LaHood’s Honest Take & Chicago Trust

We’ll get back to our Friday updates soon, unless you prefer Monday mornings.

If you’ve never met Ray LaHood, he’s honest and (in my experience) doesn’t dance around words. Given that, it’s no surprise to hear him call the bill passed by Congress “totally inadequate.” His opinions (while similar to many others) does not change the fact that federal highway funding cuts are called off—for now.

It’s important to remember that despite the focus on a federal authorization the federal government is not the only player. States and local governments have a big role and are closer to the people and projects that impact our daily lives. While some of the more tax averse states are raising the necessary revenue to fix their transportation woes, Missouri is not one of them. Last week efforts to raise a sales tax toward transportation were defeated despite supporters of the measure having a money advantage. MoDOT is now back to square one, which is to say they’re where nearly every other state DOT is. There’s lessons to be learned there and we’re working with friends to see what we can gather. Other states (recently) dealing with this include Georgia and Pennsylvania. PA is the example of what happens when you pass a new plan and as they are already seeing some of the benefits from new investment.

Remember a few years ago when Mayor Emanuel announced his infrastructure trust to great fanfare? We do, and Crain’s remembers as well. Paul Merrion’s article last week about vertical projects underway is worth a read as he doesn’t hide his disappointment with the trust. The slow progress of the trust and the lack of public attention have taken what should be an ignition to investment and limited its potential. With the mayoral elections coming up in early 2015 maybe we’ll see more movement but for now we’re not going to hold our breath.

When have 50 minutes of time take a look at this old Magic Highway U.S.A. video that my counterpart, Janet Kavinoky at the U.S. Chamber shared on Twitter last week. It talks about building the interstate highway system as well as some predications for the future of transportation.