ATLANTA — The waning days of the Bush Administration could see future major transportation infrastructure spending funded by public/private partnerships.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters unveiled a plan yesterday to "refocus, reform, and renew the national approach" to highway and transit system funding in America.

“Without a doubt, our federal approach to transportation is broken. And no amount of tweaking, adjusting or adding new layers on top will make things better,” Secretary Peters said. “It is time for a new, a different and a better approach.”

That approach includes the creation of a Metropolitan Innovation Fund that rewards cities willing to combine a mix of effective transit investments, dynamic pricing of highways (congestion pricing), and new traffic technologies, the Secretary said.

But critics say the plan is nothing more than last-ditch attempt to reward President Bush’s Wall Street pals in the waning days of his presidency.

“We are hopeful the next Administration and Congress will have a more reasoned, positive view of transportation and infrastructure and do more with their roles as leaders in making sure needed transportation improvements are made and highway users and taxpayers are treated fairly," says Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the American Owner-Operator and Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).

The Association contends the proposal has no real meaning this late in the game and does not address the real problems and challenges that must be addressed.

More direct pricing options like tolling are needed
to improve US highway infrastructure, says Peters

The Secretary said the plan sets a course for reforming the nation’s transportation programs by outlining a renewed federal focus on maintaining and improving the Interstate highway system instead of diverting funds for wasteful pet projects, and to improve the current 13-year average it takes to design and build new highway and transit projects in the United States.

Secretary Peters’ says more direct pricing options like tolling are needed, and that states must be empowered to take advantage of the over $400 billion available worldwide for infrastructure investments from the private sector.

“The idea is simple: use federal funds to encourage new sources of investments for transportation instead of replacing them,” she said. “Our plan will make it easier to pay for and build roads and transit systems. It will deliver fewer traffic tie ups, better transit services, and a stronger economy. It will make our roads safer and give Americans new confidence that the money they invest in transportation will actually deliver results.”

In 2004, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) estimated that in drivers in the trucking industry lost more than 240 million hours of potential driving time due to traffic congestion, and predicts the problem will worsen over time. The ATRI predicts that by 2025 the total miles traveled on U.S. highways will increase by 72 percent over present levels.