APTA commends National Deficit Commission gas tax recommendation

"On behalf of the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) 1,500 members, I commend Chairmen Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson for including in their recommendations to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform proposals to support the critical need to preserve and improve the nation's surface transportation network, which includes public transportation systems, highways, and bridges," said American Public Transportation Association President William Millar.  

"APTA strongly supports the proposal to
phase-in a 15 cent federal motor fuels tax increase. Adequate investment
in the nation’s integrated transportation system, at the state, local, and
federal level, is the underpinning for the nation’s future economic growth," he
said. "Failure to restore the declining purchasing power of the federal user
fee that helps to address the nation’s basic infrastructure needs is likely to
undermine economic recovery and result in either more deficit spending to fund
essential investments or defer necessary preservation and improvements that
will only impose greater costs on future generations.
 
"The infrastructure investment
recommendations of the co-chairs proposal is consistent with the
recommendations of two earlier independent, bipartisan commissions established
by Congress in the last major transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU. Both the
National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission (NSTPRSC)
and the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission
(NSTIFC) recommended increased federal investment in transportation
infrastructure and an increase in the federal motor fuel fee<" Millar noted.
"The NSTPRSC recommended an increase of 25 to 40 cents-per-gallon. The NSTIFC
recommended an increase of 10 cents-per-gallon. Both commissions analyzed this
problem and their recommendations recognized that while leverage and public
private partnerships are useful financing tools for infrastructure projects,
they are not a substitute for core federal investment. The NSTPRSC, the NSTIFC
and now the leaders of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and
Reform all recognized the need to provide the kind of predictable funding
needed to advance major transportation infrastructure projects that often take
years to plan, design and build.
 
"While APTA strongly supports the
co-chair’s recommendations, we note that a portion of the federal transit
program and the highway safety program have historically been funded with
general funds," Millar pointed out. "Those programs are important elements of
both the public transportation capital program and highway safety and must
continue to be fully funded.
 
"Finally, the proposed increase in the
federal motor fuels tax should have another immediate and tangible result, by
allowing the Congress to move forward with a long-term reauthorization of the
surface transportation program that provides the resources and policy reforms
necessary," he said."