The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Spring Meeting was held May 20-23, 2019 in Park City, Utah. The Annual Spring Meeting offered transportation executives the opportunity to network and share the latest in industry policies and innovations, and was an excellent opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in the transportation industry. Hosted by the home state of Carlos Braceras, President-AASHTO and Executive Director-Utah DOT, this meeting includes informational sessions on relevant industry topics.
AASHTO Passed Resolution Recommending Specific HTF Revenue Solutions: One of the key focal points of the meeting was AASHTO’s highway reauthorization priorities, with funding and program stability topping the list. AASHTO passed a resolution (see Policy Resolution PR-1-19 Title: Highway Trust Fund Revenue Shortfall Solution Alternatives link below) that recommended 4 specific revenue-generation solutions for ensuring the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF):
- An increase in the federal motor fuels tax that may include indexing the tax to inflation
- Taxing a barrel of oil, which builds off the model of the motor fuel tax, but would shift collection from individuals to producers of oil
- Instituting a freight-based user fee that would capture the impact from the movement of goods across the nation’s transportation system
- Developing a mileage-based user fee on vehicle travel that would insulate the HTF from “revenue dilution” stemming from increased vehicle fuel efficiency
Patrick McKenna, Vice-President-AASHTO and Director-Missouri Department of Transportation stated, “One thing we are trying to do as an association is to offer up more specific guidance, suggestions, and advice to our friends and colleagues on Capitol Hill. This is a resolution brought forward with strong consensus. Ultimately what we are trying to do is something different—trying to hone the list of potential funding sources down.”
McKenna noted that a “matrix” of possible funding solutions originally compiled by AASHTO nearly 5 years ago [with “AASHTO Lays Out Revenue Options for Congress to Shore Up Highway Trust Fund”]: “have not born fruit in terms of generating more transportation funding. So we wanted to forward a narrower list of user fees that offer a good way to fund transportation and produce significant revenue, but also things that can be implemented reasonably and at reasonable cost.”
Jim Tymon, Executive Director-AASHTO, added, “When we attend meetings on Capitol Hill, we are asked, ‘what specific revenue solutions do you support?’ And there’s a sense of urgency now especially as Senate and the House are speeding up their focus on [surface transportation funding] reauthorization. We felt that, to be at the table, it would helpful to have a narrower list of potential [revenue] options that we support.”
The meeting agenda included:
• SHRP2 Capacity Solutions Retrospective Workshop—Looked at the implementation of the SHRP2 Capacity Products, followed by a committee strategic planning session where participants discussed outcomes and thoughts on the research and implementation of the SHRP2 Capacity Products and next steps for future development. This workshop continued on Tuesday.
• Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Advanced Technologies Demonstrations—Attendees took part in demonstrations of the latest advances in UAS technologies, showcasing Urban Air Mobility, Counter UAS aircraft, UAS detection, and more.
• AASHTO Innovation Initiative (A.I.I.)—The A.I.I. Steering Committee discussed the program budget, project updates, and reviewed the recommendations/direction from their new parent committee: the Special Committee on Research and Innovation. Tom Harman, Director-FHWA’s Center for Innovation, presented on the culture of innovation—developed in part with input from Dan Rozycki, The Transtec Group. Leif Wathne shared details and insights regarding ACPA’s VISION2040 initiative and shared a one-page overview about the VISION2040 effort.
• UAS Roundtable: State DOT and Industry Partners Update on Use of UAS/Drones—Peer exchange/roundtable discussion to update delegates on use of UAS/Drones in various use cases for state DOT’s. The Future of UAS/Drones—A Partnership with Industry: Featured various industry partners to highlight opportunities for state DOTs and urban air mobility, latest in UAS/drone technology, and data.
• Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering—Finalized the ballot on the decisions made by the special committee on various applications from the member departments on U.S. Routes, Interstate Routes, and U.S. Bicycle Routes throughout the United States.
• Council on Highways and Streets—The meeting brought together members from the 50s states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia to address various topic-specific issues, and provided input on policy matters. Featured presentations and updates from various AASHTO groups, roundtable discussions on topics of interest to the Council members, provision of input, and voting on proposed policy resolutions from committees. One of the major discussions focused on the changing roles of chief engineers and other officials who must increasingly address issues that go beyond historical highway-centric issues. Examples:
• Multimodal transportation
• Drones
• Transit issues
• Changing functions of highways (which increasingly incorporate rapidly-evolving technology and communications features)
• Transportation and Civil Engineering (TRAC) National Bridge Challenge—A national competition designed to promote an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The program enhances math and science instruction and introduces students to engineering through hands-on, real-world applications. The competition is open to students in grades 7-12 within the participating TRAC states: https://news.transportation.org/Pages/VideoDetail.aspx?VideoId=436
• Committee on Planning: Strategic Planning Session—Developed a 2-year action plan for the Committee on Planning
• Operations Roundtable Breakfast—Met to discuss the Infrastructure Owner Operators Guiding Principles for Cooperative Automated Transportation were the chairs of the:
- Committee on Transportation System Operations
- Committee on Traffic Engineering
- Committee on Maintenance
- Committee on Safety
- Special Committee on Freight
- Committee on Transportation System Security and Resilience
- Committee on Performance-Based Management
- Committee on Data Management and Analytics
- Public Transportation Council
• Committee on Transportation System Security and Resilience (CTSSR) Steering Committee Meeting by invitation only
• Quality of Life: Making Transportation Reliability Real—The challenge of providing a seamless, dependable transportation system has been central to the mission of state DOT’s for the past decade and more. Reliability has been central to DOT priorities and funding—whether focused on providing relief from unexpected congestion or building a road network that users can count on. Important discussions included innovations in technology and processes, as well as better coordination with first responders and freight systems. Panelists offered their perspective on what is working in their states and what more needs to be done.
• Adding Up to Zero: Combining Efforts to Eliminate Traffic Fatalities—AASHTO adopted “Toward Zero Deaths” as its strategic highway safety plan, and the main implementation focus is on doing more of what works and improving traffic safety culture. A panel presented state experiences with addressing safety at the project and policy level, and discussion focused on leadership efforts that support transforming safety culture—among transportation and safety professionals as well as the public—to lead to more effective and widespread use of proven countermeasures.
• NCHRP 20-24 Lunch by invitation only
• Transportation Policy Forum Meeting—Discussed and recommended policies related to legislation, regulation, and other policy matters to the AASHTO Board of Directors, including the association’s recommended positions on reauthorization of key transportation legislation and on ongoing topical issues of interest to state DOTs.
• TRAC & RIDES Advisory Committee—Established to provide guidance and administrative oversight to the TRAC and RIDES programs. The committee ensures that participation levels in TRAC and RIDES are monitored, that they prepare budgets, oversee staffing and contracts for TRAC and RIDES, and guide the development of the TRAC strategic plan.
• Host Wednesday Night Event: The Flying Aces—Amazing night at Olympic Park was spent immersed in the wonders of the Flying Ace All-Stars—handpicked Olympians and National Team skiers and snowboarders who performed. While guests had the opportunity to ask world-class athletes face-to-face what propels them to greatness, they enjoyed local High West Distillery favorites at the Numetric whiskey tasting booth.
• Regional Thursday Morning Breakfast Meetings: • MAASTO • NASTO • SASHTO • WASHTO
• Board of Directors Thursday Evening Meeting & Dinner—Annual Meeting then Dinner (with guests) of the members of the AASHTO Board of Directors
For the Policy Resolution PR-1-19 Title: Highway Trust Fund Revenue Shortfall Solution Alternatives, please go to: https://aashtojournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PR-1-19-Highway-Trust-Fund-Revenue-Shortfall-Solution-Alternatives.pdf
For the Spring Meeting website, please go to: http://aashtospringmeeting.org
For the Spring Meeting synopsis, please go to: https://aashtojournal.org/2019/05/24/aashto-passes-resolution-recommending-specific-htf-revenue-solutions/
The 2019 AASHTO Annual Meeting
will be October 5-9, 2019
in St. Louis, Moussouri