Transportation Sec. Anthony Foxx speaks in Birmingham, Alabama on a tour stop in 2014.Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will wind his way through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia on a four-day bus tour to promote the Obama administration’s Grow America Act. The tour begins February 17.
The tour will come almost a week after his presentation at the first hearing of the year on the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill in front of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on February 11.
In his prepared statements, Foxx said a revised Grow America Act, to be presented to Congress in a few weeks, would propose an increase in infrastructure spending to $478 billion over a six-year period.
“Maybe this number—$478 billion—sounds like a lot,” Foxx continued in his statement. “But I believe it is necessary not only for America’s transportation system—but doable politically. Keep in mind: Others are calling for far, far more. And we’ve also hammered down a way to pay for all of this through business tax reform.”
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In a blog post on the USDOT web site, Foxx said he plans to see areas that run the gamut in project accomplishments and needs.
“I’ll visit communities that have created jobs and new opportunities by investing in transportation, and I’ll visit communities where much-needed transportation projects are waiting on a stable funding source to build those opportunities,” he said. “I’ll listen to residents and business owners to hear what they need from Washington. And, I’ll make the case for the Administration’s plan, the Grow America Act, a six-year surface transportation proposal that puts Americans to work repairing and modernizing our roads, bridges, railways, ports, and transit systems.”
The tour is set to include stops at “universities, manufacturers, bridges, freight facilities, and highway projects.” Progress of the tour can be viewed here.
