TEA-21: "A HISTORIC PIECE OF LEGISLATION"

The race to the floor of Congress for the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) was filled with mishaps. However, in the end, most parties got what they wanted. TEA-21 leaves the basic program structure created 6 years ago in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) in tact--the National Highway System, Interstate Maintenance Program, Surface Transportation Program, Bridge Program, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program--as well as the planning process used by states and metropolitan planning organizations and the flexibility between the highway programs and transit. It did create several new programs, including the $140 million-a-year National Corridor Planning and Development Program and Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program, the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, and the Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program. TEA-21 also moves the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) program from the moderate research program authorized by ISTEA to one that takes the next step toward deployment. Three important initiatives to make project delivery faster and more cost-efficient include allowing the use of design-build for projects of more than $50 million, the use of life-cycle costs, and a coordinated environmental review process.