H.R. 979. H.R. 980. H.R. 986. H.R. 3857. Walsh et al. Cochran et al. Rooney and Eckhardt. Stephens.. Mink. Rooney Alexander. H.R. 5495. H.R. 6324. H.R. 7916. H.R. 8270. McFall. H.R. 7509 H.R. 7778. H.R. 206. H.R. 1080. Sullivan. Billboards. Billboards. Billboards. Parkways. Parkways. Great River Rd. Uniform Motor Carriers Standards Act. ICC coverage for school buses. Motor carrier safety. Rail-highway: Pine Bluff, Ark. Rail-highway: Augusta, Ga. Transfer of rail-highway funds. Warning lights at grade crossings. Grade crossing-Jefferson Parish, La. Transportation Statistics Act. Transportation Statistics Act. Elderly fares in interstate commerce. Hazardous materials. Authorizations for ICC. Authorizations for regulatory agencies. Authorizations for regulatory agencies. Elderly fares in interstate commerce. Elderly fares-Interstate commerce and mass transit. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1975 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SURFACE TRANSPORTATION, OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m., in room 2167 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. James J. Howard (subcommittee chairman) presiding. Mr. HOWARD. The Subcommittee on Surface Transportation will please come to order. The hearings of this subcommittee, beginning today, are expected to produce the most comprehensive and complete body of information yet assembled on the subject of transportation in this country. The hearings will cover all elements of surface transportation under this subcommittee's jurisdiction and the relationships to all other modes of transportation. A national transportation policy has been eagerly sought by many and it, too, will be examined thoroughly as will the regulatory problem. The highway program will be a prime focus of the hearings since this is the normal year for biennial highway legislation. We have before us a highway proposal by the administration and we have a comprehensive bill, H.R. 8235, introduced by Mr. Shuster, the ranking minority member of this committee, and myself, plus many other bills relating to individual transportation issues. Our bill calls for an $8.5 billion annual highway program for 1977 and 1978, and continued funding of the Interstate System at a $4 billion annual level. This is quite close to the $7.9 billion obligated in fiscal year 1975. The hearings will be considered as "wide open" hearings on the transportation subject. Elements of the bill which I introduced with Mr. Shuster are not final by any means as far as I am concerned, and it is only after the testimony has been received and the subcommittee has met and worked its will that a bill will be presented to the full committee for its action and subsequent floor action in the House. Last year, the Congress passed and the President signed a 6-year mass transit bill. There have been indications that some elements of that legislation have caused concern in some quarters. This subcommittee is anxious to hear of any such concern and of any suggested revisions to that legislation. A national transportation policy is an elusive goal that many people have groped toward over the years. We hope now that the Committee on Public Works and Transportation has a considerable amount of transportation jurisdiction that such a policy might finally be evolved. At any rate, these hearings will, at a minimum, set the groundwork for developing such a policy. We will continue the hearings through the month of July, as indicated by the hearing notice that has been circulated, and, if necessary, into the month of September after the August recess. Testimony is welcomed from every quarter, but the subcommittee does sincerely request that groups interested in a single issue do not attempt to innundate the committee on such a single issue with substantially identical repetitive testimony. However, all witnesses can rest assured that the subcommittee will consider all testimony in its final deliberations. The Chair is happy at this point to recognize the ranking minority member of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Shuster. Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman. As the ranking minority member of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee, it had been my hope, as we open these important hearings directed toward the consideration of major transportation legislation for America, that our efforts would include a focus on the positive steps we can take to make America's highways safer and more efficient. The evidence, which I trust shall be updated and refined during these hearings, overwhelmingly indicates that economic developmentjob creation-is directly tied to the existence of efficient highway systems. Even more significantly, conclusive proof exists that the appalling accident and fatality rate on American highways-46,000 Americans killed and 1.8 million Americans injured last year alone can be reduced by the thousands through the modernization of highways and implementation of safety standards. Additionally, in 1974, property damage alone exceeded a staggering $19 billion, according to the National Safety Council. The related human suffering is incalculable. Much progress has been accomplished in the past 20 years, bu unfortunately, the job is nowhere near completed. The 1974 National Highway Needs Report, transmitted to this committee by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, indicates tha after, and I emphasize this, a scaling down to allow for 20 percen less travel, as well as a 10-mph reduction in speed, America's Federal aid highway needs through 1990 amount to $314.9 billion in 197 dollars. Inflation has increased that 1971 cost by 40 percent so th price tag in 1975 approximates $440.8 billion. A Senate report entitled, "Transportation in Rural America," date February 10, 1975, indicates that the cost of alleviating rural roa deficiencies in America, excluding local roads, is about $108 billion that rural travel is expected to increase by more than 50 percent b 1990; and that the death rate on rural highways is twice that of urba areas. Against these scaled-down needs of over $440 billion in curre dollars, the Highway Trust Fund, if continued in its present form, projected by the Federal Highway Administration to generate a proximately $118.5 billion through 1990. |