The Texas Transportation Institute’s Annual Urban Mobility Report just released a fresh set of numbers showing that traffic congestion continues to plague America’s urban roads and interstate corridors. A newly introduced index also measures urban travel-time reliability and the results show that even more time needs to be factored to ensure on-time arrivals associated with appointments, just-in-time deliveries, airplane departures, etc. 

While the new data validates what commuters and users of the freight network experience on our roads every day, it’s a reminder to policymakers that short-term transportation authorizations will not solve the drain that traffic congestion causes our economy. 

The wasted time and fuel comes at an enormous cost to the economy – $121 billion annually. For manufacturers, the unreliability and the cost of congestion add more expense to supply chains that strive to be efficient and competitive. As we seek to be the best place in the world to manufacture and export our American-made products to global customers, we need a transportation system that that is better linked to achieving these goals.

There is no one solution or quick fix to deal with America’s traffic congestion problem, but it needs to be addressed. Two-year transportation bills and long-term funding uncertainty for nearly every mode of transportation – highways, transit, ports, airports and inland waterways – are not sustainable. For a nation that continues to fall in its infrastructure competitiveness rankings each year, a better approach is needed. This report is yet another reminder that our economy is not well-served by neglecting the parts that help keep it moving. 

Robyn Boerstling is director of transportation and infrastructure policy, National Association of Manufacturers.

Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration bill by a vote of 75-20. The bill is funded through 2014.

The bill’s passage is major news after four years of trial and error, resulting in 23 temporary extensions. It will provide infrastructure improvements, next generation air traffic control and common sense regulatory reforms that won’t hinder growth. This is great news for American manufacturers.

Job creation and infrastructure investment are two of the NAM’s top priorities and this legislation takes important steps toward accomplishing them. The House passed the bill on February 3, by a margin of 248-169. The bill now awaits President Obama’s signature.

This morning in a Rose Garden address President Obama called for Congress to pass an extension of the surface transportation and aviation programs which are critical to the daily transportation needs of manufacturers. Manufacturers welcome President Obama’s engagement and call for Congress to pass a bipartisan reauthorization which expires on September 30, as well as an extension of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization which expires on September 16.  These critical national infrastructure programs require certainty and adequate funding levels to ensure the safety of the public, economic growth and jobs. 

Temporary extensions are not a long-term substitute; the Administration and Congress still need to act on a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization at robust funding levels and a multi-year reauthorization of our civil aviation programs.

The President’s announcement that federal agencies will be tasked to expedite environmental and permitting reviews of high-priority infrastructure projects that will create and sustain jobs now was a welcome first step.  Rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure will require additional and fundamental policy changes in how we finance, permit, build and manage our investments.  Manufacturers expect a bipartisan approach to these issues that will deliver results. 

As our international competitors continue to ramp up investments in transportation infrastructure from modernizing air traffic control systems to expanding highway and transit capacity to accommodate growth, the House and Senate in the coming months must fully embrace these important domestic initiatives that Americans require to keep manufacturers competitive and our economy moving.  Manufacturers grow when the country adopts meaningful policies that support economic growth and expansion.  

Rosario Palmieri is vice president for infrastructure, legal and regulatory policy.

Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Hoeven (R-ND) recently introduced the Transportation and Regional Infrastructure Project (TRIP) Bonds Act of 2011 which the National Association of Manufacturers supports. While TRIP Bonds will not solve the problem of shrinking balances in the Highway Trust Fund or a replacement for fuel tax revenues that fund critical transportation investments, the one-time $50B in new funding through bonding will provide much needed relief to states charged with building and maintaining a national network of transportation infrastructure.

Multiple modes of transportation would benefit from the bipartisan Wyden-Hoeven proposal, including roads, bridges, rail, transit, ports, and certain aspects of the inland waterway system (excluding locks and dams).  The TRIP Bonds proposal recognizes the enormous infrastructure gap facing the nation and seeks to use innovative financial tools to help meet long-term infrastructure needs. 

TRIP Bonds will be 100 percent targeted to eligible transportation projects and allocates 2 percent of the $50 billion to each state using State Infrastructure Banks as the primary vehicle to issue the bonds. The fair distribution of bonding authority avoids contentious equity issues among the states and also prohibits the practice of earmarking.  

Given the important role manufacturers play in supporting the transportation infrastructure supply chain (equipment, machinery, steel, asphalt, drainage systems, etc.) and the billions in unmet infrastructure needs that must be addressed in order to remain globally competitive, we encourage House and Senate leaders to advance this proposal during the ongoing surface transportation reauthorization discussion. 

While other nations are building and modernizing roads, bridges, transit systems, airports and ports at a rapid clip to serve manufacturing economies in Asia, South America and Europe, we need all the practical solutions we can find to help our economy prosper and grow. 

Robyn Boerstling is director of transportation and infrastructure policy, National Association of Manufacturers.

Ray LaHood

Secretary Ray LaHood gave the keynote address Tuesday night at the National Bike Summit. Bicycle Retailer and Industry News has a good report on the evening’s activities at the Grand Hyatt, “Sec. LaHood Calls for Action.” Excerpt:

LaHood, 65, shared his long family history in cycling, which began when he was a young boy riding his Schwinn bike—calling it “the best-looking bike in the neighborhood”—around Peoria, Illinois. He reassured attendees that he continues to be a “full partner” and that cyclists can also continue to count on President Obama’s support.

“Most of you worked hard to get him elected and the president’s budget for 2012 shows that livable communities really is his vision,” he said.

That’s an unusually direct political appeal for a Cabinet secretary to make at an ostensibly non-political event.  

Secretary LaHood elucidated the President’s agenda further in his post at the FastLane blog, “My message to the 2011 National Bike Summit: ‘We have work to do’.”

Now, the transportation budget President Obama proposed to Congress is a big, bold vision for the next generation of American transportation. And walkable, bikeable, livable communities are a central part of that vision.  The President’s 2012 budget would boost funding for pedestrian and bike-friendly communities to $4.1 billion.  And the Administration would like to see these essential resources included in the next six-year transportation legislation.

We thought the Administration was focused on jobs, economic growth and competitiveness, but instead we find that it has made “livable communities” a priority. And how, exactly, is urban development in Sheboygan, Montpelier or Corvallis a federal responsibility?

(continue reading…)

President Obama will promote infrastructure spending in his speech today at the annual Laborfest in Milwaukee. It’s taxes on Wednesday in Cleveland. But today …

New York Times, “Obama to Call for $50 Billion Spending on Public Works“:

WASHINGTON – President Obama on Monday is to call for as much as $50 billion in government spending to start up a long-term public works plan emphasizing transportation projects – roads, rail and airport runways – over the next six years. …

While Mr. Obama’s plan would call for investment over six years, the White House says it would be front-loaded with an initial investment of $50 billion in taxpayer money, to help create jobs in the shorter term. The administration says it would work with Congress to find ways to pay for the plan, so that it would not add to the nation’s rising deficit. One possibility would be to cut existing subsidies for oil and gas exploration and production.

• The Hill, “Obama to push $50B infrastructure plan“
• Bloomberg, “Obama to Announce Transportation Infrastructure Plan“
• Reuters, “Obama to announce $50 bln infrastructure job plan“

Perhaps anticipating the announcement, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers released a statement from its president, Dennis Slater, this morning. From “America’s Manufacturers Need More to Celebrate This Labor Day“:

Jobs and the economy are popular topics in Washington right now, and many are talking about investing in America’s infrastructure as an important first step.  But almost nobody is addressing the elephant in the room:  America needs a fully-funded, multi-year transportation bill, and we need it now.  There are few, if any, better drivers of economic growth and job creation than infrastructure investment, and it can’t be done piecemeal.  We need a strategic vision for modernizing our country’s infrastructure, and leaders with the courage to make it happen.  That’s what will build America’s manufacturing sector and our economy, and bring lasting benefits to America for generations to come.

Verily. The surface transportation bill expired on Sept. 30, 2009, and since then the federal highway spending has been reauthorized several times on a short-term basis. The President’s renewed focus on infrastructure is welcome: Perhaps he will include  a demand that Congress reauthorize the highway bill before it leaves to campaign. (We’d love to hear something like: “Jobs are the priority, and so I urge Congress to drop extraneous, partisan and divisive legislative proposals from its agenda. This is no time for such destructive distractions as the DISCLOSE Act.”)

The National Association of Manufacturers has long identified transportation infrastructure as a competitive imperative, well summarized in our NAM ManuFact. The economic value of investing  in infrastructure was a central thrust of the Milken Institute study the NAM released in January, 2010, “Jobs for America: Investments and policies for economic growth and competitiveness,” and the NAM prominently cites the need for infrastructure investment in our policy guide and call to action, “Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America.”

Wall Street Journal, “White House Under Fire for Unspent Infrastructure Cash“: “The Obama administration has paid out less than a third of the nearly $230 billion allocated to big infrastructure projects in the economic-stimulus program.”

Michael Barone, The Examiner, “Big government forgets how to build big projects,” comparing the construction of the Pentagon in WWII to a little bridge being rebuilt over an inlet on the Potomac. Both, 18 months: “Big government has become a big, waddling, sluggish beast, ever ready to boss you around, but not able to perform useful functions at anything but a plodding pace. It needs to be slimmed down and streamlined, so it can get useful things done fast.”

Washington Post editorial, “Stimulus programs hobbled by regulations“: “[Lawmakers] could carefully exempt projects in any future stimulus from burdensome regulatory requirements, even if those requirements make more sense in calmer times.” Even? It’s also possible they don’t make sense at any time.

Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, “Rebuilding the Democratic brand with jobs, “If the Democrats focused on boosting manufacturing, with a corollary upgrade to our infrastructure, they’d tap into the only area in which the public wants a more activist government.” Trouble is, an activist government tends to make manufacturing less competitive globally.

White House blog, “Obama Administration Officials Continue to Visit State Fairs,” announcing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s attendance at the Illinois State Fair Friday, Aug. 20, “As part of the Illinois State Fair ‘Futures for Kids Day,’ Secretary LaHood will join law enforcement and traffic safety advocates for the 2010 kickoff of Operation Teen Safe Driving Illinois. Secretary Lahood will tour agricultural exhibits, visit the Illinois State Police Tent, and meet with high school students who have been helping to spread the word about the dangers of distracted driving.” We begrudge no one a trip to the state fair.

Wichita Eagle, “Grant may pay for bike lanes downtown“: “A federal grant that the city is poised to apply for could add miles of bike paths to the downtown area and convert four one-way streets downtown to two-way streets. Under the proposed grant application, the city would pay $10.5 million to leverage $24.5 million in federal money that is part of the TIGER II program.” What federal hand or eye could fund this fearful symmetry?

CNSNews.com, “White House Directive: Erect Signs at All Stimulus Projects as ‘Symbol of President Obama’s Commitment to American People’“: “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration also issued guidance to ARRA [stimulus] recipients encouraging but not requiring that signs be posted at job sites.”

CBC News, “Feds flexible on stimulus funding deadline“: “The [Canadian] federal government is giving municipalities a bit of wiggle room on its deadline to receive infrastructure stimulus funding. The $4-billion federal program provides cash to shovel-ready provincial and municipal projects — provided they can be completed before March 31, 2011.”

The National Association of Manufacturers today released a major economic analysis documenting the impact on the economy and jobs creation of several policy changes. The report was conducted by the Milken Institute, a nonpartisan and independent think tank in Santa Monica, that used respected and rigorous economic models to assess the impact of proposals.

The report is “Jobs for America,” and the Milken Institute has put up a website with the full study, explanatory slides, and other material: http://www.milkeninstitute.org/jobsforamerica/

“Jobs for America” concludes that proposed corporate tax cuts, export control reforms and key infrastructure investments could create more than 11 million jobs in the U.S. by 2019.

Specifically:

• Reducing the U.S. corporate income tax to match the average of other industrial countries (OECD nations) would boost total employment by 2.1 million jobs.
• A permanent R&D tax credit, increased by 25 percent, could generate 510,000 jobs within a decade.
• Modernizing U.S. export controls would expand exports in high-value areas, increasing total employment by 340,000.
• Investing $425.6 billion across 10 infrastructure categories (including highway and transit, energy efficiency, wastewater treatment, Smart Grid, nuclear, etc.) would generate 10.7 million jobs over three years.

“Jobs for America” provides the substantive economic analysis that should guide policymakers with a clear course of action if, as many assert, jobs is the No. 1 facing the country.

See also NAM release, “New Study Gives Roadmap for U.S. Job Creation and Long-Term Growth“

In his appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday, NAM President John Engler cited the disappointing results of the stimulus bill in arguing for elevating the importance of a long-term highway bill reauthorization that permits investments that support economic growth. From his interview with Becky Quick:

Engler: In the stimulus package, for example, which the NAM took a big leap of faith and we supported that early, but the impact, say, on infrastructure has been pretty negligible. Because the fall-off for local and state revenues for roads and bridges was so precipitous that the federal money really kind of got us back to about level. There was really no net significant gain there.

He did make it clear that the stimulus had merit: What if that spending had not been replaced? But let’s not settle for that inadequate amount.

Engler: I was talking to one of the Senators last week, and he said, you know, some of our prominent road builders in this state are at risk. We need to get that going, so you shouldn’t be delaying …

Quick: At risk because there’s not enough work, or there’s not capital?

Engler: Not enough work. There’s no contracts, there’s no jobs. And we need to have…we shouldn’t be putting off the transportation package for a couple of years. That’s something we ought to be saying: Here’s a seven-year bill. Here’s how much we’re going to ramp that up.

Comments reaffirmed by a Bloomberg story, “Caterpillar, Deere, Missouri Await Road Money as Projects Stall“:

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) — Missouri wants to widen Interstate 70 between St. Louis and Kansas City to get traffic, and jobs, moving again. Construction-equipment makers Caterpillar Inc. and Deere & Co. stand ready to help.

All are being stymied by a legislative deadlock that has stalled projects in Missouri and throughout the U.S. With revenue from fuel taxes declining, lawmakers are arguing over how to renew a six-year, $286.5 billion spending law that expires in six days.

The House yesterday passed a three-month extension of the highway bill, 335-85. The three-month extension is a much better approach than the 18-month extension some in the Senate and the Administration are advocating. The longer-term extension simply delays decisionmaking for the sake of electoral politics, shortchanging the country and basic investment in the process.

The National Association of Manufacturers supported the stimulus package passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, believing it would spur renewed economic growth while addressing needed infrastructure programs.

Many manufacturers we talk to have been disappointed. Dollars for infrastructure seem slower to flow into the economy than expected, and much of the federal spending has gone to help states prop up their budgets and fund social programs. You can argue the merits, but stimulus it’s not.

So Christina Hoff Sommers appears to be onto something when she writes about the skewing of the bill toward non-manufacturing, non-construction, non-infrastructure jobs. Hoff Sommers is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute most known for her book, The War Against Boys. The politics of feminism falls outside our commentary bailiwick, but it’s hard to disagree with the conditions she describes in a new Weekly Standard article, “No Country for Burly Men“:

Men are bearing the brunt of the current economic crisis because they predominate in manufacturing and construction, the hardest-hit sectors, which have lost more than 3 million jobs since December 2007. Women, by contrast, are a majority in recession-resistant fields such as education and health care, which gained 588,000 jobs during the same period. Rescuing hundreds of thousands of unemployed crane operators, welders, production line managers, and machine setters was never going to be easy. But the concerted opposition of several powerful women’s groups has made it all but impossible

Again, we don’t want to venture into the gender wars, but something has gone awry with the stimulus component of the stimulus bill. In today’s Washington Post, there’s a poll story, “Confidence in Stimulus Plan Ebbs, Poll Finds“:

Barely half of Americans are now confident that President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus measure will boost the economy, and the rapid rise in optimism about the state of the nation that followed the 2008 election has abated, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.