U.S. Chamber Launches Print and Radio Ads--Campaign Urges Protection of Transportation Funds

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Chamber of Commerce led coalition – Americans for Transportation Mobility – launched print and radio ads aimed at lawmakers returning to Capitol Hill, urging them to pass legislation that increases the funding of highway and transit projects.

"It's time to act – to fix, improve and modernize more than 75,000 projects across America to make travel safer and more convenient, to help move our goods more quickly and at less cost," says the radio ad.

Print ads are scheduled for Capitol Hill publications CQ Weekly, CQ Daily, The Hill, Roll Call, and CongressDaily during the week of January 19. Radio ads will also be run in the Washington, D.C. market.

The Chamber is urging Congress to reauthorize federal budget mechanisms that continue the guarantees enacted in the TEA-21 legislation of 1998, mandating that all revenues paid into the Highway Trust Fund must be spent for their intended purpose of highway and transit investment. These guarantees allow the federal government to use all dedicated user-fee revenues for transportation infrastructure maintenance and improvement.

The nation's highway system is facing a crisis, according to the Chamber. Since the 1970s, U.S. highway passenger travel and vehicle miles have both almost doubled, while road capacity has increased by a mere five percent. Overall, America's highways and mass transit systems need about $60 billion a year through 2010 for upkeep and improvements.

"Our roads and highways cannot handle today's traffic demands – much less the higher demand predicted in the future," said Ed Mortimer, Chamber director of transportation policy and executive director of Americans for Transport Mobility.

The Chamber chairs Americans for Transportation Mobility, a coalition of more than 400 trade, state and local associations, government officials and labor unions working to build a safer and more efficient transportation system. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation, representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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04-02

Editors Note: Copies of the Chamber's ads are available online.
www.a-t-m.org