New Thinking Needed on Transportation to Keep Colorado Moving
NEW THINKING NEEDED ON TRANSPORTATION TO KEEP COLORADO MOVING
DENVER, CO - U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) released the following prepared remarks for the 7th Annual Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce Transportation Summit:
Thank you for inviting me to join you and other Members of the delegation for the 7th annual transportation summit. I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss metro Denver's transportation future, in particular the need for us to embrace new alternatives in transportation as we look to a future that includes more people driving, more goods transported on our highways and more flights through our airports. It was just one year ago when I spoke to you about the numerous transportation accomplishments that Colorado should celebrate. T-REX, DIA, the first light rail line are all significant steps in maintaining the transportation infrastructure that is the economic engine of Colorado. Thanks in large part to these projects Colorado continues to grow.
That is the good news. The bad news, as anyone who has waited in traffic on I-25 or I-70, searched for a parking space at the Littleton light rail lot or jostled with fellow passengers at DIA knows, even with all of these projects, Colorado's transportation infrastructure is still near or even at capacity.
That is why this transportation summit is so critically important. This year's focus on attitudes toward transportation and alternatives for the future reinforces the Chamber and Metro Denver EDC's ongoing and critical leadership in addressing Colorado's growing transportation needs.
Our country's economic strength, our ability to create new jobs and improve business productivity, our mobility and safety all depend upon a modern, strong and efficient transportation system. Transportation is equally important to the future of Denver and all of Colorado. DIA's position as the No. 1 airport in the nation for customer satisfaction, RTD's ranking as the No. 1 transit agency in North America and our designation by New Mobility Magazine as the "Most Accessible City" - all of these accolades are tributes to our forward-thinking transportation agencies. But neither our nation nor our region will continue to grow if we cling to transportation strategies designed for twenty or even fifty years ago. Congestion on our streets and highways, especially the urban congestion that we experience every day here in the Denver metro area, is worsening as demand continues to outstrip our ability to add capacity. In the nation's largest 75 urban areas, the average commuter encountered 62 hours of delay in 2000. Congestion costs for these 75 urban areas totaled a whopping $67.5 billion -- 3.6 billion hours of delay and 5.7 billion gallons of excess fuel consumption.
The days of simply building new superhighways to alleviate congestion on existing roads or adding additional parking lots are over, whether we like it or not. Instead, as this summit recommends, we must look at alternatives both in our modes of transportation and also in how we fund them. This is not an ideological position, but one that stems from the financial and political realities that we must face. The President and Congress remain deadlocked on a transportation funding plan that, under either proposal, provides us with less money than we need. Even if we had the money to build all of the new roads required to meet rising demand - and we simply do not-there is strong opposition in most communities to having new super highways built through their backyards and neighborhoods. In addition, the skyrocketing costs of oil and natural gas are prompting many to look at alternative fuels both as a way to save money and as a new area for economic expansion and job creation.
RTD's FasTracks proposal is an excellent example of where the future of transportation must go. As everyone here is all too aware, Denver is the 3rd most congested metro area in the nation and several major corridors are so constrained that light rail appears to be the only answer to help alleviate congestion. By providing residents who now drive to work an efficient, inexpensive alternative through the development of additional light rail, bus and commuter rail lines, we can transport more people across the region while actually reducing the number of vehicles on our highways.
There would also be sizable direct economic stimulus from FasTracks. It is projected that the construction of new light rail lines would bring $4 billion to the metro economy and could result in the creation of as many as 10,000 jobs each year over the 10-year construction period. For the entire period, it is estimated that light rail construction would generate as much as $12 billion in economic activity. At the regional level, economic development benefits would accrue directly from improved accessibility. DIA has played a central role in the growth of Colorado's economy. FasTracks would further enhance our economic development, attracting more private investment and new businesses and reducing congestion on our already too-crowded roads.
FasTracks is only one component of a much broader movement of transportation in our region toward multi-modal development. Tired of wasting countless hours every week stuck in traffic, more and more Coloradoans are demanding that we build communities where their cars are not their only transportation option. We have to listen to these demands and stop thinking of our roads as the only transportation infrastructure towns and neighborhoods require.
Instead, we should build upon the early success of the Stapleton redevelopment and the promise of the Intermodal Terminal at Denver Union Station. This creates transportation hubs where commuters and residents can move between local, regional and national bus, rail and light rail systems and serves as an economic catalyst for the region. It reduces the traffic congestion and demand for parking in already popular neighborhoods like LoDo and can bring new businesses, customers and residents to areas previously seen as too remote or not yet ready for development. We have already moved forward on this process with encouraging results. That is why I have fought for $10 million for the reconstruction of Denver Union Station as a multi-modal facility that is instrumental for the continued growth of transportation along the Front Range and $2 million for building a multi-modal facility at the phenomenally successful Stapleton redevelopment.
But encouraging people to get out of their cars when it is convenient must go hand-in-hand with working to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. This is an economic issue and a national security issue as well as an environmental issue. We need to take a close and honest look at increasing CAFÉ standards. Automakers in Detroit, Europe and Asia have shown that you can make a car, SUV or truck that is both fuel efficient and safe. Yet Congress has shown no will to require this. As a result, as gas prices have steadily risen, families are watching their disposable income needlessly disappear into their gas tanks. Regardless of the re-assuring words some people are giving you today, persistently high gas prices will have a domino effect on people's spending habits. We could have softened the impact of this with tougher fuel-efficiency standards two or four years ago and we should learn the lesson of this now.
We can also work to encourage people to purchase hybrid cars by doubling the standard deduction for hybrids from $2,000 to $4,000. This would be paid for by eliminating the loophole that allows some people to get a tax break for the largest and least fuel efficient SUVs on the market by claiming they are business expenses.
Increasing fuel efficiency standards and encouraging the purchase of hybrid vehicles can also help spur the market for the development of other alternative power-sources for vehicles. This is a long-term goal that does not address the immediate transportation concerns we have. It is something that we in Colorado, who were at the forefront of the technology and telecommunications revolutions, should continue to develop. Alternative energy sources are the wave of the future. Colorado needs to invest in these emerging industries now, before we lose out to other states and nations in pursuing these opportunities.
There are other transportation alternatives that deserve to be looked at much more closely. This includes Intelligent Transportation Systems like electronic toll collection, computer-assisted management of traffic flow and automated passenger counts and transit information and the use and expansion of high occupancy vehicle lanes.
In some instances, toll roads can be part of the solution when there is support in the local communities for tolls and it is proven that imposing tolls will assist in transportation improvements and easing existing congestion. But we must be very careful about how we proceed in considering and implementing such proposals. Toll roads, however, are not a panacea for our nation's infrastructure problems. High occupancy toll lanes that allow those who can afford it to whiz by congestion while others with fewer means, often those living in communities adjacent to these roads, remain stuck in traffic are often inequitable as well as inefficient.
Discussion of transportation alternatives inevitably brings us back to the question of funding. Given the current showdown between the President, the Republican House and the Republican Senate over how much we can shortchange our transportation infrastructure, it is clear in too many parts of our government that the will does not exist to address our increasing needs.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported that we needed to spend a combined $127 billion per year to maintain and improve our nation's transportation systems. The federal portion of this funding would be between $51 and $76 billion per year. In part, in response to this report, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure proposed investing $375 billion in our nation's highways and transit systems over the next six years. Yet, the highest amount of funding we are now considering is a Senate proposal for $318 billion. House leaders are pushing for almost $30 billion less, $284 billion. The President, meanwhile, has threatened to veto any proposal that costs more than $256 billion.
Given this standstill, how can we ever hope to fund a $375 billion program? It will require all of us to make some difficult decisions, but that is exactly what our transportation needs require. We should build upon our existing revenues to the Highway Trust Fund in the following ways:
We should draw down part of the $18 billion balance in the Highway Trust Fund, which is far more than is necessary to maintain operations, to invest in our nation's transportation infrastructure.
We must put the two and one-half cents per gallon of the gasohol user fee that now goes to the General Fund into the Highway Trust Fund. This proposal enjoys widespread support and is included in the Administration's SAFETEA proposal.
At the same time, we should bring the gashol user fee, currently 5.2 cents per gallon less than gasoline, on par with gasoline. The additional funding this would generate would increase Highway Trust Fund revenue. To offset this increase, we should provide gasohol producers with a compensating tax credit.
Finally, $1 billion per year in user fees is lost due to evasion. A stricter enforcement regime can plug many of the "leaks in the bucket" that allow some fuel to avoid taxation.
These five measures will produce an increase in funding. However, it will fall short of what is needed to generate all of the money needed for a forward-looking $375 billion transportation program.
In addition to these modest increases, we must increase the gas tax. I spoke to you extensively on this topic last year, but if anything the transportation funding needs have only grown since then. Given the substantial federal investment our nation - including the Denver area - needs to meet its substantial transportation requirements, I am in favor of increasing the tax. It is the only reasonable answer to this problem and is the right way to meet our needs. That's why, when President Ronald Reagan had to fund significant transportation improvements in 1983, he stood up to the challenge by approving an increase in the gas tax.
It's time for all of us to make difficult choices. No matter how attractive and easy, we cannot follow the same transportation plans that our country used in 1955 or 1995. Our challenges and needs and the economic realities are very different today. That is why this summit is so important and why you must demand that government officials, community leaders and business leaders all begin looking at new solutions to our problems. The benefits of moving in a different direction and investing in a transportation infrastructure that address the challenges we face instead of simply putting them off, far outweigh the concerns.