Steve McGough, chairman of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), testified to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that a long-term federal transportation infrastructure investment bill would drive the nation’s economy toward recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A recent forecast from the Congressional Budget Office estimated it could take a decade for the U.S. economy to recover from the economic downturn brought on by the response to the coronavirus. McGough said a multi-year investment into federal transportation was needed instead of a one-time infusion of cash into shovel ready projects.
“While transportation infrastructure improvements have positive job and salary impacts, the real value comes from putting in place long-term assets that increase the efficiency and productivity for the entire economy,” McGough said.
McGough said ARTBA supported the committee’s July 2019 America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act (ATIA), which would increase highway investment by 27 percent over the next five years.
McGough also announced a new interactive tool created by ARTBA that would show the impact of federal investment across the country. The “ARTBA Highway Dashboard: A 50-state guide to the benefits of federal investment” shows each state’s top 10 federally funded projects, the total number of projects, and the type of improvements they will provide in a given year.
The dashboard, ARTBA said, will increase transparency and better illustrate how a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill could help.
“We urge the other Senate committees with respective jurisdiction over their portions of the transportation programs to act quickly in order to facilitate final passage of America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act,” McGough said.