ARTBA remarks are attributable to ARTBA President & CEO Pete Ruane*
“Both Republicans and Democrats deserve a lot of credit for the new surface transportation law the President signed today. This law is going to restore public confidence in the federal highway and transit investment program.
“This wasn’t business as usual, just ‘rearranging the deck chairs,’ adding pet programs and throwing money at congressional earmarks. The new law is truly a ‘good government’ measure that makes the significant program reforms necessary to set the stage for meaningful, transparent and accountable federal transportation investments in the future.
“The law has no congressional earmarks. It focuses federal dollars on meeting critical national needs like efficient freight movement and driving down the number of motor vehicle crashes that result in unnecessary American deaths and injuries. It eliminates, consolidates or streamlines dozens of programs, giving state and local governments more decision-making control. It opens the door to more private investment in large, congestion-busting transportation projects. And, most importantly, it ushers in performance standards and reporting requirements so that the public will now know how their federal transportation dollars are being used and what kind of return on investment they are receiving.”
Today, ARTBA Chairman Paul Yarossi, president of HNTB Holdings, Ltd., who attended the White House signing ceremony with ARTBA President & CEO Pete Ruane, announced the formation of an ARTBA industry task force to spearhead an effort to secure additional federal investment in transportation programs as part of any new omnibus budget and tax reform legislation. The group will also work with federal and state agencies on implementation of the new law.
The 110-year old American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is the U.S. transportation design and construction industry’s primary advocate in the Nation’s Capital, representing more than 5,000 public agencies and private-sector firms.
*Ruane also co-chairs the 28-member “Transportation Construction Coalition” (TCC) of national associations and labor unions and is a vice chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce-led “Americans for Transportation Mobility” (ATM) coalition.