IBTTA Submits Federal Reauthorization Priorities to House Committee

On April 30, the IBTTA Government Affairs team shared with the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee our priorities for reauthorization of the federal surface transportation programs.  The priorities were developed over the past month in consultation with legislative specialists from member organizations across the U.S. and shared with the Board of Directors at their Spring meeting in Oklahoma City.

The House T&I Committee opened a web-based portal for interested parties to file their legislative interests as the Committee prepares to draft a bill aiming to reauthorize the federal surface transportation programs, which will expire on September 30, 2026.

The submission included narratives explaining the issue and IBTTA’s interests, along with proposed legislative language to address the matter.  The IBTTA Government Affairs Committee has been discussing a wide array of reauthorization topics over the past 18 months.  A lengthy list of issues was refined to highlight five top concerns of the legislative team. 

Flexibility for Tolling Interstate Highways and Federal-Aid Roadways

IBTTA supports user-payment principles aimed at growing the resources available for transportation investment at the state and local level where pricing is deemed publicly and politically acceptable and aligned with local infrastructure and mobility objectives.  Approximately three-quarters of U.S transportation funding comes from state and local levels.  Federal law needs to enable greater revenue generating flexibility at this level of government.

User-based funding, like tolls and other road pricing initiatives, enables:

• Essential infrastructure investment to address the $786 billion backlog in highway and bridge projects, of which more than 70 percent is needed for basic repairs.
• Fairness because tolls are paid for by those that use and benefit from the priced facilities but not charged for those that choose not to use them.
• Value to motorists as evident from more than 35 years of successful U.S. electronic toll collection, with high levels of customer satisfaction stemming from travel options offering convenience, travel reliability, quality facilities, and seamless operations.
• Public acceptance evident from surveys that show motorists prefer paying tolls for specific projects rather with general tax increases and support toll roads to improve driver options.
• Private and secure collection methods demonstrated by a longstanding track record of electronic tolling operations delivering the highest standards of data security and personal privacy protection.
• Efficiency and cost-effectiveness in revenue collection because of operational scale and service delivery with independent service providers and private partners.

Resiliency Programs for Critical Infrastructure

Bolster resilience of critical transportation infrastructure assets and systems to withstand extreme events in the future.  IBTTA is advocating for federal funding to harden facilities against the risks of severe and extraordinary events, such as severe weather, flooding, wildfires, and earthquakes.  We also seek to ensure ongoing resources to assist transportation infrastructure operators in undertaking and updating risk and vulnerability analyses to set priorities, make tradeoffs, and invest scarce resources wisely.  IBTTA supports continued federal funding of state and local initiatives to establish system redundancies and effective evacuation routes, ensuring eligibility for owners and operators of tolled roadway facilities.  Finally, we encourage safeguarding federal and public investments through project and design standards for infrastructure resiliency that advance project siting, designs, and materials that are capable of withstanding future conditions.

Connected Vehicle Technology and V2X Deployment

Connected vehicle technology and V2X communications offer road users improved information about risks in a variety of traffic situations, helping to prevent crashes and protect vulnerable individuals.  V2X information may also optimize system performance, enhance reliability, improve mobility, and facilitate better goods movement. Increased federal resources are needed to address the many challenges that transportation operators confront in accelerating deployment.  Increase federal resources for the Advanced Transportation Technologies and Innovative Mobility Deployment program and continue funding for the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing demonstration projects focused on advanced smart city or community technologies.  These programs will help accelerate deployment, address expertise needed by operators, update and replace legacy systems, and encourage private engagement and partnerships.

Addressing the Solvency of the Highway Trust Fund

Support measures to create ongoing sustainable and dedicated revenues to maintain the solvency of the federal Highway Trust Fund.

• Continue federal grant funding for state and local programs to prepare and implement alternatives to the motor fuels taxes as established in the Strategic Innovation for Revenue Collection (SIRC) program, designed to explore road usage fee and other user-based alternative revenue mechanisms.  Establish two grant allocations, a smaller amount for states that have not studied distance-based road charging and a much larger amount for implementation efforts.
• Activate the Federal System Funding Alternatives Advisory Board and advance the National Vehicle Per-mile User Fee Pilot program. Complete a national pilot of distance-based road charges to access alternatives to address the insolvency of the federal Highway Trust Fund and make recommendations to USDOT and Congress.

Both programs should address State and local objectives as well as the federal interest in:

• Recommending the viability and implementation of user-based alternative revenue mechanisms;
• Quantifying and minimizing the administrative costs of any potential user-based alternative revenue mechanisms;
• Advancing requirements-based solutions that are technology agnostic and certifiable;
• Allowing a robust ecosystem of service providers to serve program operators and customers, and support scalability, technological change, and innovation;
• Embracing the highest standards of data security and privacy;
• Evaluating the ease and effectiveness of compliance and enforcement across implementation options for different users of the surface transportation system;
• Conducting public outreach to increase public awareness of transportation funding practices and the merits of user-based alternatives to address fairness and sustainable revenue; and
• Evaluating the impacts of alternative revenue mechanisms on reliable long-term net revenue, transportation costs, freight movement, and other transportation revenue sources and regulations.

Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA)

Ensure TIFIA’s effectiveness to accelerate and facilitate project delivery by ensuring program funding and preserving key program provisions.  Preserve TIFIA’s role in enabling major infrastructure investment through public-private partnerships.

• Raise the limit for secured loans that qualify for an expedited application process under the TIFIA streamlining provisions.
• Preserve the provision for USDOT to allow TIFIA project sponsors to borrow up to the statutorily allowable 49% of eligible project costs without constraints.
• Continue to allow borrowers under the TIFIA program the opportunity to seek one-time amendments to reduce interest rates on outstanding TIFIA loans in an expedited manner.