Goods Movement Coalition Applauds Commerce Freight Policy, Calls for Freight Funding

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Blakey & Agnew

Jul 18, 2015, 00:00 ET

Washington, DC (PRWEB) July 18, 2015 -- Yesterday the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved a six-year transportation bill, the Comprehensive Transportation and Consumer Protection Act of 2015, S.1732. Included in the bill is a freight chapter, providing a focus on multimodal freight planning and policy.

Elaine Nessle, Executive Director of the Coalition for America's Gateways and Trade Corridors, issues a statement regarding the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation's six-year transportation bill:

“The Comprehensive Transportation and Consumer Protection Act of 2015 is a significant step forward for multimodal freight planning and policy. I commend Chairman Thune and the Committee members for developing policy that incorporates the many modes of transportation that move freight. The proposal contains several policy objectives held by the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors, including creation of a multimodal national freight policy and the call for designation of a multimodal national freight network to inform transportation planning and improve investment decision making.

"While this proposal is a step in the right direction, dedicated freight funding is necessary to make targeted system improvements. The Coalition has long called for a minimum annual investment of $2 billion in addition to current programs of funding. A freight investment grant program, with multimodal project eligibility that distributes funding on a competitive basis, is needed to make strategic investments. Businesses and agricultural producers rely on our national multimodal freight system to move goods to market and support growth. To remain competitive in the global market place, we must invest in the system that moves our nation’s commerce.”

Demonstrating the large number of projects that stand to benefit from a competitive grant approach, CAGTC published in April a booklet titled “Freight Can’t Wait.” The booklet contains a sampling of significant freight infrastructure projects that could be realized with federal resources, like funding distributed through a competitive freight investment grant program.

Jeff Agnew, Blakey & Agnew, +1 (202) 828-9100, [email protected]