Transportation March 2007

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From: Deanna Perrow [mailto:deanna@mbtaonline.org]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 1:54 PM
To: Deanna Perrow
Subject: Bond Hearing, Sustainable Transportation Finding Hearing and More
Importance: High

Good afternoon,

We wanted to share with you some information about important legislative hearings coming up in the next two weeks.

Wednesday, March 28, 8 am in Room 228 of the State House is the hearing on the transportation bond before the Appropriations and Transportation Committees. Attached are fact sheets that the MaineDOT has developed on the $131 million transportation bond.

http://www.mbtaonline.org/docs/fedlocalmatch.pdf

http://www.mbtaonline.org/docs/narrative.pdf

http://www.mbtaonline.org/docs/talkpoints.pdf

We need people to show up on the 28^th in Augusta to either testify (testimony is limited to three minutes) or simply be there in the audience to show support. Please let us know if you are able to attend by calling the office or emailing me or Maria at maria@mbtaonline.org

“An Act to Secure Maine’s Transportation Future,” the bill being sponsored for MBTA by Senator Dennis Damon, will be heard on Friday, April 6, 1 pm in the Transportation Committee Room, Room 126 of the State House. The bill doesn’t yet have an LD number as it hasn’t been printed, but we will let you know once it is out. We will need to have a strong turnout for that bill as well.

Again, please let us know if you can testify for either hearing, or simply attend to show support. We need both!

And, finally, please see link below for a survey being conducted by Wilbur Smith Associates for the $1M intermodal transportation infrastructure assessment study. MaineDOT, with the collaboration of six eastern Canadian provinces and four U.S. states, is leading a study to examine the adequacy of East-West transportation connections across a broad region. The objective of the study is to identify current problems and future challenges related to transportation linkages and economic competitiveness; and recommend strategies and improvements to address the current and future needs of trade and tourism mobility in the region.

It is important that those members representing the business community, particularly those that utilize transportation infrastructure and services, as well as providers of same, participate in this survey.

www.canamconnections.com – please click on “Participate in our Survey of Transportation Users”

Thank you.

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I wanted to call your attention to a very important matter that I believe ASCE Maine Section should get involved in. The Maine Legislature is currently debating many bills and some of those are in regards to funding transportation in Maine. The below information contains updates regarding activities of the Maine Transportation Funding Coalition and I have attached their report. In addition, in the most recent ASCE newsletter, the Informant, we included an article provided by MBTA that discussed the results of the recent Statewide scientific survey that was conducted on behalf of the coalition. The polling data supports the notion that Maine people think we need to act and establish a safe, modern transportation system in Maine. To accomplish this goal, statewide policy makers need to establish a sustainable funding mechanism to supplement the gas tax which is not keeping up with demand. A PowerPoint presentation is being used by the Coalition to present that case (go to http://www.mbtaonline.org/publications/CampaignForReform.pdf to view the PowerPoint). Senator Dennis Damon’s bill which MBTA and the Coalition are being asked to support, An Act to Secure Maine’s Transportation Future, will be heard at the Transportation Committee in the upcoming weeks. A summary of the bill’s language is available within the MBTA report contained on this web page. The final language of this bill is being worked on and should be available soon. In addition, a Transportation Bond for Maine DOT’s capital program is being discussed by the Legislature, the MaineDOT and the Governor’s office. Various numbers are being floated around, but some believe that a substantial bond package- possibly over $200 million for highways & bridges- is needed to get back on track. We encourage all of ASCE’s Maine Section members to voice an opinion on this important issue.

The Leadership Team of the Maine Section will be meeting on this Thursday, March 15th in Portland at 5 PM at the offices of the Turnpike on Riverside St to discuss these bills/issues and well to conduct routine Board business. Please join us or provide comments by email or phone.

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Transportation Funding Crisis- Legislative Action needed by ASCE, Maine Section

Maria Fuentes, Executive Director of MBTA put the following summary together to give Maine Section members an idea of what is going on behind the scenes as part of a multi-partner campaign to increase Transportation awareness and funding in Maine. A bill sponsored by Senator Dennis Damon entitled An Act to Secure Maine’s Transportation Future will be heard at some point this legislative session and will need your support. Please check out Maine Section ASCE’s web site for more information on this campaign and the related bills being presented. In addition, a bond package of $100 million for MaineDOT is being proposed by Maine DOT and the Governor while some including Associated Constructors of Maine are advocating for $200 million to make up for the last few years of no bond proceeds. The $200 million would put us back on a reasonable track. ASCE Maine section will be writing letters to the Legislative’s Transportation committee on both of these topics and will be discussing at our March 15^th Board meeting in Portland. In addition, thank you to Phil Dunn, PhD, PE, Professor at U.Maine, and Past President of Maine Section, ASCE for testifying in front of the Transportation Committee on behalf of the Section in favor of LD 320, an Act to widen the Maine Turnpike through Portland area.

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After a very discouraging legislative session last year, MBTA decided it needed to step back and look inward to determine why we had done such a poor job of making legislators understands the dire need for increased highway and bridge funding. We had already developed a report entitled “Losing Ground” and distributed it to legislators. Last summer, we decided we needed to step up our efforts, and we retained Maine Tomorrow to develop extensive policy research on system needs and funding needs for our highway system. John Melrose, president of Maine Tomorrow and past MaineDOT Commissioner, and Paul Lariviere, former Division Director in Maine for FHWA conducted the research.

We commissioned a statewide poll last fall to gage the public’s attitudes about their transportation system, and their appetite for paying for improvements. [Click here for summary of polling] Respondents were very much aware of the huge problems facing our highway system. Not surprisingly, they didn’t want to have their taxes increased and instead preferred shifting existing resources. This polling information played into our decision making process relative to the legislation submitted.

For instance, in that survey of 500 Maine voters, 91 percent said they would favor a sales tax on gas if it was offset by a reduction in the per gallon tax currently charged at the pump. Seventy-four percent favored funding road and bridge repairs with taxes paid on the sales of cars and trucks. We also learned that the public’s acceptance of debt as a viable way to fund investment in transportation infrastructure is much higher than many legislative and community leaders may have thought. The poll showed that 64 percent of voters favored using debt to fix bridges so current and future users share the cost, while only 10 percent favored no debt.

They developed a thorough needs analysis, and began collecting funding options. The funding mechanisms were shared with MaineDOT, Maine Turnpike Authority, Coalition members, MBTA Board members and others, and as a result, we developed legislation which is being introduced this session by Transportation Committee Chair Dennis Damon.

The MBTA also retained Laurie Lachance, former state economist and current president of the Maine Development Foundation. Laurie is developing economic talking points about the importance of investing in transportation infrastructure. She will also be promoting the information through MDF newsletters, public presentations and editorial board briefings.

One of the key strategies of the MBTA’s strategic plan is to identify partner groups and organizations that share common goals and reach out to them to form strategic alliances. MBTA began this process last summer and we have more than 40 local and regional groups that have pledged their support, including safety, economic development groups, and many others. We held a workshop for members and potential members in January and recently sent an update to all coalition members.

We have made presentations to nearly a dozen organizations with the hope of getting the word out about the importance of our work. Recent presentations have been made to the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce, Maine Motor Transport Association, and Maine Tourism Association. This past fall, the board of directors began co-sponsoring a series of “decision-maker breakfasts.” We have invited community, business and government leaders to share in a dialogue about the importance of increasing Maine’s investment in our transportation infrastructure.

We are fortunate that the Maine Chapter, ASCE was one of the first groups to join our Coalition.

Our research led us to some conclusions about how we need to dramatically change they way we fund our infrastructure and we developed the following policy guidelines: we need to turn the tide: to lock in stable, reliable, long-term capital financing; build partnerships to expand financial resources; foster a geographically balanced capital program that addresses urban and rural needs; link financing to project/program initiatives; seek opportunities to reduce costs; and anticipate voter and legislator preferences.

For more information on how to contact the Governor or your Legislator, please visit the Maine Better Transportation Association online at www.mbtaonline.org