DRIVE Act

Federal Transportation Reauthorization Agreement Close at Hand

The Wall Street Journal reports that a deal is very near—maybe Monday—for a 6-year transportation reauthorization bill with funding for not three years, as both the House and Senate bills include, but five.

December 1, 2015 - The Wall Street Journal - Politics

Two-Week Transportation Extension 'Auto-Signed' by President Obama

With transportation taxing and spending authority set to expire on Friday night, President Obama used an auto-pen to sign the extension on a plane to Malaysia. Both chambers must agree to the bill that emerges from the conference committee by Dec. 4.

November 22, 2015 - AASHTO Journal

Bridge Collapse

The Deadly Costs of Failing Infrastructure

Failing infrastructure is a life and death matter. Decaying roads, bridges, dam, pipelines, water delivery, and railroads lacking safety controls are responsible for the loss of thousands of lives annually, on top of illnesses and injuries.

November 12, 2015 - The New York Times

House Passes Six-Year Transportation Reauthorization Bill

The House of Representatives plowed through about 270 amendments this week, with floor votes on nearly 130 of them, before passing the Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform Act of 2015 (STRR Act) with funding for three years.

November 6, 2015 - The Hill

Double Trucks

House Rejects Amendment Allowing Heavier Trucks

One of the nearly 270 amendments the House is considering in the $325 billion transportation reauthorization bill would allow individual states to allow heavier trucks to use highways. It was decisively defeated in a floor vote on Tuesday.

November 5, 2015 - The Hill

The New Speaker's First Test: The Transportation Reauthorization Bill

Congress began work this week on a 6-year transportation bill, the first since SAFETEA-LU expired in 2009. Overseeing the process of adding amendments to the bill will be new House Speaker Paul D. Ryan in his first significant test of leadership.

November 4, 2015 - Roll Call

What's the Rush on the Highway Bill Reauthorization?

Surprise! A three-month transportation funding bill turns out to have funds for nine months! While unanticipated funds certainly sound like good news, it also takes immediate pressure off the House to working on a six-year reauthorization bill.

September 15, 2015 - The Hill

Hopes for Restoring New Orleans-Florida Amtrak Service Pinned on Transportation Bill

Included in the draft version of the DRIVE Act: funding to study the restoration of Amtrak's Sunset Limited route along the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina.

September 1, 2015 - The Hill

President Obama Signs Three-Month Transportation Funding Bill

The Senate was hard at work on Thursday, passing not one but two transportation funding bills—first its controversial six-year (funded for three) transportation reauthorization bill, the DRIVE Act, and then, most importantly, the patch bill.

August 2, 2015 - The Hill

Northeast Rail Corridor Woes Extend Far Beyond Hudson River Tunnels

While Amtrak's century-old Hudson River rail tunnels may capture the public's attention, particularly when they are closed, infrastructure problems on the Northeast Corridor also plague the line from Rhode Island to Washington, D.C.

August 1, 2015 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Congressional Republicans Agree to Three-Month Transportation Funding Patch

Overcoming their differences, Republican leaders in both chambers agreed Wednesday to a three-month patch bill to continue transportation spending through Oct. 29. The bill must pass by Friday due to lack of funds in the Highway Trust Fund.

July 29, 2015 - Wall Street Journal

America's Hidden Pothole Tax

A new report from TRIP has been released showing which regions have the worst maintained roads. United States drivers on average pay an annual 'hidden pothole tax' of $515, double that in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Highway funding expires July 31.

July 27, 2015 - Reuters

Selling the Nation's Strategic Assets to Fund Road Construction

What happened to the "strategic" in the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserves? As Politico reveals, heretofore these oil reserves have only been sold when the nation's oil supply was threatened. Republicans leaders now view the SPR as a cash cow.

July 24, 2015 - Politico

Democrats Object to 'Bipartisan' Senate Transportation Reauthorization Bill

We look at what happened in the Senate on Tuesday when the six-year DRIVE Act, relying on a variety of non-user fee revenue mechanisms to finance the Highway Trust Fund shortfall for three years, failed a procedural vote, and where it goes next.

July 23, 2015 - The Washington Post

It's Patch Bill Time Again for Highway Funding

Though federal highway funding is set to terminate on July 31, the House has proposed an $8.1 billion, five-month extension instead of a six-year reauthorization bill.

July 16, 2015 - Bloomberg Business

Transportation Spending and Taxing Considered by Key Senate Committee

When Congress returns from the July 4 recess, they will have less than four weeks to pass and fund a transportation bill—be it for six years, as desired by transportation advocates, or less, as Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch prefers.

June 30, 2015 - The Hill

Confederate Flag Debate Spreading to Federal Transportation Funding

An Ohio Senator hopes to use the transportation reauthorization bill to motivate states that issue license plates bearing the Confederate flag to remove them. A week ago the Supreme Court ruled states can do so without violating the first amendment.

June 26, 2015 - Cincinnati Enquirer

Senate Committee Will 'DRIVE' Transportation Reauthorization

The Senate's DRIVE Act is shaping up to be the first six-year transportation reauthorization bill since 2009. Notwithstanding the acronym, it's not all that bad, writes Tanya Snyder of Streetsblog USA. Finding funding for it is another story.

June 25, 2015 - National Journal

Op-Ed: Stop Letting Alternative Transportation Slice from the Highway Trust Fund Pie

A Congressional bill has been introduced to "provide a long term solution" to the transportation funding problem by eliminating spending on transit, biking, and local projects rather than finding funding to maintain $50 billion in annual spending.

June 19, 2015 - Cincinnati Enquirer

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