Reauthorization
Basics
Senate Bill Would Put Teen Drivers in Big Rigs
The latest Senate transportation bill would make it legal for freight companies to hire teenagers to drive big rigs, among other dangerous new policies that advocates say have no place in federal law.
July 8, 2021
Advocates Demand Better Car Safety Standards From Senate
The next baseline infrastructure bill can no longer ignore the need for common-sense vehicle safety improvements that save vulnerable road users’ lives, a coalition of advocates and lawmakers said on Tuesday.
June 15, 2021
Advocates Overjoyed with New and Improved INVEST Act
It's “arguably the most transformative transportation bill of our lifetimes,” one advocate said.
June 11, 2021
A Cheat Sheet for ‘Infrastructure Year’
Washington is in the thick of negotiating two major infrastructure bills that could reshape American transportation for decades. Here's a primer you can come back to again and again.
June 7, 2021
Trump Shifts Obama Transit Funding to Roads
Obama allocated 28 percent of federal grants to transit. It's 8.5 percent under Trump. And funding for bike and pedestrian projects dropped to zero.
November 13, 2019
5-Year, $300 Billion “FAST Act” Will Extend Transpo Policy Status Quo to 2020
They've done it. Representatives from the House and Senate have emerged from conference committee with a five-year transportation bill, which is expected to be quickly approved and become first "long-term" bill in more than a decade.
December 2, 2015
It’s Time to Stop Pretending That Roads Pay for Themselves
If nothing else, the current round of federal transportation legislating should end the myth that highways are a uniquely self-sufficient form of infrastructure paid for by "user fees," a.k.a. gas taxes and tolls.
November 25, 2015
What, You Thought Congress Would Actually Pass a Transportation Bill?
The enthusiasm among some lawmakers to finish a multi-year federal transportation bill seems to have fizzled over the long August recess. House Transportation Committee Chair Bill Shuster is already talking about another extension.
September 10, 2015
Transit Union Slams DRIVE Act
Yesterday, the Senate passed both a three-month transportation extension and a six-year reauthorization bill (albeit with three years of funding), which the Senate hopes to workshop with the House in the fall. The bill’s name itself -- the DRIVE Act -- raised the hackles of transit advocates. Looking deeper, it seems those advocates have more to worry about than just semantics.
July 31, 2015
Congress Set to Pass Yet Another Short-Term Transpo Funding Patch
The 35th transportation extension in the last six years is about to pass. The House had passed a five-month extension, the Senate insisted on moving forward with its six-year bill, then the House proposed a three-month extension, and somehow that sounded great to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
July 29, 2015