Senate Commerce Chairman Introduces Bill Aimed at Reducing Auto Travel

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Surface Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) today introduced The Federal Surface Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009, legislation to establish a strategic, comprehensive national transportation policy.  The major goals of the bill are to:

• Reduce national per capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis;
• Reduce national motor vehicle-related fatalities by 50 percent by 2030;
• Reduce national surface transportation-generated carbon dioxide levels by 40 percent by 2030;
• Reduce national surface transportation delays per capita on an annual basis;
• Increase the percentage of system-critical surface transportation assets that are in a state    of good repair by 20 percent by 2030;
• Increase the total usage of public transportation, intercity passenger rail services and non-motorized transportation on an annual basis;
• Increase the proportion of national freight transportation provided by non-highway or multi-modal services by 10 percent by 2020; and
• Reduce passenger and freight transportation delays and congestion at international points of entry on an annual basis.

A  SAFETEA-LU reauthorization bill has not yet been introduced in the Senate and is currently being drafted by Environment and Public Works Committee staff.  The Senate Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over the safety issues in the reauthorization bill and therefore will have some influence over the final legislation.