[Budget of the United States Government]
[V. Preparing For the 21st Century]
[5. Investing in Infrastructure]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
5. INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE
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I think it's important also to point out that as we invest in . . .
bridges and roads and transit systems, we are also building a bridge to a
cleaner environment. We're building a bridge from welfare to work. We're
building a bridge to sustainable communities that can last and grow and
bring people together over the long run.
President Clinton
March 1997
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For America to continue prospering in the 21st Century, its
transportation infrastructure must be safe, integrated, and efficient
enough to serve the Nation's growing commerce and mobility demands.
This Nation has the world's most extensive transportation system,
with a transportation infrastructure that includes 3.9 million miles of
public roads, 180,000 miles of railroad track operated by freight
railroads, 25,000 miles of commercially navigable waterways, 5,500
public use airports, 1.4 million miles of privately operated oil and gas
pipelines, and over 6,000 transit systems.
Investment in infrastructure is good for America, spurring economic
growth; improving safety and public health; enhancing U.S.
competitiveness globally; increasing mobility, access, and
transportation choice for all Americans; and supporting our national
security. To ensure that our national transportation system can meet the
demands of the 21st Century, we must build upon the infrastructure we
have today and improve its quality to meet tomorrow's need for a system
that is intermodal, cleaner, and safer, and that promotes sustainable
and inclusive communities. And we must focus our resources through
innovative mechanisms, such as the President's new Transportation Fund
for America.
Creating the Transportation Fund for America
The budget proposes a new Transportation Fund for America to
highlight the importance of investing in transportation and maintaining
the Administration's record levels of transportation spending. The Fund
includes all of the Transportation Department's highway, highway safety,
transit, and air transportation programs.
Highways and Bridges: The Fund includes $21.5 billion for the
Federal-aid Highways program to maintain and improve the
nearly 955,550 miles of eligible roads and bridges. The
increased highway and bridge funding in recent years has kept
pace with maintenance requirements and reversed the
deterioration of our transportation system. On the Interstate
system, for example, both pavement and bridge conditions have
improved in the 1990s. In addition to traditional grant
programs, the Fund provides the resources for innovative
approaches to address infrastructure needs. Under the State
Infrastructure Banks program, the Federal Government helps
States underwrite debt issuance for highway and transit
projects. The new Transportation Infrastructure Credit
Enhancement Program provides grants to improve the financing
for nationally significant projects, including public-private
partnerships.
Environment: The Federal Highway Administration's
Transportation Enhancements and Congestion Mitigation and Air
Quality Improvement Programs, for which the Fund includes a
combined $1.8 billion, address the environmental impacts of
transportation by funding bike trails, transit projects,
pedestrian facilities, historic preservation projects, water
pollution mitigation, beautification projects, and more. These
efforts can improve air quality and
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help reduce the number of days when air pollution exceeds
National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
Highway Safety: The Fund includes $406 million for the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a 22-
percent increase over the 1998 level, which will fully fund
the Presidential Initiative to Increase Seat Belt Use Nation-
wide; the President's Initiative on Drugs, Driving and Youth;
and the President's Partnership for a New Generation of
Vehicles. These programs help fulfill the President's goal of
promoting public health and safety by reducing transportation-
related deaths and injuries, and the proposed funding will
enable NHTSA to expand the Federal Government's partnership
with other levels of government, private organizations, and
citizens. NHTSA will continue to work with the medical and
health communities to focus on the significant public health
implications of highway fatalities and injuries and the
associated economic costs to society.
Transit: The Fund provides $4.6 billion for transit
infrastructure, including $3.7 billion in formula grant funds
to maintain and expand transit systems in urban, small urban,
and rural areas. Nation-wide, the elderly, people with
disabilities, and economically disadvantaged individuals rely
heavily on these systems. The Fund includes $876 million for
major capital investments, providing the resources to meet the
Administration's full funding grant commitments to construct
new, or expand existing, transit systems.
Air Transportation: The Fund includes $9.7 billion for
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs, a seven-
percent increase over the 1998 level. It includes $5.6
billion, a six-percent increase, to continue operating the
world's safest air traffic control system; $2.1 billion, a 14-
percent increase, to buy next generation equipment for the
system; and $290 million, a 46-percent increase, to research
ways to make the system safer, more secure, and more
efficient. It also provides $1.7 billion in grants to improve
the Nation's airports.
Building an Intermodal System
Americans do not view transportation through the lens of individual
modes, such as highways, trains, or marine or air travel. Rather, they
expect transportation to deliver results--moving people and goods from
point to point. Infrastructure investment builds and maintains the
individual links in the transportation chain and forges them together
into an effective intermodal network.
The budget proposes a record Federal investment of nearly $30 billion
in transportation infrastructure--airports, highways, transit, and
trains--continuing the trend of rising investments in infrastructure
under this Administration. In 1999, infrastructure investment would rise
to a level that is 42 percent higher than the annual average of $21.1
billion from 1990 to 1993, and 13 percent higher than the annual average
of $26.6 billion from 1994 to 1998 (see Table 5-1). These increases have
helped address demands arising from the greater movement of people and
goods in a growing economy.
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Table 5-1. AVERAGE ANNUAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
(Appropriations, obligation limitations and exempt obligations; dollar amounts in millions)
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1990-1993 1994-1998 Percent Change: 1990-1993 Average Percent Change: 1994-1998 Average
Annual Annual 1999 to 1999 to 1999
Average Average Proposed
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Infrastructure Investment..................... 21,145 26,575 29,982 +42% +13%
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Surface Transportation: Surface transportation programs account for
much of the Federal, State, and local transportation infrastructure
investment dollar. The 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency
Act (ISTEA) broke new ground by giving States and localities more
flexible and innovative funds for these programs. Over the past six
years, the results have become clear:
The percentage of pavement in poor condition on the National
Highway System fell from 11.3 percent in 1993 to 8.9 percent
in 1996.
State and local officials have used flexible funds to target
improvements in mobility, economic development, and air
quality through projects that selectively foster pedestrian,
bicycle, and transit-supportive land uses. Local decisions
have directed $3.2 billion into transit investments--funds
that might otherwise have been restricted to highways,
regardless of local needs.
Overall, the expansion of transit systems and purchase of
transit vehicles expanded transit capacity by 3.5 percent from
1993 to 1995. Transit investments also have leveraged local
development and redevelopment by improving public access to
major job centers and fostering land use that supports
commercial activity. Transit also eases congestion and
pollution by slowing the rate of growth of auto traffic.
The Administration's proposed National Economic Crossroads
Transportation Efficiency Act (NEXTEA) builds on these successes and
significantly enhances the Nation's ability to promote intermodal
development. NEXTEA authorizes $175 billion for surface transportation
programs from 1998 to 2003, and increases core highway program
authorizations by more than 30 percent over ISTEA levels. NEXTEA
provides even greater flexibility for States and localities to target
funds to projects--such as passenger rail, intercity bus, and transit--
that best meet community needs.
The budget and reauthorization proposals for the Federal Highway
Administration give State and local officials maximum flexibility to
meet their local priorities. The budget provides $22.4 billion to
maintain the highways critical to interstate transportation. In
addition, it proposes $250 million to leverage private financing for new
transportation infrastructure projects. Of the $250 million, $150
million would capitalize State Infrastructure Banks that enable States
to underwrite bonds, enhance credit, and make loans. The other $100
million would fund the Infrastructure Credit Enhancement grants to
improve the financing of public-private projects of national
significance. The Alameda Corridor, first funded in 1997, is an example
of a public-private project that will improve national competitiveness
by contributing to efficiency in domestic handling of international
shipments in and out of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The budget also proposes a $4.6 billion investment in transit
infrastructure. Relying on the NEXTEA program structure, the
Administration proposes to combine the Discretionary Bus and Fixed
Guideway Modernization programs with the Formula Grants program, giving
transit properties maximum flexibility to meet their capital needs. Of
the transit investments, $100 million would go for the new Access to
Jobs and Training Program, designed to establish partnerships between
transportation and human service providers to support new transportation
links to entry-level jobs.
Border Gateway Pilot Program: In NEXTEA, the Administration proposes
a special border program to improve transportation at international
border crossings and along major trade transportation corridors. The
proposed $540 million Border Gateway Pilot Program ($90 million a year)
would develop and implement coordinated, comprehensive border crossing
plans and programs, thus promoting the efficient and safe use of border
crossings within defined international gateways.
Passenger Rail: Investments in passenger rail are a critical piece of
our Nation's transportation infrastructure. The Administration proposes
over $600 million to fund the National Railroad Passenger Corporation,
known as Amtrak. This discretionary funding, combined with over $2.2
billion available to Amtrak under the Taxpayer Relief Act, represents
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historic levels of Federal capital support for passenger rail.
The 1998 Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act, Amtrak's first
reauthorization since 1992, provides for its most comprehensive
restructuring since the early 1980s. Amtrak is a vital component of our
national transportation services in densely populated corridors, such as
the Northeast; on medium- and short-haul routes; and on trans-
continental routes linking cities across the Nation. In many areas of
rural America, it is the only transportation alternative to the
automobile. With the available funds, Amtrak would be able to make
needed capital improvements, including replacing its aging car fleet,
upgrading its tracks, and rehabilitating stations and maintenance
facilities Nation-wide. With these improvements, Amtrak would be able to
attract new customers and better serve the ones it has. The budget also
maintains the Administration's commitment to end Federal operating
assistance to Amtrak by the year 2002.
New high-speed operations in the Northeast corridor between Boston
and Washington are a key part of this greatly improved rail service. As
part of its $621 million request for Amtrak, the Administration proposes
$200 million for the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project to
significantly expand the flexibility that travelers enjoy. By the end of
1999, with the completion of electrification between New Haven and
Boston, the entire Boston-to-Washington corridor would operate as high-
speed rail. In 2000, the Washington-New York market would have two-hour-
and-45-minute service, while the New York-Boston market would have
three-hour service, compared to current service times of three hours and
four-hours-and-20-minutes, respectively. Travelers accustomed to the
surface-airport-surface intermodal connections to and from urban centers
along the Northeast corridor would have a realistic alternative of walk-
aboard, business-center-to-business-center rail service.
Air Transportation--National Airspace System (NAS) Modernization: As
air travel grows from 600 million to an estimated one billion passengers
a year by 2010, demand for air traffic control (ATC) services will
outstrip the NAS' current capacity. At the same time, equipment for the
ATC system, although still safe, is reaching the end of its useful life.
As a result, ATC modernization is one of the Administration's highest
transportation infrastructure priorities.
In its February 1997 report to the President, the White House
Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, led by Vice President Gore
and known as the Gore Commission, highlighted the need for increased
aviation investment. It noted that ``inefficiencies in the system cost
airlines in excess of $3 billion in 1995--costs ultimately paid by
passengers.'' To address these inefficiencies, the Commission
recommended that a ``modernized system (be) fully operational by the
year 2005.''
The budget is an important step toward achieving this goal. It
proposes about 10 percent average annual increases in aviation capital
modernization funding over the next five years. For 1999, the budget
invests $2.1 billion in modernization, compared to the $1.9 billion that
Congress enacted in 1998. It supports continued replacement of air
traffic control computers at the Nation's busiest airports and en-route
centers, and maintains the safety and integrity of existing systems
until they are replaced. It also promotes the development of prototype
software tools to allow air traffic controllers to route traffic more
efficiently. By 2003, the projected capital modernization budget totals
$3.2 billion (see Table 5-2).
The budget makes longer-term investments in developing advanced
navigation, communications, and decision support technology in pursuit
of a revolutionary operational concept known as ``free-flight.'' It
includes more than $300 million over five years for the Flight 2000
Demonstration Program to test and validate the equipment and procedures
needed to shift from traditional ground-based air traffic control to
more collaborative air traffic management. Also, as the Gore Commission
recommended, the budget proposes $100 million in 1999 to purchase 88
explosives detection systems, 125 trace detection devices, 85 carry-on-
baggage x-ray machines, and as many as 100 hardened cargo containers for
passenger jets.
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Table 5-2. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION MODERNIZATION AND OPERATIONS FUNDING
(Budget authority, dollar amounts in millions)
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Dollar Percent
1997 1998 1999 2003 Change: Change:
Actual Estimate Proposed Proposed 1998 to 1998 to
1999 1999
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Modernization....................................... 1,938 1,875 2,130 3,185 +255 +14%
Operations.......................................... 4,953 5,337 5,631 6,839 +294 +6%
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In addition, the budget proposes significant increases for FAA
operations. It increases funding by six percent, to $5.6 billion, to
ensure the continued safe and efficient operation of the National
Airspace System and fully fund Gore Commission recommendations (see
Table 5-2). The budget provides funds for 185 new air traffic
controllers, 150 new maintenance technicians, and 45 more safety
inspectors, and more funds to operate and maintain newly acquired
systems, expand the aging-aircraft inspection program to cover non-
structural systems, develop a standard safety database to share
information in accident prevention programs, and perform airport
vulnerability assessments.
As aviation funding rises in the next five years, the budget assumes
that direct user fees will support more of this investment. Over time,
excise taxes will give way to more efficient service-based charges. By
2003, direct user fees, which encourage better system management and
more accurately reflect system use, would fund the NAS completely.
Airport Grants: About 3,300 large and small airports are eligible for
Federal capital grants to help build runways and make other capital
improvements that enhance capacity, safety, security, and noise
mitigation. The budget proposes $1.7 billion for the Airport Grants
Program that, along with State and local funds, supplements airport
revenues that fund 84 percent of the development costs of commercial
service airports. These revenues include about $1.1 billion a year in
local passenger facility charges, authorized in 1990 and paid by
passengers to improve the aviation facilities they use. The collections
go directly to the local airports for improvement projects.
Promoting a Cleaner and Safer America
In recent years, the Nation has recognized that we have limited
ability to add new physical capacity to our transportation system.
Furthermore, the effects of new physical capacity on the environment and
the quality of our lives are often unacceptable: air and noise
pollution, congestion, community disruption, and loss of land for
alternate uses are just a few examples. We also must ensure that, as our
transportation system expands, we improve the way we protect our
families from the hazards of travel.
Safer Roads: Transportation safety, an Administration priority, is an
integral component of investment in our highway transportation system.
The highway and vehicle safety programs that NHTSA administers reduce
fatalities and injuries. The economic cost to society of motor vehicle
crashes is an estimated $150 billion a year, according to an analysis of
1994 NHTSA data. NHTSA's programs have played a significant role in
saving over $30 billion of additional economic costs that would
otherwise accrue.
The budget increases funding for NHTSA programs by 22 percent above
1998 levels, fully funding the Presidential Initiative for Increasing
Seat Belt Use Nation-wide. This Initiative is designed to increase seat
belt use from the current 68 percent to 85 percent in 2000 and 90
percent in 2005. It reflects a broadened, more intensive public
education program involving public and private partnerships, and more
State participation in enacting strong laws and effectively enforcing
them. NHTSA's outreach program and State participation are designed to
reduce alcohol and drug-related fatalities and injuries. Further,
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NHTSA's research and vehicle programs employ engineering and marketing
approaches to improve vehicle safety and enhance our highway safety and
infrastructure.
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS): In our surface modes, the
broad range of technologies that the Administration is developing,
testing, and installing under the ITS program hold the promise of
meeting greater traffic demand with existing facilities; reducing
congestion; and improving safety. ITS programs can also increase
personal mobility, cut freight costs, and allow firms to develop
customized transportation solutions. Together with the local flexibility
that ISTEA offers, these programs helped hold peak-hour congestion
growth on urban interstate highways to 2.5 percent from 1990 to 1995,
despite greater annual increases in vehicle travel.
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvements (CMAQ): To make
America's transportation system more environmentally sensitive, the
budget proposes $1.3 billion for the CMAQ program, which funds many
innovative infrastructure projects to improve the Nation's air quality
and reduce congestion. Transit investment and bicycle- and pedestrian-
oriented infrastructure projects have provided commuting and recreation
alternatives in many of our heavily populated urban areas, and
coordinated responses to congestion have enabled local communities to
reduce emissions.
Maritime Efficiency: America's roads and railways stop at the border,
but our economic and national security interests extend across the
globe. Our ports and waterways tie America to the rest of the world. The
Coast Guard is developing the Port and Waterway Safety System to improve
shipping control and increase safety in major U.S. ports. Investments in
maritime Differential Global Positioning Systems and in the national
VHF-FM communication system will move vessels more safely and
efficiently through our waterways. The Coast Guard is also modernizing
its capital assets by replacing 37 World War II-era buoy tenders with 30
technically advanced, minimally-manned vessels that can more efficiently
maintain our 50,000 public navigational aids as well as respond to oil
spills.
Further, the Maritime Administration administers the Title XI loan
guarantee program that, since 1994, has guaranteed the construction of
296 ships and six shipyard modernization projects, totaling over $2.1
billion. The budget, which proposes over $500 million for Title XI loan
guarantees, reflects the Administration's support for this valuable
program and represents the President's continued commitment to maintain
a strong, viable U.S. merchant marine and shipbuilding industry.
Investing in Sustainable and Inclusive Communities
Americans use their transportation system more and more because our
infrastructure investment, in the form of transit, passenger rail, and
bus systems, gives them a host of options. It particularly benefits
those who cannot travel by automobile or other private vehicle due to
income, disability, or age.
Community-Oriented Transportation: Since 1993, the Administration has
provided $52 million in transit funding to 21 communities in order to
foster community-oriented, customer-friendly transportation facilities
and services. The Livable Communities Initiative (LCI) enhances the
impact of transportation investments by leveraging State and local
funds, using flexible highway funds and other eligible sources. For
example:
One successful LCI initiative in Atlanta led to better
pedestrian access to transit stations and the construction of
three new gateways to the Atlanta University Center, improving
ridership, safety, and access to jobs, and providing new
community service and educational opportunities.
Another LCI project, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative,
led to transit-related improvements that attracted
neighborhood investment, played a leading role in the city's
redevelopment, and helped cut the crime rate by 19 percent.
In addition, from 1994 to 1998, the Administration has provided $2.1
billion to the States to fund Transportation Enhancement projects, and
the budget proposes $561 million for 1999. This funding supports
transportation-related recreational trails, historic preservation, water
pollution mitigation, and economic development activities designed to im
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prove the quality of life in our communities. Other Federal grants will
continue to relieve aircraft noise problems by helping to soundproof or
relocate residences and public buildings in runway approach zones.
Welfare-to-Work: Transportation infrastructure plays a critical role
in welfare reform. The Administration seeks to strengthen the vital
connection between transportation and employment through its Access to
Jobs and Training Initiative. The budget provides $100 million to
develop new and supplementary transportation to enhance the access that
welfare recipients and other economically disadvantaged persons have to
jobs and support activities. More generally, the Administration seeks to
forge public-private partnerships that can help get people to the jobs
that may lie outside their immediate neighborhoods.