Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
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The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) is a bill that governs United States federal surface transportation spending. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 10, 2005 and will expire September 30, 2009. Congress is expected to begin working on a replacement bill for the next six-year period during its 2009 session.
The $286.4 billion measure contains a host of provisions and earmarks intendeded to improve and maintain the surface transportation infrastructure in the United States, including the interstate highway system, transit systems around the country, and freight rail operations.
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[edit] Support and Opposition
The law garnered a large amount of bipartisan support, though support was not unanimous, particularly among those who believed it to be laden with too much pork. Early versions of the bill budgeted over $300 billion, but President Bush promised to veto any surface transportation bill costing more than $256 billion. Eventually a compromise of $284 billion was reached, and signed into law by the President.
[edit] Multimodalism
The bill was the most important transportation-spending initiative of its time in the United States. Though often touted as a "highway bill", it was also the primary source of funding for other modes of surface transportation, including transit. Notably, the bill included funding for the New Starts program, which among other things helped to fund most of the new rail transit systems that opened in the United States during this time period, as well as extensions to existing systems.
[edit] Bridge to Nowhere
Among the many earmarks in the bill, one line item became particularly famous. Over $200 million was apportioned for the construction of the Gravina Island Bridge in Alaska, which would connect sparcely populated regions at tremendous cost. The bridge came to be known in the national media as the bridge to nowhere, and is considered a quintessential example of pork barrel politics.
[edit] See also
- Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act
- Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
- Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
[edit] External links
- Bush signs highway bill into law
- Full text of SAFETEA-LU
- Impact of SAFETEA-LU on California's Transportation Program
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