AAPA Applauds Progress on Surface Transportation Funding

The nation’s supply chain managers are not alone in welcoming overdue transport legislation. The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)  and its member U.S. ports are also grateful for the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Highway and Transportation Funding Act (H.R. 5021). Now they are urging President Obama to quickly sign the bill, which provides additional funding to supplement Highway Trust Fund revenues through May 2015.

With a short-term “patch” now approved, the ports association encourages lawmakers and the Administration to quickly refocus efforts on a long-term bill that includes sustainable funding for freight transportation projects.

“Passage of H.R. 5021 ensures that our nation will avert an immediate crisis and keeps funding flowing to surface transportation projects throughout the country until a longer term fix is developed, notes AAPA president and CEO, Kurt Nagle.

“To accommodate what the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs predicted last year will be more than 400 million people living in the U.S. by 2050, and what the American Trucking Associations last week predicted will be a 23.5 percent increase in U.S. cargo volumes by 2025, there must be adequate, safe, and congestion-free access to our ports from both the land- and water-side. This can only be accomplished with a long-term surface transportation bill that provides dedicated funding for cargo-related transportation project investments.

AAPA also strongly encourages individual states to incorporate port-related surface transportation needs into state transportation plans and funding decisions.

“Identification of, and funding for, critical freight infrastructure is vital to America’s international competitiveness and sustainable job growth,” says Nagle. “We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration on a long-term highway bill that includes robust provisions for freight, including ‘first and last mile’ projects, gateways and corridors that connect with ports.”

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