The US Department of Transportation has released a fact sheet with an overview of the freight initiatives in the Obama Administration’s proposed Generating Renewal, Opportunity, and Work with Accelerated Mobility, Efficiency, and Rebuilding of Infrastructure and Communities throughout America (GROW AMERICA) Act.
The freight-focused portion of this legislation aims to “make critical investments to help improve the safe and efficient movement of freight across all modes of transportation–highway, rail, port, and pipeline” by concentrating on three key points:

• Targeted investment of $10 billion over four years to improve the movement of freight.
• Inclusion of shippers, transportation providers, and freight workers in the freight investment decision-making process.
• Better alignment of freight planning among the Federal government, states, ports, and local communities to improve decision-making.

The GROW AMERICA Act will help improve the U.S.’s long-term competitiveness by taking steps to achieve President Obama’s call to reduce the time it takes to break ground on a new transportation project.  In many cases, it can take years to break ground on planned projects that improve infrastructure critical to advancing our nation’s competitive edge.  These projects are essential to sustaining a lasting economy built in part by having fast and reliable movements of freight.

For more information, consult the GROW AMERICA freight fact sheet and the GROW AMERICA pages.