Pork & Beans: A Look at the Transportation Bill

Rossputin recently had a post about the 2005 Transportation Bill, or the “Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users (TEA-LU).” The bill comes in at the everyday-low-price of just $283.9 billion – a mere 42% increase over the 1998-2003 bill.

The Transportation Committee proudly asserts, the bill “will continue and protect existing U.S. jobs in the transportation sector and related industries. Millions of new jobs will be created and sustained by the infrastructure funding increases in TEA LU.” Or:

In other words, the transportation bill is about buying the votes of those who do or will feed at the trough of government construction projects. Each item in this bill must be considered through that lens: Incumbents protecting their jobs at the expense of the average citizen.

So, taking Rossputin up on his suggestion that I read the bill for myself, I took a gander at the 798-page pork-infested novel, along with the 122 pages of 3,315 “High Priority Projects” and 14 pages of “Bus Related Projects.” As he suggested, I laughed – and cried. Below are my Top 10 favorite projects.

1) The construction of a bridge joining the Island of Gravina to the community of Ketchikan in Alaska for $100 million, as a courtesy to Alaska Rep. Don Young, Chairman of the Committee. [The infamous “bridge to nowhere” will be nearly as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and taller than the Brooklyn Bridge. Because the town of Ketchikan has fewer than 8,000 residents, the cost per person will be about 10x the cost of the Big Dig in Boston.]

2) A pavement marking systems demonstration that changes the edge lines on paved roads from 4 inches to 6 inches: cost $6 million. [Apparently the changing of line widths is a major innovation for further study.]

3) A pilot program for the Technical feasibility of imposing mileage based road user charges. Cost: $12.5 million. [As cars become more fuel efficient and we buy less gas, the government is worried it will need a new source of revenue – hence the brilliant idea of charging motorists by the mile.]

4) A program for landscaping enhancements along Freeway 118 in California solely for aesthetic purposes. Cost: $2.5 million. [I’m not sure how this is transportation-related, but I guess it’s because the landscaping is next to a road. There are many more like this, but you get the idea.]

5) Public improvements to Symphony Hall in Springfield, MA. Cost: $300k [Makes sense in a transportation bill; I love a good symphony performance.]

6) Construct a historic bicycle path in Pascagoula, MS. Cost: $150k. [Note that of the hundreds of new bicycle paths being proposed at a range of costs from $150k to $10 million – this is the only “historic” bicycle path, so it must be well worth it.]

7) The construction of horse riding trails and associated facilities in Virginia. Cost: $750k. [This is definitely transportation related – and is vital to commuters if the horse commute-to-work ever makes a comeback.]

8) Design and construction of a visitor contact station, Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts. Cost: $2 mm. [MA needs some new projects now that the Big Dig is nearly complete.]

9) City of Redondo Beach, CA Esplanade Improvement Project. Cost: $1 mm [I’m struggling with a connection to transportation – it’s on a beach, so maybe people arrive by boats, which is a form of transportation.]

10) Revitalize Old San Juan, Puerto Rico Historic District streets. Cost: $3mm [What, you thought that the U.S. was the only place where these projects are needed?]

There are many, many more projects, but I don’t have time to list them all. But if it’s a new training center, a museum, a racial profiling prevention program, or a program to discern a driver’s favorite street signs, it’s in there. If you're a masochist and you want to read it all for yourself, you can look for yourself here.