DC Streetsblog

Highway projects can take 10 to 15 years from planning through construction. The length of the process leads to cost overruns, some due to inflation, some from having to pay engineers and contractors for years on end. No matter how you feel about the worthiness of road capacity expansion, if a project gets built it doesn't do anybody any good to have that project cost twice what it ought to because of delays. Plus, reducing delays is going to be a key element in upcoming debates over cost-effectiveness in the transportation sector.

We reported yesterday that the president's six-year transportation plan proposes simplifying federal policy by eliminating 55 highway programs and rolling them all into five umbrella programs: the National Highway Program, Highway Safety Improvement, Livable Communities, Federal Allocation, and Research, Technology, and Education.

The president’s six-year transportation plan [PDF], included as part of the administration’s FY2012 budget proposal, weighs in at a hefty $556 billion and lays out several policy reforms that, if enacted, could help the nation transition to a more multi-modal, less oil-dependent transportation system.

What do the president of FedEx, the former Director of National Intelligence, and 19 other business and military leaders have in common? They’re urging the U.S. to adopt less oil-intensive transportation habits. They say our national security depends on it.

Hasn’t it felt lately like Capitol Hill is in some kind of bizarre vortex?

Tell that to Americorps volunteers, who will see their entire program eliminated, along with the entire federal allocation for public broadcasting and family planning and about 60 other government programs, according to the Associated Press. The plan takes an enormous bite out of transportation programs, eliminating $1 billion for high-speed rail and $224 million for Amtrak (notably, not as severe a cut as the one proposed by the conservative Republican Study Committee, which would have axed Amtrak’s entire federal subsidy). The HUD Community Development Fund stands to lose $530 million. Energy and environmental programs are taking a big hit too, with many EPA programs on the chopping block.

The Obama administration is taking its infrastructure push on the road. First stop: Philadelphia, to announce a $53 billion plan to invest in high-speed rail.

In just the last month, several reports have quantified, in various ways, how investing in transportation infrastructure pays off in jobs and economic health. Now Smart Growth America is out with new research showing that it's not enough to plunk down a bunch of money and expect miracles. You've got to do it right.

President Obama paid a visit to the Chamber of Commerce this morning, trying to make nice after a hot-and-cold couple of years.