WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the text of a fact sheet
released by the White House Monday with details of $50 billion worth of
investments in infrastructure the administration plans to make in the
U.S.:

The President today laid out a bold vision for renewing and
expanding our transportation infrastructure in a plan that combines a
long-term vision for the future with new investments. A significant
portion of the new investments would be front-loaded in the first year.

This plan would build on the investments we have already made under
the Recovery Act, create jobs for American workers to strengthen our
economy now, and increase our nation’s growth and productivity in the
future. At the same time, the plan would reform the way America
currently invests in transportation, changing our focus to enhancing
competition, innovation, performance, and real analysis that gets
taxpayers the best bang for the buck, while moving away from the
earmarks and formula debates of the past. In prior years, transportation
infrastructure was an issue that both parties worked on together, and
the Administration hopes the same can be true now.

Some of the tangible accomplishments of the President’s plan over
the next six years include:

– ROADS: Rebuild 150,000 miles of roads renewing our commitment
to the backbone of our transportation system;

– RAILWAYS: Construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail enough to
go coast-to-coast;

– RUNWAYS: Rehabilitate or reconstruct 150 miles of runway while
putting in place a NextGen system that will reduce travel time and
delays.

The President’s plan would accomplish this through:

– An up-front investment. The President will work with Congress to
enact a new up-front investment in our nation’s infrastructure an
investment that would help jump-start additional job creation, while
also laying the foundation for future growth. This initial investment
would fund improvements in the nation’s surface transportation, as well
as our airports and air traffic control system.

– A vision for the future. The President proposes to pair this with
a long-term framework to reform and expand our nation’s investment in
transportation infrastructure. Since the end of last year, when the last
long-term surface transportation legislation expired, these investments
have been continued on a temporary basis, even as the trust fund to
finance them has fallen into insolvency. If we are to enjoy the benefits
that come from a world-class transportation system, Congress must enact
a long-term reauthorization that expands and reforms our infrastructure
investments and returns the transportation trust fund to solvency. To
jumpstart job creation, this long-run policy front-loads through a $50
billion up-front investment a significant share of the new
infrastructure resources. As with other long-run policies, the
Administration is committed to working with Congress to fully pay for
the plan.

The long-term framework includes meaningful reforms:

* The establishment of an Infrastructure Bank to leverage federal
dollars and focus on investments of national and regional significance
that often fall through the cracks in the current siloed transportation
programs;

* The integration of high-speed rail on an equal footing into the
surface transportation program to ensure a sustained and effective
commitment to a national high speed rail system over the next
generation;

* Streamlining, modernizing, and prioritizing surface
transportation investments, consolidating more than 100 different
programs and focusing on using performance measurement and
“race-to-the-top” style competitive pressures to drive investment toward
better policy outcomes.

* Expanding investments in areas like safety, environmental
sustainability, economic competitiveness, and livability helping to
build communities where people have choices about how to travel,
including options that reduce oil consumption, lower greenhouse gas
emissions, and expand access to job opportunities and housing that’s
affordable.

Specifically, the President proposes to make the initial up-front
investment in the following areas:

– Roads. The nation’s highways serve as the backbone of our
transportation system. Many roads and bridges are in need of repair and
expansion and many of the Americans who want to do this work face high
unemployment right now. Our investments would be focused on modernizing
the highway system’s critical assets while providing much-needed jobs.

– Rail. Many parts of transit systems have been allowed to fall
into a state of ill-repair. The President’s plan would help address this
by making a major new investment in the nation’s bus and rail transit
system. The Administration is also committed to expanding public transit
systems and would dedicate significant new funding to the New Starts
program which supports locally planned, implemented, and operated
major transit projects. In addition, the Administration is committed to
building on its investments so far in high-speed rail constructing a
system that will increase convenience and productivity, while also
reducing our nation’s dependence on oil and cutting down on pollution.
The President’s plan would also invest in a long-overdue overhaul of
Amtrak’s fleet.

– Runways & NextGen. The Administration proposes to invest in our
nation’s airports by improving their runways and other equipment and
facilities. We also propose a robust investment in our effort to
modernize the nation’s air traffic control system (NextGen). This
investment will help both the FAA and airlines to install new
technologies and, among other improvements, move from a national
ground-based radar surveillance system to a more accurate
satellite-based surveillance system the backbone of a broader effort
to reduce delays for passengers, increase fuel efficiency for carriers,
and cut airport noise for those who live and work near airports.

– Infrastructure Bank. The President proposes to fund a permanent
infrastructure bank. This bank would leverage private and state and
local capital to invest in projects that are most critical to our
economic progress. This marks an important departure from the federal
government’s traditional way of spending on infrastructure through
earmarks and formula-based grants that are allocated more by geography
and politics than demonstrated value. Instead, the Bank will base its
investment decisions on clear analytical measures of performance,
competing projects against each other to determine which will produce
the greatest return for American taxpayers.

** Market News International Washington: 202-371-2121 **

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