IBTTA Statement on Passage of the Highway Trust Fund Patch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, July 29, 2014
CONTACT: Kristofer Eisenla, LUNA+EISENLA media
[email protected] | 202-670-5747 (mobile)

WASHINGTON, DC – The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA), the worldwide association representing toll facility owners and operators and businesses that serve them, today released the following statement on the Senate passage of H.R. 5021, The Highway and Transportation Funding Act: 

“Today’s Senate passage of the Highway Trust Fund patch does not negate the need for a long-term solution to our country’s infrastructure funding crisis. Congress must develop a comprehensive plan to address the critical funding needs of our nation’s surface transportation system,” said Patrick D. Jones, Executive Director and CEO of IBTTA. 

“In the interim, we encourage Congress to quickly resolve any differences between the House and Senate bills to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent.

“Like other transportation advocates, we support an increase in the federal gasoline and diesel excise taxes, which have not been increased since 1993, to preserve the integrity of the federal Highway Trust Fund and provide funding certainty to states. 

“In addition, we urge Congress to lift the ban on tolling existing lanes of interstate highways for purposes of reconstruction, as the Obama Administration proposed in its GROW AMERICA Act. Rebuilding the interstate highways will cost hundreds of billions of dollars over the next several decades and current funding sources alone are not equal to the task. States should have the flexibility to use tolling if it makes sense for them.

“More than five years ago, the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission issued this warning: 

‘The roots of our current crisis lie in our failure as a nation to fully understand and, more important, act on the costs of deferred investment in our surface transportation infrastructure, especially in the face of an aging infrastructure, a growing population, and an expanding economy.

‘An ever expanding backlog of investment needs is the price of our failure to maintain funding levels—and the costs of these investments grows as we delay.

‘This problem will only worsen until Congress addresses the fundamental fact that current HTF revenues are inadequate to support current federal program spending levels.

“We stand with the members of that congressionally appointed commission in calling for long-term, comprehensive and sustainable solutions to fund and finance America’s roads, bridges and tunnels.

“Bipartisan ideas like the fuel tax increase introduced by Senators Murphy and Corker and the historic Obama Administration proposal to lift the ban on tolling existing lanes of interstate highways for purpose of reconstruction must be considered if we are to achieve a long-term solution.”

In 2013, IBTTA launched Moving America Forward, a public awareness campaign that highlights the benefits of tolling to policy-makers, the media, and other interested parties. For additional information on the campaign, including fact-sheets, background documents and other materials, please click here.

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About IBTTA

The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) is the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve them. Founded in 1932, IBTTA has members in more than 20 countries on six continents. Through advocacy, thought leadership and education, members are implementing state-of-the-art, innovative user-based transportation financing solutions to address the critical infrastructure challenges of the 21st century. For more information, visit www.ibtta.org or join us on Twitter @IBTTA or #TollRoads.