THE HIGHWAY USERS URGES CONGRESS TO RESTORE HIGHWAY
INVESTMENTS AND OPPOSE HIGHER CAFE STANDARDS
Highway user letters address pressing safety and vehicle
choice issues before Congress
WASHINGTON - The 45 million members of the American Highway Users
Alliance have called on Congress to use a $19 billion Highway Trust
Fund surplus to restore a potential $8.6 billion drop in federal
highway funding in FY 2003 and to reject tighter Corporate Average
Fuel Economy standards that would compromise vehicle safety and
consumer vehicle choice.
In a letter bearing the names of 346 groups from all over the
country and hand-delivered to every member of Congress, The Highway
Users urged the lawmakers to co-sponsor the Highway Funding
Restoration Act (S. 1917 and H.R. 3694) which could help to avert
thousands of lost jobs and project delays that are likely to result
from an $8.6 billion (27 percent) cut in the federal highway program
next year.
"Without congressional action, guaranteed highway funding for
2003 will fall to $23.2 billion, down from $31.8 billion this year,"
said William D. Fay, president and CEO of the American Highway Users
Alliance. "Because the highway account already has a cash surplus of
$19 billion - taxes already paid in full by American motorists and
truckers - it makes no sense for Congress to allow this
economy-busting drop in highway funding to occur while the trust
fund balance sitting in Washington, D.C., grows even larger."
In a separate letter, Fay also encouraged the U.S. Senate to
oppose the Kerry-Hollings corporate average fuel economy (CAFE)
language proposed in the Energy Policy Act of 2002 (S. 517). If
approved, the proposed language would increase the fleet-wide CAFE
standard to 35 miles per gallon in 2013. At the present time, car
fleets are expected to achieve a CAFE standard of 27.5 miles per
gallon. Light trucks and SUVs must achieve a fuel economy average of
20.7 miles per gallon.
"There are far better ways to improve fuel economy for all
vehicles than arbitrarily raising CAFE standards. A good start would
be to enact measures relieving the stifling traffic congestion that
is choking our nation's highways," Fay said.
Fay noted that idling in traffic burns billions of gallons of
fuel unnecessarily. A study commissioned by The Highways Users found
that improving traffic flow at America's 167 worst bottlenecks would
reduce gasoline and diesel consumption by nearly 20 billion gallons
over the next 20 years. Furthermore, Fay said that a recent National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) study has linked higher CAFE standards
with reduced vehicle safety.
"With 42,000 Americans losing their lives on our nation's
highways each year - a total that has been rising steadily since
1992 - Congress should not enact legislation that reduces vehicle
safety," Fay added.
The American Highway Users Alliance represents motorists,
truckers, and a broad cross-section of businesses that depend on
safe and efficient highways to transport their families, customers,
employees, and products. Highway Users members pay the bulk of the
taxes that finance the federal highway program and advocate public
policies that dedicate those taxes to improved highway safety and
mobility.
The text of both letters and the list of signatories can be found
online at http://www.highways.org/.
###