BROADCASTS.com

The U.S. Senate this week adopted a sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill that includes $550 billion in new revenue for roads, water systems, electric vehicle charging, broadband, rail, and transit. Lloyd Brown, the former chief spokesperson for the American Association of State Transportation Officials (AASHTO), now with HDR, Inc.,\xa0 joins the conversation to share national perspective. \xa0

Later, Niles Annelin, policy section manager at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), breaks down what will be Michigan\u2019s share of the funds, provided the bill clears the House. \xa0

Industry groups from the Blue-Green alliance to myriad contractors associations to AASHTO issued supportive statements for the bill. \xa0

Brown cites the certainty contractors will gain from a five-year commitment of additional federal funding. \xa0

But he also addresses the lack of a user-fee model in the pay-for components and some questions from organizations long advocating for putting the cost on users, pointing to continuing research for a mileage-based user fee national pilot project. \xa0

Annelin joins later to talk about the breakdown of new funding for transportation programs in Michigan. The White House issued a fact sheet outlining those investments. \xa0

Michigan would see about a 30 percent increase in federal aid to roads over the five-year period. \xa0

Annelin also talks about the funds for electric vehicle charging opportunities for more equity in deploying the technology.


Podcast image by MotionStudios from Pixabay.\xa0