In This Issue

	Editorial by Tom Warne: What is Normal?
	Washington Highway Fatalities Fall to 55-Year Low
	Cambridge Halts Congestion Charge Plans
	Wyoming’s I-80 Toll Plan Dies in House

What is Normal?

Editorial by Tom Warne

This has been a week of turmoil in the transportation industry as Congress allowed the latest temporary extension of the transportation bill to expire at midnight on February 28th. Federal employees stayed home, reimbursements stopped and the industry took a collective gasp. Finally, a few days later the fix is in and life is back to normal.

What is normal? Normal is a transportation program on life support due to ever-declining revenue streams. It’s a federal program that over subscribed to the tune of 38:1 for TIGER grants, and 13:1 for High Speed Rail pre-applications. Who knows how oversubscribed the New Starts money will be, as the criteria change being proposed by US DOT will include economic benefits and livability issues. If New Starts was 10:1 oversubscribed before, it will probably grow to 15 or 20:1 with the new criteria in place.

What else is normal? No new bill. A delay till the end of the year-- maybe a bill after that. By then we will be into the presidential election cycle with little likelihood of the current administration raising taxes at that point.

Delays to reauthorization? That’s certainly normal when you remember that in 1982 STAA was two months late, in 1987 STURRA was six months late, in 1992 ISTEA was two months late, TEA 21 was eight months behind schedule and SAFETEA:LU was 23 months late.

What else is normal? If your state is highly dependent on federal funds to pay for your capital program then your program was hurt more than others were this week and is experiencing more pain because of reauthorization delays. States like Montana, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Alaska and Georgia are in this category where federal aid dependence runs from 59-76%. On the other hand, if your state has been aggressive in finding alternative funding to federal aid then Congress' actions are disturbing but have less impact. States in this category include Wyoming, Oregon, Maryland, Iowa, Illinois, and Arizona whose dependence runs from 13-20%.

This leads me to a final point in this editorial. In business, risk is reduced by controlling as many variables as possible. In the case of a state highway program the risk of a dysfunctional federal system may be reduced by lowering state dependence on federal funds. Establishing local revenue streams to pay for a larger share of capital projects is one example--sort of like reducing our dependence on foreign oil. That is how Arizona came to be on the second list cited above. Also, UDOT revenues went from 80/20 federal to state when I became the Executive Director there in 1995 to a 20/80 federal to state ratio today by doing the same thing. To the extent a state controls their future by not relying on federal aid for the lion share of revenues, they are less susceptible to the current climate in Washington. If inaction is normal, what are you doing about controlling how "normal" affects your business or program?

Washington Highway Fatalities Fall to 55-Year Low

Washington – Highway officials in Washington report that the 490 traffic deaths on state highways in 2009 were the lowest since 1955. In 2009, 30 fewer fatalities occurred on state roads from the previous year. In 1951, 461 people died on Washington highways.

State officials said their goal is zero traffic fatalities by 2030, which they are working toward by focusing on safety improvements, strong enforcement of traffic laws, public education and emergency medical services.

“Our three biggest killers are impaired driving, speed and the failure to wear a seat belt. We will continue to focus on those very risky behaviors with the hope of even better news in 2010,” said Chief Batiste of the Washington State Patrol, in a statement.

Cambridge Halts Congestion Charge Plans

England - Plans to implement a congestion charge in Cambridge have been halted after the government pulled the plug on its Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) to pay for congestion-easing projects. The TIF, which focused specifically on congestion pricing, was replaced by the Urban Challenge Fund, which does not require city council bids to include plans which implement a congestion charge, leading to speculation that congestion charge plans could be dropped completely.

The Government’s move subsequently rejects Cambridgeshire County Council’s bid for nearly $700 million U.S. dollars from the government for a congestion charge plan for the area.

Roy Pegram, Cambridgeshire County Council’s cabinet member for growth, infrastructure and strategic planning, said, "The Government announcement is bitterly disappointing as it looks like they have once again not chosen to invest in one of the fastest growing counties in the country. There is a desperate need for transport investment to accommodate growth. The bid we put forward to Government looked at what is needed here in Cambridgeshire to address congestion problems, but clearly they have moved the goalposts.” Pegram added that work the council had carried out put it in "pole position to submit a bid for the new fund if we choose to do so."

Wyoming’s I-80 Toll Plan Dies in House

Wyoming – A bill to pursue tolls on Wyoming’s portion of I-80 was rejected by House lawmakers. The measure would have given the state transportation department the authority to devise a plan to toll the interstate as well as to draft a master plan to analyze different tolling scenarios.

If WyDOT were given that authority, the agency could submit a formal request to the Federal Highway Administration to set up toll stations on I-80. The state would also be required to foot the $350,000 bill to submit the proposal to the FHWA.

Wyoming’s House Transportation Committee killed the bill by not sending it to the full House for consideration. The Senate had previously passed the bill with an 18-12 vote.

I’m not sure tolls are the answer but Wyoming does carry a huge burden on Interstate 80 for truck traffic that does nothing more than pass through. Every Californian or citizen of New York who receives goods passing through Wyoming benefits but doesn’t contribute to fixing the highway. This is one more problem that a new highway bill with a strategic approach would address. TW