fastlane
hope springs eternal
FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS, I’VE BEEN WRITING
about the need for a national transportation policy,
and finally, Congress has come up with the same idea.
I wish I could take some of the credit, but of course I
cannot. Still, I’m gratified to see that Washington has
finally acknowledged the need for a comprehensive
national strategic plan.
The Senate got the wheels turning in May when
Sens. John Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Frank
Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced the Federal Surface
Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009. In
presenting the bill, Sen. Lautenberg said, “A national
surface transportation policy for our country is long
overdue.” That seriously understates the case, given
that our national policy hasn’t been modified in 69
years. In any event, the tide seems to be turning, and
hopefully, the end result will be a better system for
shippers, carriers, and the U.S. population in general.
As you might expect, there are some new twists in
the bill. The last policy act, the Transportation Act of
1940, charged the federal government with cooperating with the “several states and duly authorized officials thereof” in maintaining a national transportation system. The proposed bill provides that “the system shall be built, maintained, managed, and operated as a partnership between the federal, state, and
local governments and the private sector…” (
emphasis added). While this sounds innocuous enough,
there are many who believe that the private sector
should not be involved in infrastructure development. This policy, if not encouraging private investment, certainly appears to allow it.
The 2009 version also provides that the national
surface transportation policy will advance, among
other things, “…the protection of the environment.”
There should be no controversy here. I think we can
all agree that future development must consider the
environment—within reason, of course.
In all, the proposed bill identifies 10 specific goals,
but it says nothing about strategies for achieving
them. The measure simply mandates that within two
years of the legislation’s passage, the secretary of
transportation must develop a “National Surface
Transportation Performance Plan” to achieve the
goals and objectives set forth in the bill.
To me, this is where the rubber meets the road—no
pun intended. One of the goals is to “reduce national
per-capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an annual
basis.” A related goal is to increase use of public transportation, rail service, and non-motorized transportation. You probably can’t have one without the other,
but even so, it will be very difficult to change driving
habits (unless the cost of fuel skyrockets again).
The bill also sets ambitious targets for safety and air
quality, with goals of reducing motor vehicle fatalities
by 50 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by 40
percent by 2030. Both are
admirable and hopefully
can be achieved, but how?
These will be major challenges for the Department
of Transportation.
Other goals include
reducing surface transportation delays as well as
delays and congestion at
border points; increasing
the percentage of “
system-critical surface transportation assets” in good repair
by 20 percent by 2030; and reducing—or at least
maintaining—the cost of transportation as a percentage of gross domestic product.
Perhaps the most controversial goal, at least in some
circles, will be to “increase the proportion of national
freight transportation provided by non-highway or
multimodal services by 10 percent by 2020.” The
American Trucking Associations already has weighed
in on this one; no doubt others will follow.
We’re still a long way from passage of final legislation, and there will doubtless be many twists and
turns along the way. I believe we all should be grateful, however, that someone is taking the first step
toward establishing a comprehensive national transportation policy. ;
Clifford F. Lynch is executive vice president of CTSI, a supply chain solutions firm; author of
Logistics Outsourcing – A Management Guide; and co-author of The Role of Transportation
in the Supply Chain. He can be reached at cliffl@ctsi-global.com.
