By: Larry Flynn
San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge has long been a favorite
staging area for suicide jumpers. In January, one particular
jumper tempted fate; not to end his life, but apparently to
experience the thrill of life and living. The difference between
this jumper and those that have jumped and perished before him
is that he wore a parachute and lived to tell about it. Moments
after leaping from the bridge, his shoot opened, and he plunged
into San Francisco Bay unharmed. Cohorts then ushered the
parachutist onto a boat and whisked him away.
No, the
purpose of this anecdote is not to say that bridges like the
Golden Gate should be maintained so that people can continue to
jump from them. The stunt was risky and others in addition to
the jumper could have been hurt. To me, the parachutist's leap
into the new year, however ill advised, is symbolic of the
highway industry as a whole, as it prepares to plunge into the
reauthorization of ISTEA.
As the parachutist had to lay
out a plan for his jump, the industry has prepared for the push
for reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) for more than a year. The act,
which provided a long-term plan for surface transportation and
authorized record amounts of federal funding for transportation,
expires Oct. 1. Associations have adopted recommendations and
coalitions have been formed to give the industry a voice in
discussions. The Federal Highway Administration has held
numerous public forums across the country to gauge people's
thoughts on ISTEA--what has worked and what has not.
The
parachutist could not have been 100% sure of his success; the
wind might have blown him off the bridge before he was ready to
jump; his chute could have failed him or he could have become
entangled in it.
Successful passage of ISTEA II is by no
means a sure thing either. Despite industry efforts to form a
unified front, the unknown influences of the Step 21 states, a
coalition of gas-tax donor states that is seeking a more
equitable return for the gas-tax funds its members send to
Washington, and "devolution," a movement to dismantle the
federal highway program and return jurisdiction to the states,
could cut the industry's parachute chords leaving it hurtling
toward an icier version of ISTEA as it pertains to highways and
bridges.
Transportation funding will be one of the major
issues in Congress this year. If the industry keeps its
parachute chords in line and in tact a safe splash landing can
be achieved.
