Overview: The ARTBA PRIDE in Transportation Construction Campaign

The ARTBA PRIDE in
Transportation Construction Campaign

The transportation construction industry represents the "Dark Side of the American Dream." That is the case, at least, according to the professional environmentalists at the Sierra Club. "Facts and reason are much less important than the amount of noise you can make," says another anti-highway group.

The Sierra Club, Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council and their friends in government and the media have been working overtime to delay or stop highway projects across the nation. They don't hide their agenda. As one official with the Surface Transportation Policy Project said: "In the struggle between proponents and opponents of a highway project, the best an opponent can hope for is to delay things until the proponents change their minds or tire of the fight. It is the only option they have, so they use it."

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) anticipated these types of attacks would be unleashed on our industry. It was a predictable response to our remarkable success in obtaining a 44% increase in federal highway construction funding through 1998's TEA-21 law.

In February 1998, the ARTBA Board of Directors initiated the "PRIDE in Transportation Construction" Campaign to help counter these assaults on the transportation construction market. PRIDE is based on the premise that no one can tell our story as well as we can! The PRIDE Campaign has several main thrusts:

Advocating our industry's interests in the courts of law and public opinion…
Educating the public and Congress about the positive things our industry does and how our work benefits the nation's economy and quality of life…
Quantifying the public health and safety benefits of transportation improvements…
Attracting young people to careers in our industry…and
Focusing attention on how our industry uses creativity and care to help protect the environment while, at the same time, providing needed mobility and access.

Through proactive PRIDE campaign products, activities and programs, ARTBA is maintaining and building public and political support for federal and state transportation capital investments. That's our goal. Through PRIDE, ARTBA is laying the foundation now for the next federal highway bill, scheduled for 2003.

ARTBA member contributions to the "PRIDE" campaign in 2002 are helping support some of the following programs:

Our grassroots lobbying and advocacy campaigns to achieve the maximum investment levels possible for federal transportation infrastructure programs in the FY2003 DOT appropriations bill, including full restoration of the proposed $8.6 billion reduction in federal highway investment.
Continue building support for a consensus transportation construction industry legislative agenda for the scheduled 2003 reauthorization of the federal highway, mass transit and aviation programs that focuses on truly meeting the nation's transportation needs. Educate members of Congress, construction, labor, and other industry groups about ARTBA's "Two Cents Makes Sense" proposal, and the need to change federal tax treatment of ethanol to fully fund the Highway Trust Fund.
Continued development of programs celebrating the industry's contributions to American society as part of ARTBA's 100th anniversary.
The association's ongoing and aggressive legal and regulatory advocacy program, including challenging Sierra Club lawsuits aimed at stopping or delaying highway projects.
Publication and wide distribution of ARTBA research that directly rebuts false or misleading information spread by anti-highway activists.
Publication and distribution of ARTBA economic analyses of federal legislative and regulatory proposals to congressional offices, news media, state leaders and policymakers.
Advocacy advertising in the Washington, D.C., market that promotes transportation construction industry views on pending legislation and regulatory issues.
ARTBA management of and participation in Washington, D.C., coalitions that help us advance our market preservation and development agenda, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce-led Americans for Transportation Mobility, Transportation Construction Coalition and the Alliance for Truth in Transportation Budgeting.
Development, implementation and promotion of ARTBA national awards programs to recognize excellence in environmental mitigation and safety.
Continued operation of the toll-free ARTBA Information Highway-Action Hotline that gives grassroots activists in our industry direct phone access to Congress and the White House.
Support for the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse, an ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation project designed to save lives and prevent injuries.

Here is the investment scale for PRIDE contributions that a number of ARTBA member firms are following based on their transportation-related sales volume:

$1M-$9M-$500
$10M-$24M-$1,000
$25M-$49M-$2,000
$50M-$99M-$4,000

$100M-$249M-$7,000
$250M-$499M-$10,000
$500M-$1B-$15,000
Over $1B-$30,000

The transportation construction industry has a great story to tell. We should not apologize for what we do, but demonstrate great pride in our contributions to the American way of life. The secret to success is a long-term financial commitment from all the major players in the transportation construction industry. If we continue to move boldly and aggressively forward with the PRIDE campaign, it will help with implementation of TEA-21 and build public and congressional support for another significant increase in federal transportation investment in 2003!

For more information about the "PRIDE in Transportation Construction" campaign, contact ARTBA's Vice President of Communications Matt Jeanneret at 202-289-4434.

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