Senate OKs highway, transit programs overhaul

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted yesterday to overhaul transportation programs and keep aid flowing to thousands of construction projects while strengthening highway and auto safety.

The 74-22 vote stepped up pressure for quick action by the House because the government's power to collect about $110 million a day in federal gasoline and diesel taxes, the main source of revenue for highway and transit programs, is set to expire March 31.

If a final bill isn't on the president's desk by then, Congress would have to OK a temporary extension to avoid a shutdown of the programs, including the furlough of Federal Highway Administration employees and the layoff of construction workers.

The White House praised senators for trying to address the needs and expressed hope the House "will move swiftly" and follow suit. Efforts by House Republican leaders to pass their own five-year bill have fallen apart in recent weeks. The House returns next week from a weeklong recess.

The Senate's measure would spend $109 billion over about two years and would increase the amount of money available for states by raising current spending levels to take into account inflation.

The measure would reduce the number of federal transportation programs by roughly two-thirds in an effort to eliminate duplication. Senators preserved bicycle, pedestrian, safe routes to schools and rails-to-trails programs, targeted for elimination by Republicans, under a compromise that means they would have to compete with other programs for money.

For transit commuters, the bill would extend, back to Jan. 1, a tax break that allows the deduction of up to $240 a month in commucting expenses tax-free from their paychecks. That had expired at the end of 2011.

The bill could open the door for the Long Island Rail Road to begin its double track project from Farmingdale to Ronkonkoma years ahead of schedule. It would allow the LIRR a waiver from a mandate to install a new crash prevention system, which would have used up the money the LIRR would need to pay for the second track work.

The bill also would require states to target federal money to roads with a record of being dangerous to pedestrians, such as Hempstead Turnpike and Sunrise Highway.

On the safety front, the bill would require stricter federal oversight of the long-distance and tour bus industries through deadlines for buses to have seat belts, stronger roofs, anti-ejection windows and rollover avoidance systems.The bus industry carries about 750 million passengers a year, roughly the same as the domestic airline industry.