Mayors, what are your infrastructure needs?
Mayors around the country are being asked what their transportation infrastructure needs are in a survey sponsored by the Washington-based U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM). The survey results will be submitted to Congress and President Obama to suggest how to prioritize investments in the pending authorization of the federal surface transportation law (SAFETEA-LU).
USCM is lobbying for “metropolitan focused, energy efficient, and environmentally sustainable surface transportation infrastructure investments,” according to an open letter from USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran on the association’s website (http://usmayors.org/transportationsurvey/). Cochran says in the letter that members from both parties are calling for spending cuts, and a bill may make it to the House floor this summer. “[U.S. Transportation] Secretary Ray LaHood said he intends to have a bill on President Obama’s desk by the August recess,” Cochran says. “This survey will provide [USCM] with the key data to advocate for metropolitan transportation infrastructure investments in the transportation bill.”
The survey can be completed online in about 10 minutes, according to Cochran. USCM will publish aggregated information, not individual city responses. April 1 is the deadline for participating, and survey results will be announced at USCM’s 79th Annual Meeting in Baltimore on June 17-21.
Read Cochran’s letter or participate in the survey.
