Speaking at a Thursday hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Carper, D-DE, said that along with the conversation about new revenues, Congress needs to discuss the effectiveness of existing programs.

"I believe we can be smarter about spending money if we refocus transportation policy around a set of national goals such as economic development, greenhouse-gas reduction, congestion relief, and safety," he said. "I understand the importance of formula programs that provide certainty for states. However, these federal funds must provide measurable improvements toward national transportation goals. States that make improvements toward these goals should be rewarded with additional funds and states that regress should be penalized."

Thursday's hearing on "Federal, State, and Local Partnerships to Accelerate Transportation Benefits" was the second in a series called by Senate EPW Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-CA, as her committee prepares to draft its version of a multiyear surface transportation reauthorization bill. The prior law known as "SAFETEA-LU" expired Sept. 30, 2009. Federal highway and transit programs are now operating on the fourth short-term extension, which expires at the end of March. (see related story)

Among the witnesses appearing at Thursday's hearing was consultant Lowell Clary, chairman of the Transportation Research Board's Committee on Taxation and Finance and former assistant secretary for finance at the Florida Department of Transportation. Clary described a number of examples of intergovernmental partnerships and private partnerships that accelerated project delivery. Among those was the Miami Intermodal Center, which was the first project nationwide to utilize federal funding under two TIFIA loans.

Clary also cited the first-ever Design/Build/Finance partnership with the construction industry that provided bridge funding to accelerate by five years the completion of a 30-mile expansion of Interstate 75. Since that project, Florida has moved forward $2.15 billion in projects using the Design/Build/Finance approach.

Roy Kienitz, undersecretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation, cited the Los Angeles 30-10 transit project, a multibillion dollar initiative to accelerate 12 major transit projects so they can be built in 10 years instead of 30. He also highlighted the federal TIFIA loan and TIGER economic recovery grant programs as well as the Obama administration's proposed National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund as initiatives that respond to the difficulty states and local governments face in funding major projects of regional or national significance through traditional formula fund programs on a pay-as-you-go basis.

"By encouraging multijurisdictional and multistakeholder planning at the regional and national level, and by encouraging substantial levels of coinvestment from a variety of public and private sector partners, these programs are reshaping the landscape for investment in major transportation projects," Kienitz said.

Testimony from this hearing as well as an archived webcast are available at tinyurl.com/EPW031110.