House T and I Committee Leaders Agree on Reauthorization Principles

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) has announced that the bipartisan leadership of the committee has agreed on broad principles for SAFETEA-LU reauthorization legislation and that the highway subcommittee could begin marking up the legislation as soon as the week of May 18th.  The agreement covers concepts for restructuring the surface transportation programs but does not include funding levels or revenue sources. Program reforms would include consolidating many existing programs into four with several smaller programs left to stand alone. The plan also includes the creation within the US Department of Transportation of an Office of Intermodalism to develop a National Transportation Strategic Plan and to coordinate efforts by the different transportation modes to carry it out. Within the Federal Highway Administration a new Office for Expedited Project Delivery and an Office of Livability would be created.