Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

The provisions the Obama administration wants to see added to an 18-month extension of current transportation law -- adding up to $310 million for state and local planning -- may look pretty minor to reform-minded voters. But they're a bridge too far for the Washington highway lobby.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has made its feelings known on the issue of a "down payment" on broader policy changes, as the Obama DOT put it in yesterday's release of transportation policy goals.

In AASHTO's view, Congress should save the highway trust fund from insolvency, and nothing else:

[R]eforms are not appropriate to be considered aspart of legislation to provide interim funding to stabilize the HighwayTrust Fund. Major shifts in transportation policy should be consideredin the comprehensive legislation currently under development in theHouse and Senate authorizing committees and not in legislative measuresto provide interim funding.

If only the group put that level of certainty behind its executive director's recent call for the nation to "grow up and raise taxes" to pay for infrastructure.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Got DOGE’d Again

Amidst uncertainty about future federal funding, Amtrak is cutting $100 million and 450 jobs.

May 9, 2025

Friday Video: Where Was the First Public Bus Route in the World?

...and which surprising historical figure helped launch it?

May 9, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘Normal’ is Not Correct, Someone Died Here

After a crash, the debris is quickly cleaned up and everyone moves on (usually too quickly). But these two experts are asking us to all slow down.

May 8, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are Not Gonna Pay a Lot for This Truck

President Trump's tariffs, along with rising insurance costs, are driving down Americans' interest in owning a car.

May 8, 2025

How One Suburb is Using Transit to Transform Into a True City

A Washington State suburb may be poised to evolve into a true transit-oriented hub – and offer lessons for other bedroom communities, even during an anti-transit era.

May 8, 2025
See all posts