Bill Would Seek to Boost Non-Truck Freight Modes
Two key Senators introduced legislation Thursday that would increase the proportion of national freight transportation provided by modes other than trucks by 10% by 2020.
The Federal Surface Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009 is aimed at establishing a comprehensive and unifying mission for the U.S. surface transportation system, Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said in a statement.
The measure also targets reducing per-capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis, reducing motor vehicle-related fatalities by 50% by 2030 and reducing surface transportation-generated carbon dioxide levels by 40 percent by 2030.
Rockefeller chairs the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, while Lautenberg chairs that panel’s surface transportation subcommittee.
The current federal highway law authorized in 2005 will expire at the end of this September and the measure was introduced ahead of the larger debate in Congress over the future of the federal highway program.
“We need to establish a blueprint for a 21st century surface transportation system,” Rockefeller said in a statement. “This bill does just that. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues . . . as we move forward on reauthorizing and reforming the surface transportation programs.”
