Thursday, June 28, 2012

Agreement Reached On Federal Transportation Bill

Congress has reached an agreement on a transportation bill for the first time since 2005, averting another extention of the SAFETEA-LU bill or the possible shutdown of the U.S. Department of Tranpsortation.

The conference committee bill, which would maintain spending at the current level of about $54 billion a year, is set to come up for a ratification vote in both chambers this week. Indepth details will supposedly not be available until later tonight, early information claims the new bill will streamline the federal system that's been called 'a cumbersome bureaucracy that has smothered state transportation projects.'

And Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), says about it, “We speed up project delivery, cut red tape and do it without jeopardizing environmental laws. For the first time, we send half of the funds for bike paths and pedestrian walkways directly to local entities, and we protect those funds while giving states more flexibility on their share.”

The bill also allegedly provides greater incentives for corporations to partner with government to invest in public-private partnerships.Here are more details form Politico.

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About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.