Your 5-minute Guide to Industry News & Trends
Your 5-minute Guide to Industry News & Trends
Vol. 2, No. 9 ● May 8, 2008
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Gas Tax Holiday Proposals Funding
Safety Issues
Innovations Calendar
Economic Indicators
eRoadPro Index
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Special |
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On April 15, presidential candidate John McCain recommended suspending the federal gas and diesel taxes from Memorial Day to Labor Day as one way to stimulate the national economy immediately. The idea has stirred controversy since - among the candidates, among economic analysts and among the transportation-related national associations. In this special section, we visit the campaign sites of the candidates; of ARTBA, AASHTO and AGC, and of an independent watchdog organization for their perspectives of the concept, in their words. All headlines are from the sites. |
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Hard-working American families are suffering from higher gasoline prices. John McCain calls on Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Full Story
Hillary Clinton on the Gas Tax
Senator Barack Obama said that the federal gas tax holiday proposed by his opponents is a gimmick that stands in stark relief to the substantive proposals he's made to bring relief to hardworking Americans. It's an idea that some economists think might actually raise gas prices. And without a plan to pay for it right away, it means that the money would come directly out of the fund we use to pay for construction projects. Full Story
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McCain “Gas Tax Holiday” amendment offered – withdrawn On behalf of Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) offered an amendment on April 17 to the SAFETEA-LU technical corrections bill that would suspend the collection of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax on gasoline and the 24.4 cents per gallon federal tax on diesel from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Senator McCain proposed the “Gas Tax Holiday” earlier in the week in a major economic speech as part of his presidential campaign. After speaking on the floor about the amendment, Senator Kyl withdrew it, but indicated his intent to pursue the amendment at a later date.Joining Senator Kyl in support of the amendment were Senators John Warner (R-VA), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). AGC is seeking meetings with the amendment co-sponsors to discuss the negative impacts of this proposal. Following Senator McCain’s announcement of his “Gas Tax Holiday” idea earlier this week, AGC issued a press statement in opposition and worked with its transportation allies in the Transportation Construction Coalition and Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition to communicate to all members of the Senate and House its opposition to the amendment. AGC will continue to educate members of Congress about the detrimental impact this proposal would have on transportation construction and construction industry jobs. To voice opposition to this proposal to your senators and representative, please visit AGC’s Legislative Action Center. — Source: AGC Highway Facts Bulletin 0814 |
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Gas price fixes that won't Hillary Clinton and John McCain are offering overburdened motorists a federal "gasoline tax holiday." But economists say that the proposal is unlikely to actually lower the price of gasoline. McCain's plan would essentially give federal funds to oil refineries, while the net effect of Clinton's plan probably wouldn't be much at all, although it would create a lot of new administrative work. Full Story
McCain's Gas Tax Holiday would devastate highway and transit programs Presidential contender Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has called for a suspension of the federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes from Memorial Day to Labor Day. AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley said, "This proposal would have devastating impacts upon the federal-aid highway and transit programs, sharply reducing funding available to states and jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide. Such a move would be short-sighted and damaging to our nation's economy, while providing little relief to America's drivers." AASHTO estimates that for the average motorists, the savings would amount to roughly $28, or less than the cost of a half tank of gasoline. Full Story
A gas tax reality Reports of record oil company profits and foreign oil suppliers' lack of concern with the impact of soaring gas prices on our economy have provoked anger and frustration among many Americans. But a recommendation unlikely to help them is the proposal by two presidential candidates to suspend the federal gas tax for the summer. Full Story
Ten reasons why suspending the federal gas tax would be bad for the economy and poor public policy On April 15, Senator John McCain called for a suspension of the federal highway user fees - the 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax and the 24.4-cents per gallon diesel tax - from Memorial Day to Labor Day as an “immediate economic stimulus.” In fact, this proposal would have severe negative economic impacts. It is important to understand the federal motor fuels excises are not “general taxes.” Since 1956, they have been dedicated, by law, to the federal Highway Trust Fund and can only be used for transportation-related investments by state and local governments. In 2006, federal funding provided by gas and diesel fees financed almost half of all highway capital expenditures made by the states. Full Story |
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Better Roads eRoadPro |
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U.S. must build its way out of debt We're behind in the global competition to improve infrastructure. Spending to catch up is the best way for the U.S. to overcome its debt and save Americans' standard of living. There's a global race to build more roads, ports, power stations, airports, railroads and industrial infrastructure. To the winners go the prizes: more jobs and a rising standard of living. How's the United States doing in this race? Well, it would be hard to call the United States a front-runner, that's for sure. Full Story
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$213 million grant to cut traffic, improve transit and clean the air in Los Angeles An ambitious plan to cut highway traffic jams and provide better bus transit services in Los Angeles is eligible for more than $213 million in federal Congestion Reduction grants. The new federal funding would provide the leverage local leaders need to convert up to 85 miles of local HOV highway lanes into more reliable high occupancy toll, or HOT, lanes by the end of 2010. These roads use electronic tolling technology to allow drivers to pay a fee for access to less-congested lanes. Full Story
ARTBA President Ruane on Baucus-Grassley Highway Trust Fund fix proposal “The federal Highway Trust Fund is on life support. Chairman Baucus and Senator Grassley are to be commended for their foresight in recognizing this looming crisis and proactively developing a bipartisan solution aimed at preventing a devastating $14 billion cut in federal highway investment to state and local governments next year. They were the architects of a landmark 2004 law that helped ensure the Highway Trust Fund would be fully compensated for ethanol motor fuels sales. The Baucus-Grassley proposal is an economic stability measure that ensures thousands of American families won’t lose their jobs next year and signals to the stock market that the highway construction sector remains solid.” Full Story |
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FHWA launches flagship initiative to collect nationwide data on highway bridges A 20-year research effort to collect data on bridges nationwide will lead to better investment decisions on bridges. The data collected will be used for a variety of purposes, including the study of deterioration and durability of bridges and the impacts of maintenance and repair. Researchers expect the program to provide a better understanding of bridge deterioration, including the effects of corrosion, fatigue, environmental conditions and loadings. Full Story
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Tacoma boy mesmerized by WSDOT traffic cams...
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YouTube video shows how dedicated truck lanes could work Separating trucks from cars on Interstate 70 sounds like a pretty good idea. But how would it work? A new video posted on YouTube explains what truck-only lanes could look like and how they might operate. MoDOT is studying truck-only lanes as a way to improve safety and reduce congestion during a future reconstruction and expansion of I-70. Full Story |
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Volvo offers advice on managing $4 diesel Trucks and engines have many features to help truck operators reduce fuel consumption. It’s more important than ever to make full use of these features now that the U.S. average price for diesel is more than $4 a gallon and rising. And less diesel consumed means less CO2 emitted to the atmosphere. Full Story
Woodrow Wilson Bridge project wins the ‘Oscar of Civil Engineering’
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Transportation Librarians Roundtable on May 8 will address electronic resources The next presentation of the Transportation Librarians Roundtable, a monthly webconference series, will take place on Thursday, May 8, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. EDT. Bonnie Osif of Pennsylvania State University's Engineering Library will discuss electronic resources in transportation. Those wishing to participate on May 8 can do so by accessing http://fhwa.acrobat.com/translibrarian/. Full Story Spring Meeting - AASHTO Public Fleet Management Workshop - CPWA |
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For our full events calendar, go to http://www.betterroads.com/calendar |
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Good news buried in construction spending report, AGC says "Nonresidential construction spending rose an impressive 1.3 percent in March and 12 percent compared to March 2007," according to Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Simonson was commenting on the March construction spending figures released by the Census Bureau on May 1. "The housing slump buried this news by dragging total spending down by 1.1 percent for the month and 3.4 percent for the year. Yet nearly every category of nonresidential spending continued to exceed year-ago levels." Full Story Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders New orders for manufactured goods in March increased $5.9 billion or 1.4 percent to $432.3 billion. 5/02/08 Construction Spending Total construction activity for March 2008 ($1,123.5 billion) was 1.1 percent below the revised February 2008 ($1,136.5 billion). For more details: http://www.census.gov/constructionspending 5/01/08 New Home Sales Sales of new one-family houses in March 2008 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000. This is 8.5% below the revised February 2008 figure of 575,000. 4/24/08 Economy At A Glance: http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.us.htm |
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May issue highlights
Better Bridges:
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Compiled by Larry Green, news editor, Better Roads. To contact Larry about the newsletter content, send e-mail to . Interested in being a sponsor of our newsletter? Contact your sales representative for more information. Click here for list of contacts.
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John McCain believes we should institute a
summer gas tax holiday
"We have a choice. We can choose to have you
continue to pay the federal gas tax this summer or we can choose to
try to make the oil companies pay it out of their record profits. I
believe we should impose an excess profits tax on the oil companies.
They have record profits that they frankly are just sitting there
counting because they are not doing anything new to earn it; they
are just taking advantage of what is going on."
Obama
on Gas Tax Holiday: a gimmick instead of a real solution
Recently, staff members at the Washington
State DOT were able to make a 10-year-old Tacoma boy’s dream come
true. Drake Thomas spent some time April 28 at the Olympic Region
Traffic Management Center (TMC), where he fulfilled his desire to
learn about traffic cameras. Drake’s infatuation with the traffic
cameras was ignited by the soothing background music that plays
during TV Tacoma 12’s “Traffic Watch” program – which flashes live
images from 
The American Society of Civil Engineers has
recognized Wilson Bridge Project’s significant contributions to the
civil engineering profession by awarding it the organization's
Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award for 2008, singling
out for particular praise the project’s innovative and extensive
environmental program and its keen sensitivity to travelers and
local communities. The project was selected from a group of 26
outstanding projects from around the world. The project is sponsored
by the Federal Highway Administration, Maryland State Highway
Administration, Virginia Department of Transportation and the
District of Columbia Department of Transportation.