In early February, House T&I Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL) and members of the committee held a press conference to unveil its five-year, $260 billion transportation authorization proposal.

Most private business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, support a gas tax increase, because they see the dire need for more U.S. transportation investment.

Since coming to APTA in 1996, Bill Millar has sought to expand the association’s reach and effectiveness, guiding it to legislative victories and dramatically increasing federal investment in public transportation.

Business leaders are in a unique position to demonstrate, by their very existence, the connection between private sector jobs and the transit program.

With Republicans taking over the House and focusing on cutting spending, it will be interesting to see where transportation falls on their list of priorities. Despite T&I Chairman Mica's plan to push for a transportation authorization bill early this year, the major hurdle remains how to fund it.

The responsibility of government to enforce public rights of way and ensure a well functioning marketplace was not questioned in America's founding. One of President George Washington's first acts was to plan and design the National Road.

Having long been recognized as a national leader on a variety of transportation issues, Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) was recently elected by his peers in the House of Representatives to serve as the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I), the largest Congressional panel in Congress. He succeeds long-time Chairman James L. Oberstar.

We in the industry, now more than ever before, need to help make the case that there is a federal role in public transportation, and it needs to be strengthened.

Several studies have come out showing that both developers and their potential customers are increasingly demanding walkable transit-accessible neighborhoods.

Cliff Henke, a contributing editor to METRO, is senior analyst at PB. His views herein are solely his own.