U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta Wednesday unveiled the Bush Administration’s $247-billion surface transportation reauthorization proposal.

The six-year Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003 (SAFETEA), serves as the largest surface and public transportation investment in U.S. history.
Mineta said the administration’s proposal more than doubles funding for highway safety over those provided by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and serves as a framework for investments needed for the nation’s transportation infrastructure.
"The proposal I have submitted to the Congress is more than a simple spending plan -- it is a key blueprint for investment," said Mineta. "SAFETEA, when enacted by the Congress, will help ensure transportation projects are completed on budget and on time, while protecting the environment. More importantly, this proposal will further the administration’s commitment to dramatically reducing the number of highway injuries and fatalities."
Citing the costs of highway fatalities and injuries -- 43,000 lives and $230.6 billion annually -- Mineta said that saving lives would be the No.1 priority for the department. The proposal would create a new core-funding category dedicated to safety within the federal-aid highway program to increase visibility and funding beyond the current safety set-aside provisions.
Combining and expanding several safety programs into one consolidated grant program, the administration’s proposal also grants states broad new flexibility to transfer safety funds among the diverse safety programs administered by the department. It provides increased funding for commercial vehicle safety and research programs, and expands and improves safety auditing of "New Entrant" motor carriers.
SAFETEA continues the funding guarantees of TEA-21 that linked highway funding with the receipts generated by transportation excise taxes; by redirecting to the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund, the 2.5 cents per gallon of the gasohol tax currently deposited in the general fund. It also dedicates an additional $1 billion a year of Highway Trust Fund dollars over and above each year's estimated receipts into the Highway Trust Fund to improve highway infrastructure.
In all, environmental programs total $58.7 billion -- one quarter of the $247 billion SAFETEA proposal. SAFETEA also increases freight efficiency by establishing a National Highway System (NHS) set-aside to fund highway connections between the NHS and intermodal freight facilities. It would also continue the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, lower the program’s project threshold from $100 million to $50 million, and expand it by allowing rail freight projects to qualify for credit assistance. SAFETEA would also create a new category of tax-exempt private activity bonds to finance highway projects and freight transfer facilities.
A copy of the Administration’s proposal is available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/reauthorization/safetea.htm.