WASHINGTON—The concept and strategy of transportation infrastructure continues to gain momentum, as evidenced by a recent hearing held by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs which focused on legislation that would establish an infrastructure bank that would be charged with “evaluating and financing capacity-building infrastructure projects of substantial regional and national significance.”

The bipartisan legislation, entitled “S.1926, The National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2007,” was introduced last August by Senators Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Chuck Hagel (D-Nebraska).

The senators say the bill is based on the current situation the United States is facing in terms of insufficient transportation infrastructure, significant increases in freight projected in the coming years, the role that traffic congestion is playing in a diminishing economy, and fuel prices.

“The current infrastructure in our country is wholly inadequate to handle the demands of a 21st century economy,” said Dodd. “This measure can help rebuild our roads, bridges, transit and water systems…and spur jobs and economic growth.”

Dodd and Hagel say this infrastructure bank would focus on infrastructure initiatives such as publicly-owned mass-transit systems, roads, and bridges. They added that projects with at least a potential Federal investment of $75 million are the ones that the bank will focus on first. The bank would use what the Senators called a “sliding scale method” that gauges measurements such as the type of infrastructure system or systems, project location and cost, current and projected usage, reduction in traffic congestion, and environmental benefits.

Noted experts in the transportation industry agree with Dodd, commenting that more needs to be done outside traditional methods to get transportation infrastructure initiatives the attention it needs.

“This echoes what the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission said in their report earlier this year,” said Mort Downey, chairman of OB Consult and former Deputy Secretary of Transportation.

“The report was basically saying that new ways of [transportation infrastructure] financing are something we should be looking at.”