The US Senate committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) has unanimously passed a bill for the establishment of a new National Freight Network Program.
Part of the aims of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP–21) is to reauthorize the nation’s highway transportation programs for two years. In order to do this, MAP-21 intends to improve the condition and performance of the national freight network.
The bill’s ambitious National Freight Network Program includes infrastructure and operational improvements to boost US economic competitiveness in the global economy; reduce congestion; increase productivity; mitigate environmental impacts of freight movement; and improve the safety, security, and resilience of freight transportation.
Projects eligible for funding referenced in the bill include railway-highway grade separation, truck-only lanes, rest areas with expanded truck parking, electronic screening and credentialing systems, and traffic signal optimization, to name a few.
MAP-21 also provides for designation of a primary freight network comprised of up to 30,000 miles of “roadways that are most critical to the movement of freight.”
In addition, the bill provides establishes $1 billion to fund major transportation projects through the Projects of National and Regional Significance (PNRS) Program in Fiscal Year 2013.
“The PNRS provides funding for large, often multijurisdictional and multimodal, projects that do not fit neatly into other funding mechanisms. Originally established in 2005 by SAFETEA-LU, PNRS has devoted 73% of program funding to freight-focused projects,” according to the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors.
MAP-21 will now go to the full Senate for consideration, where it will be combined with measures from other Senate committees.
“The next step is to address the $12 billion shortfall in funding,” said Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a co-sponsor of the bill.
Pete Goldin | Fri, 11 Nov 2011, IFW News