recently released a study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis on the public health cost of traffic congestion. The study, “The Public Health Costs of Traffic Congestion: A Health Risk Assessment”, found that emissions resulting from traffic congestion in the largest 83 metropolitan areas......
Key Senators Unveil Surface Transportation Principles
May 26, 2011
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is inching closer to releasing a surface transportation authorization bill, which it hopes to mark up by the Fourth of July. This week the big four of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Max Baucus (D-MT), and David Vitter (R-LA) released......