Former Senator Slade Gorton Advocates for Federal Transportation Policy Reform at...

Former Senator Slade Gorton Advocates for Federal Transportation Policy Reform
at Seattle Forum

National Transportation Policy Project Report Stresses the Need for
Performance and Accountability in Transportation Funding

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With only a month to go before
the nation's surface transportation law is due to expire, the Bipartisan
Policy Center's (BPC) National Transportation Policy Project (NTPP) held a
public forum today in Seattle, Washington to discuss its blueprint for reform
entitled, "Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy,"
and its implications for the Puget Sound region. The forum, the first of many
to be held around the country by the BPC, attracted leading local and national
transportation policymakers, academics, and other key transportation
stakeholders.

The panelists who spoke at today's event agreed that federal transportation
policy, which hasn't been overhauled in decades, needs immediate reform. NTPP
co-chair and former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton urged local citizens, as well as
Congress, to push for such reform. "The current federal transportation law
expires on September 30th, creating a unique opportunity to reshape federal
law. NTPP thinks that projects can and should be funded based on merit," said
former Senator Gorton. "Instead of projects being considered individually,
they should be seen as components of a larger program of metropolitan
investments intended to advance economic, environmental, and safety
objectives."

Today's discussion also focused on the importance of greater flexibility in
local and regional spending based on performance, a recommendation NTPP calls
for in the next bill. In its recently released report, NTPP proposes
restructuring federal programs, updating the criteria for formulas, and
creating a performance-based system that directly ties transportation spending
to broader national goals, including economic growth, connectivity,
accessibility, safety, energy security and environmental protection.

Paula Hammond, Secretary of Washington State Department of Transportation,
spoke during today's forum and supports a performance-based federal
transportation program. "We have an opportunity to create a strategic national
transportation vision and goals that will strengthen our economy, improve our
environment and demand effective investments. Performance-based strategies
established at state and local levels will provide the flexibility each state
needs to tailor investments in alignment with national goals," said Secretary
Hammond.

Bryan Mistele, a NTPP member and President and CEO of Kirkland-based INRIX,
which uses technology to track and predict traffic patterns, emphasized that
NTPP's proposal for measuring performance is both pragmatic and visionary.
"Performance-based measurements of transportation projects will help decrease
congestion and increase overall efficiencies by ensuring stronger
accountability. Additionally, measuring the effectiveness of investments in
transportation will help not only the transportation sector, but local and
regional economies as well."

Held at the Doubletree Arctic Club Hotel in downtown Seattle, the forum
attracted transportation experts from across the state, including State
Senator Mary Margaret Haugen; Charlie Howard, Director of Transportation
Planning for the Puget Sound Regional Council; Dan O'Neal, Commissioner,
Washington State Transportation Commission; Steve Marshall, Senior Fellow,
Cascadia Center for Regional Development; Joni Earl, Chief Executive Officer,
Sound Transit; and J. Tayloe Washburn, Foster Pepper PLLC and Chair of the
Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

A project of the BPC, NTPP was launched with the goal of bringing fresh
approaches to transportation policy. Former Senator Gorton co-chairs NTPP
with former Mayor of Detroit Dennis Archer, and former Congressmen Sherwood
Boehlert (R-NY) and Martin Sabo (D-MN). Its report, "Performance Driven: A New
Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy," is the product of a broad, bipartisan
coalition of transportation experts and business and civic leaders. To learn
more about the NTPP visit www.bipartisanpolicy.org.

About the Bipartisan Policy Center:
In 2007, former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob
Dole, and George Mitchell formed the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) to develop
and promote solutions that can attract the public support and political
momentum to achieve real progress. The BPC acts as an incubator for policy
efforts that engage top political figures, advocates, academics, and business
leaders in the art of principled compromise. For more information please visit
our Web site: http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/.

SOURCE Bipartisan Policy Center

Ashley Clark, Deputy Press Secretary of the Bipartisan Policy Center,
+1-202-569-9110, aclark@bipartisanpolicy.org