A task force of Chicago-based transportation experts is part of a national alliance currently lobbying Congress to rethink how America invests in our transportation infrastructure. What’s at stake, they say, is a chance to ensure the U.S.’s economic future and keep it a strong global competitor.

The focus of the Metropolitan Civic Leadership Alliance’s lobbying effort is the FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) Act, which governs how federal funding for transportation projects is administered. The act is set to expire in the fall of 2020.

Recognizing how vital a role transportation plays in the economic viability of many U.S. regions, the legislation is coming due at a highly vulnerable time for the transportation sector.

“Our metropolitan areas’ economies are facing unprecedented challenges,” says Tom Kotarac, Vice President—Transportation & Infrastructure, for the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, which is one of the Metropolitan Civic Leadership Alliance members.

One source of challenge has been the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the financial health of the nation’s transportation systems and businesses. Yet that challenge comes atop already existing needs for robust federal investment in all facets of U.S. transportation to keep America competitive globally. “If the transportation system doesn’t work, neither does the economy,” Kotarac says. “To grow stronger regions, it is essential that we couple significant investment with supportive policies for all types of transportation.” The Alliance has asked Congressional leaders to adopt innovative measures aimed at easing financing, at reducing congestion in busy urban corridors, at investing more in transit and rail, and at fostering connectivity between airports and metropolitan areas.

"The decisions we’re making about transportation investment today will have impact for generations to come."

The Civic Committee of the Economic Club of Chicago has been a supporter of this initiative. In 2017, the Civic Committee formed its Transportation & Infrastructure Task Force. The mission of this task force is to maintain, enhance and leverage Chicago’s particular strengths as a vast transportation hub for the nation, in keeping with the overall mission of the Civic Committee, which works to foster the social and economic health of the area in and around Chicago.

The committee tapped executives from transportation entities around Chicagoland to be task force members. In the fall of 2019, those task force members went to Washington, D.C. in partnership with other members of the Metropolitan Civic Leadership Alliance to send their message to Congress about the FAST Act.

“Chicago has been a vital distribution center and transportation hub for the U.S. for nearly 200 years,” said Ann Drake, task force member and former CEO of DSC Logistics. “In our meetings with members of Congress, we emphasized that our major metropolitan areas are the economic engine of the U.S. economy, and that their success depends on robust investment in our transportation infrastructure.”

Congress passed the FAST Act in 2015 to ease the financing and administrative burdens states and local governments face in undertaking long-term transportation projects. The FAST Act defined a single entity—the National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau—to provide federal assistance on projects such as new highways or transit lines, as well as improvements to bridge, rail, walking, cycling, or freight infrastructure.

The Metropolitan Civic Leadership Alliance includes representatives from several of the U.S.’s largest urban regions. Taken together, these partners represent nearly 20 percent of the population and 30 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the U.S. Its members are CEOs, senior executives, universities, professional firms, and civic leaders. The members of the Metropolitan Civic Leadership Alliance are the Bay Area Council, the Civic Committee of Commercial Club of Chicago, the Columbus Partnership, the Greater Houston Partnership, the Greater Washington Partnership, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Partnership for New York City, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and The Washington Roundtable.

“The decisions we’re making about transportation investment today will have impact for generations to come,” said Drake. “Our prosperity and our future—as a region, as a nation, and as a global competitor—depend on getting this right.”