Washington Gives Go Ahead for Infrastructure Investment, Details of Possible Plan Begin to Take Shape

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Feb 08, 2011, 11:22 ET

NEWARK, N.J., Feb. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlighted in President Obama's State of the Union address and expected to be a large part of his fiscal 2012 budget, transportation infrastructure is moving to the top of the domestic economic agenda. It faces major hurdles to funding and approval, however, as the government struggles to find a balance between economy-lifting investment and stimulus-type spending. Discussions with transportation industry insiders suggest the broad outlines of a plan already are taking shape, including investment strategies that encompass all transportation modes and reinventing funding mechanisms to ensure a reliable flow of federal dollars in the future, according to this week's Journal of Commerce Cover Story.

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The plan is likely to include new incentives for private capital investment in public-private partnerships and could include an overhaul of the Highway Trust Fund into something called a Transportation Trust Fund, potentially pitting highway users against railroads in a battle for federal backing.

The administration is looking for support from various interest groups for broad changes in the national transportation spending plan, and there are signs that groups that are often at odds with each other may work together on infrastructure investment needs.

"Whether it is building roads, bridges, high-speed broadband, energy systems and schools, these projects not only create jobs and demand for businesses, they are an investment in building the modern infrastructure our country needs to compete in a global economy," said U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a recent joint statement.

Written by Washington reporter John D. Boyd, The Journal of Commerce story offers a timely window into discussions under way surrounding the future of U.S. transportation policies and their funding, reports on the status of President Obama's embattled intercity passenger rail program, and includes an analysis of the use of public-private partnerships in Florida by R.G. Edmonson, Customs, regulation and policy editor.

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Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link.

John Boyd

https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=67569

R.G. Edmonson

https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=55883

CONTACT: Paul Page, The Journal of Commerce, Editorial Director, +1-202-355-1170, [email protected].

SOURCE The Journal of Commerce