Transportation Industry Leaders Urge Congress to Maintain Endangered TIGER Grants

During the hearing and in written testimony (here), Pelliccio highlighted a TIGER award for the Port Newark Terminal Access Improvement and Expansion Project, one of many projects he pitched that drew about 70 percent of funds from private industry and 30 percent from the federal government, he said. Traditional “formula” grant projects usually receive 80 percent of funding from federal sources and 20 percent from non-federal sources, Pelliccio said. A 2014 TIGER grant provided $14.8 million for the Newark port project, toward a total project cost of $53.9 million, according to DOT statistics (here).

Such grants provide funding opportunities for accelerated complex multimodal projects that otherwise would be delayed or underfunded, Pelliccio said. Those grants have been "oversubscribed," but that indicates how important they are, he said. "I think it allows us to put our best foot forward," Pelliccio said. "It allows us to rank projects; it's a bottoms-up process that comes from the state and project level, and it's a very, very effective platform." Subcommittee Ranking Member Cory Booker, D-N.J., agreed, saying that there's a "huge multiplier effect" in terms of economic and job growth for every taxpayer dollar invested. Pelliccio also called for an additional $2 billion in competitive grants yearly for multimodal freight infrastructure. He also highlighted opportunities to improve access between ports and railways, noting that his port recently built a quarter-mile rail bridge allowing the elimination of about 1,000 truck moves per day between the north and south ends of the port.

Fritz said the ports of the future will have to increasingly invest in automated technology to attract business, noting that Union Pacific will continue encouraging investments in automated and "all-battery-powered" cars on-site. Long Beach Container Terminal has "cut in half the time it takes a drayman to pick up a box and leave," Fritz said. Pelliccio agreed, adding that the Port of Newark is investing in automation "on a number of levels." He noted that with the widening of the Panama Canal and shift of manufacturing to southeast Asia, U.S. ports will handle bigger vessels going forward. Pelliccio also said that the fact that ports were at the table during the hearing is a good sign, as port representatives are often "isolated" from general transportation funding discussions. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., during the hearing said he hopes Congress soon passes an infrastructure bill, noting that it would signal future success for the U.S. economy.

The Trump administration should exercise caution in renegotiating NAFTA as the U.S., Canadian and Mexican supply chains are "inextricably linked," Fritz said. He also noted that the agreement in its current form doesn't reflect the developments of e-commerce, and said the next iteration of the agreement should. Fritz called for NAFTA to continue as a trilateral agreement, instead of two bilateral deals, and said a successful negotiation could help the economy grow by 3 percent to 3.5 percent. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said he expects President Donald Trump to start the formal NAFTA renegotiation process this week -- which would entail a notice sent to Congress starting a 90-day clock before inter-country negotiations could begin. "One thing I feel quite strongly about is that any updated NAFTA agreement should be submitted to Congress for approval," Udall said.