On Labor Day, the President announced plans for a $50 billion surface transportation bill to bolster job growth and address a national infrastructure that lags behind our peers in other industrialized nations. The prior surface transportation bill expired in September 2009 and the President, until recently, has paid it little interest. For many, this long-awaited proposal shows signs that President Obama and his Administration are finally getting serious about public transportation and infrastructure policy, but questions remain as we await the principles of the bill.

In his proposal speech, the President offered some general directions, suggesting “rebuilding and modernizing America’s roads and railways and runways for the long term.” While the President and his Administration offered a fact sheet that lays out more specific goals such as the building and maintenance of 150,000 miles of roads, 4000 miles of rail and 150 miles of runway (including the development of a next generation technology system that will make air travel more efficient), no foundational bill with clearly delineated details has yet been offered. The Administration will continue to meet with Congress to build a proposal that includes concrete ideas for fund raising and disbursement.

Presently, several important questions remain: How will the funds be raised? Some suggest funds will come from taxes to oil and gas companies, but that has not been established by the Administration. Moreover, though President Obama has set goals for development as mentioned in the fact sheet, there is no indication of how the $50 billion will be divided for road, rail, and runway maintenance. Additionally, it has not yet been decided if the proposal will be enacted by one bill or several or how the proposed $50 billion that has been suggested to front-load spending during the 2011 fiscal year will work ain tandem with the long-overdue reauthorization of the six-year surface transportation infrastructure bill.