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National Surface Transportation and
Revenue Study Commission
Transportation Committee, U.S. House of Reps

21st Century Travel for United States of America

Midway through January, 2008 a 12-member commission, created late in 2005 to recommend long range transportation goals for all of America, returned to Washington D.C. to unveil their ten-program plan. A grand plan too startling for some commissioners to join in support, thus a minority of three commissioners issued a seaprate minority recommendation of far less scope. US DOT Sec. Mary Peters joined the minority, abiding with present White House policy condemning any proposal which includes any tax possibly perceived as increasing.

In deciding whether to fund transportation infrasturture, the case was made with stunning clarity on August 1, 2007 in downtown Minneapolis, Minneosta, when the I-35W bridge spanning the Mississippi River collapsed suddenly, with no advance warning symptoms. (The Nat'l Transp'n Safety Board concluded in its findings that faulty design of gusset plates at all key steel beam junctures was the primary cause. But highway inspctors repeatedly rated the bridge due for repairs, unaware for years that inherent design weakness sharply reduced the safety margin bridge engineers expect in every bridge.)

Less than six months after the August 1 collapse of the I-35W bridge, the National Surface Transportation and Revenue Study Commission issued its recommendations for reshaping American trasportation priorities, streamlining project design and approval of cost-effective proposals, and annual increases of the federal per-gallon gas tax to achieve the upswing in spending to reverse years of dwindling spending effectiveness.

The commission's nine majority members (five Republiucan appointees, four Democratic appointees named in 2005, during Republican majorities in House and Senate) recommend not reauthorizing spending beyond the current long range assortment of programs under SAFET-LU and instead formulated ten programs

1. Rebuilding America: A National Asset Management Program
2. Freight Transportation: A Program to Enhance U.S. Global Competitiveness
3. Congestion Relief: A Program for Improved Metropolitan Mobility
4. Saving Lives: A National Safe Mobility Program
5. Connecting America: A National Access Program for Smaller Cities and Rural Areas
6. Intercity Passenger Rail: A Program to Serve High-Growth Corridors by Rail
7. Environmental Stewardship: Transportation Investment Program to Support a Healthy Environment
8. Energy Security: A Program to Accelerate the Development of Environmentally- Friendly Replacement Fuels
9. Federal Lands: A Program for Providing Public Access
10. Research, Development, & Technology: A Coherent Transportation Research Program for the Nation

More details follow. Offerd incomplete to spread the good news quickly, despite lack of completeness

Return to KenRail home page
National Surface Transportation andRevenue Study Commission
Transportation Committee, U.S. House of Representatives