This has been a busy week of maneuvering on reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program. Several new proposals were tabled, the House Committee unveiled its approach ... and the Obama Adminstration suggested putting the entire matter of until after the next election.

DOT secretary Ray LaHood argued in favor of a simple program extension with funding enough to replenish the depleted Highway Trust Fund that will run out of money in August if no action is taken. He counseled delay to avoid a "rush" although proposals for the authorization bill have been circulating for about three years. DOT provided no details, but announced its strategy hours before the House Committee, controlled by the president's party, put forward its approach.

A bi-partisan "Blueprint for Investment and Reform " announced the next day, June 18, noted that since the 160,000-mile National Highway System was created to supplement the 46,000 mile Interstate system, travel on these major roads has increased three times faster than roadway capacity and logistics costs to U.S. businesses has shot up from 8.8% of GDP in 2004 to 10.1% in 2008, imposing additional costs of $412 billion on the economy -- and in this, reversing 17 straight years where logistics costs had shrunk proportional to economic growth. The House transportation leaders announced their intent to meet the September 30 deadline.

Of course there are dozens of other proposals in circulation. Two new ones surfaced this week as well.

The National Transportation Policy Project announced its “Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy ,” proposing to restructure federal programs, update the criteria for formulas, and create a performance-based system that directly ties transportation spending to broader national goals. These goals include economic growth, connectivity, accessibility, safety, energy security, and environmental protection. States would be measured on how greatly they improve access, lower congestion and petroleum consumption, reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, and decrease fatalities and injuries.

And a group of 61 Democrats has endorsed HR 2724 , the anti-highway “National Transportation Objectives Act.” It lays out six goals: energy efficiency and security; environmental protection; economic competitiveness; safety and public health; system conditions and connectivity; and equal access for urban and rural areas. The bill proposes 10 performance targets ranging from capping and reducing the amount of travel and promoting walking, biking and public transit to reduce greenhouse gas production by 40%.

The Salt Institute is pleased with the consistency among the plans in promoting the concept of system performance. We continue to press for full consideration of the need to fund and focus on roadway operations to promote safety and reduce congestion.