Published
March 17, 2026
A reliable, modern transportation network—spanning highways, bridges, rail systems, ports and transit—is essential to supporting American businesses, workers, and communities.
As Congress begins work on the next surface transportation bill, policymakers, business leaders and infrastructure experts gathered for the Chamber’s Keep America Moving Summit to explore how to modernize America’s transportation network and ensure sustained economic growth.
The discussion came at a pivotal moment. The current federal surface transportation law expires in September 2026, creating an important window for Congress to craft a new multi-year framework that provides states and local communities the certainty needed to plan and deliver major infrastructure projects. Without timely action, transportation investments could face delays or disruption—affecting supply chains, mobility, and economic competitiveness.
Throughout the day, speakers highlighted the importance of long-term funding solutions, permitting reform, and innovative approaches to building and maintaining transportation infrastructure.
Lawmakers’ Focus on Surface Transportation Reauthorization
At the event, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) said he intends the mark up the House version of the surface transportation reauthorization bill in April.
“My priorities, I would like to do the best that I can to shore up the Highway Trust Fund. We haven’t seen any new money in it in 30 years,” he said. “I believe in user fees; if you use the infrastructure you should pay for it.”
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) discussed the Committee’s progress on surface transportation legislation, saying that the bill should be “streamline[d] back to its original core functions, building highways, building bridges, repairing bridges, making our surface transportation as safe as possible… and [give] states the flexibility that they need to make decisions for their own states.”
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation Steven Bradbury shared how the Department is approaching surface transportation reauthorization, noting that it shares some of the same values as Chairman Graves and Chairwoman Capito.
“[At the Department] we’re focused on consolidation of grant programs, simplification of programs, and giving more control of projects to state and local government,” Bradbury said.
Infrastructure is Bipartisan
The theme of the Summit included how infrastructure remains one of the few remaining bipartisan issues and how progress requires collaboration.
“There’s no Republican bridges or Democrat roads. This is our infrastructure,” said Chairman Graves.
“In Congress, the only way to get things done is in a bipartisan way. So, we have to operate that way,” said Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ).
The Business View
Bryan Jones, Mid Atlantic Division President, HNTB, U.S. Chamber Board member, and Chairman of the infrastructure and Competitiveness Council said our infrastructure systems are the backbone of our nation’s economy.
“Effective, efficient and well-funded transportation infrastructure allows people to get to work, goods to move and to market, and businesses to grow and compete on the national scale. The Chamber’s mission is the growth of free enterprise and that depends on infrastructure that is safe, reliable, resilient, and maintained,” he said.
To move people and goods efficiently, highways, bridges, rail, ports, and airports need to be designed to work seamlessly together as one integrated system, said Michael Kiely, President of Global Government Affairs at UPS.
“We can’t think about transportation in isolation. We can’t think about transportation for passengers in isolation,” he said. “We have to think about it in the context of moving people and moving cargo and moving them both in a safe and efficient manner. “
Unrepaired bridges and limited ports and airports are bottlenecks we can address by upgrading infrastructure, said U.S. Chamber Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley.
“When we have bridges that just haven’t been repaired, and we have ports that haven’t been expanded for capacity, or airports that haven’t been expanded. Those are bottlenecks you have to plan around. But they’re also bottlenecks that we can do something about if we’re investing in upgrading our infrastructure system,” Bradley said.
State, Local Level Efforts
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs discussed infrastructure investments including the groundbreaking of a highway expansion project and revitalization of roads in the Grand Canyon State.
“In Arizona, we know that the choices we make about infrastructure today don’t just shape the next budget cycle or the next decade,” Hobbs said. “They shape whether communities can grow, whether economies can thrive, and whether the next generation inherits the same opportunities we were afforded.”
Similarly, Rep. Stanton touted the infrastructure improvements in the Phoenix area.
“We have not only improved our freeway system… but public transportation, that investment that we have made, particularly in light rail…has resulted in $20 billion of private sector investment,” he said.
Mark Fialkowski, President, Infrastructure North America, Parsons, Tim W. Mattews, P.E., Assistant P3 Division Director, Georgia Department of Transportation, and Don Lee, Senior Solution Architect, Bentley Systems provided an example of a local infrastructure initiative that will transform a region. The Georgia Department of Transportation SR 400 project—a $4.6 billion initiative that aims to alleviate traffic congestion in Atlanta—will construct 16 miles of new express lanes in the next five years. The project serves as a model for other states to adopt similar solutions to manage traffic and promote economic growth.
"We're employing a digital twin—a digital model of the entire project,” said Fialkowski of the technology deployed for the project. This helps them “see what that whole project is going to look like—where do you deploy the equipment, where do you deploy the people…It really makes our team much more efficient so we can deliver the project faster and better quality.”
Another example is collaboration in Spartanburg, SC, where targeted infrastructure investments have attracted business, created jobs, and fueled the region’s growth.
“Being in a town that was so ripe with talent, was vitally important for [Oshkosh Defense] …Spartanburg made a lot of sense for us,” said Angela Ambrose, vice president of government operations, Oshkosh Corporation.
Another example of infrastructure driving growth is at our ports. In California, Dr. Noel Hacegaba, Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Long Beach, explained how the Port is engaging with the community and preparing both its infrastructure and workforce for the future while calling for federal support to help make upgrades possible.
“Our secret sauce has been our ability to engage our community, because really when you manage your community relations well, it gives you a license to grow,” he said.
Building the Infrastructure Workforce
New roads, bridges, and transit systems don’t build, operate, or maintain themselves. Every additional mile of pavement or lane of highway creates ongoing demand for skilled workers. During the summit, industry leaders and educators discussed strategies for building the skilled workforce needed to deliver on unprecedented infrastructure investments.
Rich Barcaskey, Executive Director, Constructors Association of Western PA noted that “one of the biggest challenges is just encouraging young people to pursue careers in construction. We’re trying to find interactive ways to encourage young people.”
Vicki Colvin, Dean of the College of Engineering at Louisiana State Universitysaid that the University trains over 2,000 construction managers every year, but the need is still there. “We need more data scientists and computer scientists in construction and infrastructure…It’s absolutely essential to look at what’s going on in the industry and how we develop degree programs that meet the needs of the industry.”
The Shared Need for Permitting Reform
Another theme at the Summit was that, in addition to funding, infrastructure improvements also need permitting reform.
“We've reached, I think, a tipping point where the stakeholder community, [it] has never been bigger.” Senator Capito said. “There's no detractors to permitting reform anymore."
Chairman Graves also stressed the need to move on permitting reform, saying “We have got to get these projects moving quicker and get them done under budget… taking seven years to get a project done is a huge problem. We’d like to expand it to one agency making a decision on permitting.”
Keep America Moving Initiative
The U.S. Chamber’s Keep America Moving Initiative calls on policymakers, businesses, and communities to prioritize the reauthorization of federal surface transportation infrastructure programs—and ensure a responsible, long-term funding mechanism is in place to sustain them. The next surface transportation reauthorization must: enhance safety, efficiency, and reliability, sustain necessary funding levels, modernize the permitting process, and fix the Highway Trust Fund.
“The Chamber and the Keep America Moving Coalition is absolutely essential to us to be able to move,” said Senator Capito at the summit.
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About the author
Jen Scungio
Jen Scungio is the Senior Director, Editorial and Digital Media at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
