U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the Obama administration favors tolling and public-private partnerships over increasing the fuel tax to pay for transportation and infrastructure.

LaHood told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that funding a long-term surface transportation bill, such as the one unveiled a year ago by T&I Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-MN, requires thinking “outside the box” in order to fund the estimated $450 billion to $500 billion price tag.

Committee members quizzed LaHood on Tuesday, July 27, about where the administration stands on how to fund the bill.

“The administration is opposed to raising the gas tax when we have unemployment hovering around 10 percent and people are out of work,” LaHood said.

“There is a gas tax in existence. We should use those resources and couple those with other opportunities. We’ve suggested an infrastructure fund; we’ve suggested public-private partnerships; we’ve suggested tolling. I’ve been to places around the country where they’ve put HOT lanes (high-occupancy toll lanes) in and funded them with tolls. You can raise a lot of money with tolling, and people see the value of those.”

LaHood indicated that the administration is close to releasing guidance language to Congress concerning the next long-term surface transportation authorization bill. The bill would replace SAFETEA-LU, which has been funding federal transportation programs since August 2005 and continues to limp along via short-term extensions.

LaHood said the administration likes Chairman Oberstar’s bill, but funding remains the biggest hurdle for lawmakers and the White House to finalize it.

“There’s no dispute about what the needs are in America. We all know what they are,” LaHood told the committee. “It’s really just trying to find billions of dollars that it takes to do it. If we find the resources, I have no doubt you’ll pass a bill tomorrow or pretty quickly.”

The Obama administration has proposed a national infrastructure bank to pay for large-scale projects, but appropriators have not given it any funding so far.

That leaves tolling and public-private partnerships, LaHood said.

“When I’ve been around the country, I’ve seen the value of tolling in building infrastructure,” he said. “Whether it’s a road, or a bridge, or a highway, you can raise significant dollars and people have the discretion whether to use it or not.”

– By David Tanner, associate editor
david_tanner@landlinemag.com