Group wants Congress to use ‘life-cycle budgeting’ for transportation bill

Congress is putting the finishing touches on the first draft of the bill, which funds highways and public transportation, and the PCA in its ad says they should change the way they do their accounting.

“Stuck in traffic. Again. Why does this keep happening?,” an announcer says in the commercial. “Construction… for the next eight miles?  Look at all these potholes. They’ll never run out of potholes! What is this costing? Just burning gas. Might as well be throwing money out the window. Why is this happening?!

“Here’s why,” another announcer answers back. “These roads were built using short-sighted, money-wasting budget practices that end up costing more in the end.  That’s why they’re falling apart. But there’s a detour up ahead, and Congress can change direction. Change the way we budget infrastructure projects— take complete life cycle costs into account, price them right the first time, and build them to last.  Saving hundreds of millions of dollars. We can get out of this jam.

“Go to WhatAreTheRealCosts.org to take action,” the ad concludes. “Tell Congress to choose Life-Cycle Budgeting.  Get it right the first time.” 

Life-cycle budgeting includes anticipated future maintenance in cost projections for projects.

The Portland Cement Association said its ad would air on radio stations in Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. The print ad will run in papers in all those states except Louisiana.

House Transportation and Infrastructure chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said there could be a draft of the SAFETEA-LU bill as early as this week.

The print version of the ad can be viewed here.