ATSSA Signal March/April 2019

American Traffic Safety Services Association 12 Government Relations The road ahead for roadway safety infrastructure in Congress Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) shares insight on upcoming House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee initiatives Investing in infrastructure. That is one of the main objectives for Rep. De- Fazio (D-Ore.) in his work as the Chair- man of the House Transportation & In- frastructure (T&I) Committee. DeFazio has served as a member on the committee since he was first elect- ed to Congress in 1987, and was elect- ed to the position in January, following the midterm elections and the retire- ment of longtime chair Bill Shuster (R-Penn.). ATSSA sat down with the 2016 Roadway Safety Champion Award re- cipient to discuss what’s ahead for the T&I Committee and roadway safety infrastructure. Twenty-first century transportation policy With the end of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act set for 2020, and the question of long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) not yet resolved, surface trans- portation policy is going to be a big topic of discussion in the T&I Committee over the next several months. DeFazio said that House Democratic leadership is planning to present an in- frastructure package in 2019. He said that surface transportation will be in- cluded in that package, and that legis- lation related to the highway reautho- rization bill will likely stem from the infrastructure package. “The major authorization changes would come in the legislation that is due on Oct. 1, 2020, which would be a six-year transportation bill. That is where we will really look at constructing a 21st centu- ry surface transportation policy,” said DeFazio. In terms of funding, DeFazio said that the House Ways and Means Committee will have to look closely at funding spe- cifically for roadway safety infrastruc- ture as part of any infrastructure pack- age; however, he has advocated for indexing gas and diesel taxes, project- ing the income from that, and then is- suing approximately $33 billion worth of bonds per year for the next 15 years. DeFazio also expressed an interest in a vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) system to fund the HTF and roadway safety infra- structure projects, and thinks further VMT study needs to be done on a na- tional scale. “I would like to do a national pilot pro- gramonVMT—VMT needs tobe real-time, it needs to be congestion pricing. In my state if someone hops on [Interstate] 205 at rush hour in Portland, they’re add- ing to a road that’s already backed up. But a farmer in the rural parts of my dis- trict has to drive 25 miles just to get to the feed store—they shouldn’t be paying the same per-mile fee,” said DeFazio. In addition to identifying funding for in- frastructure, the T&I Committee may consider ways to establish standards for Connected Automated Vehicles (CAVs) and how they interact with roadways. “You can’t have vehicles made by one manufacturer that can’t communicate with vehicles made by another manu- facturer,” said DeFazio. Partisan gridlock has been a long time challenge for getting legislation passed throughCongress, but DeFazio expressed confidence that the T&I Committeewould be successful in their work. He cited that several long time members of Congress and newcomers were interested in join- ing the committee, and that House Speak- er Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has increased the committee by six members. DeFazio has met with head Republican in the committee, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.)—a 2018 recipient of ATSSA’s Roadway Safety Champion Award—and said they are committed to working to- gether on infrastructure. “The [T&I] Committee has been, over my long tenure, one of the least partisan committees in Congress, said DeFazio. As ATSSA members prepare for the 2019 Annual Legislative Briefing & Fly- In in Washington, D.C., which will be held on May 1-2, DeFazio shared advice on how to effectively advocate for road- way safety infrastructure with mem- bers of Congress. “Bring it home to them. Talk about fatal- ities…talk to them about the possibili- ties of technology or [legislative] chang- es that could help prevent those fatalities, or injuries, or costs to the society,” said DeFazio. Rep. DeFazio (D-Ore.)