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During a press conference yesterday, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) President Susan Martinovich and state department transportation representatives called on Congress to sustain federal transportation funding at current levels before the seventh extension of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) expires on Sept. 30.

“Congress must take action by Sept. 30 or the federal highway and transit programs that support thousands of jobs in every state will shut down,” Martinovich said in a prepared statement.

The various officials, who attended the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., outlined two actions that they believe Congress should take: extend the federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, which funds federal highway and transit programs; and pass a long-term reauthorization of those programs “funded at the highest level possible,” they said.

“The federal government provides about $42 billion for highways and $11 billion for transit to states annually,” Martinovich said. “Sustaining this investment is imperative. Should Congress decide to reduce the program by one-third as some have proposed, it would mean the cancellation of hundreds of job-creating projects that are essential to America’s economic recovery.”