WASHINGTON—The American Road & Transportation Builders Association has begun an advocacy program, “Transportation Makes America Work!” The program is designed to provide members of Congress and the public with information about the benefits of transportation funding.
Supporting the campaign is ARTBA's new website, TMAW.org. The website features infographics showing the benefits of transportation infrastructure investment and its influence on all aspects of American life, including health and safety, children, family budgets, quality of life and the economy.
“People's eyes glaze over when you talk about trillion-dollar capital needs, ‘X percent' of roads, bridges and transit system that need repair and multi-billion-dollar government programs,” said ARTBA President and CEO Pete Ruane.
“What we are doing is taking that data, disaggregating it and creating mind images that people can relate to,” Ruane said. “We're presenting facts in ways that families can talk about transportation issues around the dinner table—so they can understand where their gas tax dollars are going and why.”
The current transportation funding bill, which President Obama signed into law in 2012, lapses Sept. 30 of this year. The Highway Trust Fund, which provides money for road and bridge building projects, is expected to depleted by August.