April 15, 2004

OPINION

Let's get Congress moving on transportation programs

By Vice Mayor Pat Dando

It's an election year and there's a bill in the Congress that will single-handedly help create and preserve jobs, improve our quality of life, benefit the environment and support homeland security. Best of all, the cost of this bill will not increase the federal deficit.

You may be surprised, that as good as this bill is, it is stuck in the political gridlock of Congress. There's also a real chance that even if Congress passes it, the President may veto the bill. And that is too bad because it's a key piece of legislation that will reduce traffic gridlock throughout the country by renewing federal spending on highways and transit programs.

This bill is important for several reasons. Highways, rail lines, busses, bridges and pedestrian safety projects are the backbone of our nation's transportation system. This system connects commerce and consumers, work and workforce, family and friends through every city in the country. Nationwide, local governments own and operate about 75 percent of the nearly four million-mile highway and roadway network. They also own close to 300,000 bridges and manage about 90 percent of the nation's transit systems.

Renewing the transportation-funding bill will provide a steady investment in the economic infrastructure of every city. Transportation reauthorization also pays for itself because federal gas tax revenues collected at the pump help pay the bill. Every gallon of gas purchased means more money deposited into the federal Highway Trust Fund to invest in highways and transit.

By passing a six-year bill with flexibility to local and regional officials, Washington D.C. will help improve transportation safety and reduce the stranglehold of roadway congestion that pollutes the environment and robs us of time from more productive activities at home, work, and in the community.

Federal traffic relief has been seen throughout the Bay Area, particularly in San Jose and Santa Clara County. The last two transportation-funding bills have helped build many projects that have eased congestion, reduced pollution and created hundreds of new jobs. Among these improvements are: widening I-880, rebuilding the 237/880 Interchange and the new interchange at Coleman and I-880, paving for our highways and local streets, bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements and the Tasman and Vasona Light Rail Lines.

Our economy faces many challenges. As Sacramento slowly moves towards stable footing, there is a clear need for steady transportation revenues. Here in San Jose and across the nation, local governments are doing their part to keep projects moving. Now, more than ever, we need to maintain the federal government's commitment to providing flexible and reliable funds for transportation.

Although the national economy is showing signs of improvement, job growth remains below historic levels. The federal transportation reauthorization bill provides a unique opportunity to stimulate job growth while building critically needed infrastructure for our growing communities.

The last federal transportation reauthorization bill, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21 st Century, or “TEA-21,” expired last year. TEA-21 is currently operating on a temporary extension that ends on April 30. No Congress has ever failed to authorize a federal transportation program and send the local gas tax money back to the communities.

Particularly in a tight economy, investment in our nation's transportation infrastructure is vital because it helps create new jobs and preserve existing ones. The city of San Jose cannot afford to lose another construction season while Congress debates this important bill. The longer Congress delays, more jobs will be at risk as transportation projects and programs currently underway either slow down or stop as our nation's infrastructure decays.

Both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have passed different versions of this bill. It is important that they quickly come to agreement and send a bill to the President before they leave Washington D.C. for the campaign season.

I implore you to contact our local congressional representatives and urge them to take action now. Representative Mike Honda can be reached at (408) 558-8085 and Representative Zoe Lofgren can be contacted at (408) 271-8700.