ATA launches advocacy campaign, calls on Congress to fund infrastructure

With a sharp eye on furthering the infrastructure outlook in the United States and an objective of advocating for the next long-term surface transportation authorization, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said this week it is rolling out a media an advocacy campaign focused on the “personal toll of the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure and the trucking industry’s demand that the federal government step up its investment into [U.S.] roads and bridges.”

ATA said its campaign will be comprised of a television commercial set to begin airing this week in the Washington D.C. area, which will also be aired in other U.S. markets, as well as website, roadtoabetterfuture.com, which will host information and data regarding things like the time and money motorists are losing because of poor infrastructure, as well as help to make the case for the public to call on their Congressional representatives to take action about transportation infrastructure. 

“The dismal state of our nation’s roads and bridges forces the average commuter to waste 42 hours a year sitting in traffic,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear in a statement. “Between time lost and the $1600 in vehicle damage and wasted gas the average American is saddled with, we are no longer at the brink – we are living in a crisis situation.  The ATA is launching this campaign to highlight the very personal impact of poor roads and the urgency necessary for Congress and the Administration to take action. What’s often missing from the infrastructure debate in Washington is the appreciation of the human toll and how the issue of crumbling roads and bridges impacts virtually every American, often with unfortunate consequences.”

On a media conference call, Spear explained that the ATA has placed a broad emphasis on this effort to push for infrastructure funding, as it is an issue that cannot wait any longer. And he said 2019 is a key year for moving this legislation, with the calendar quickly approaching the pending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund in roughly 18 months.

“With a Presidential election next year, we believe 2019 is the year to move this bill, get it to a vote and do what is right for the country,” noted Spear. “We want to really be educating people involved in that decision making process…on the human toll of infrastructure, as commute times continue to escalate. People here in the D.C. area know what is like to sit indefinitely in traffic. The bridges across the Potomac are crumbling. Without federal funding, states are desperate to raise revenue and are turning to costly tolling schemes.”

Addressing tolling, a ten-mile stretch of I-66, near ATA’s Alexandria, Va.-based headquarters, in peak times, has a $47.50 one-way toll, noted Spear, who called out those that may call the search for new revenue streams regressive.

The ATA’s core plan is to raise fuel taxes by $1.10-to-$1.20, on average, for all roads and bridges, which Spear said averages out to about $2 per week for that same driver on I-66.

“We believe this is a very sensible approach that really addresses immediate infrastructure needs, shores up the HTF, and does not add a dime to the deficit,” said Spear. “It is also very conservative in that it is less than one cent on the dollar to administer, whereas tolling schemes can exceed up to 35 cents on the dollar. That is not a good use of money. We want the money to immediately go into roads and bridges, and we believe this is the best way to do it.”