Caltrans Report to U.S. Under Fire at Home

SACRAMENTO —  Caltrans has recommended to Congress that it rely more on toll roads and other private enterprise solutions as it rebuilds the nation’s highway system--ideas that have rankled Democratic legislators who bristle at the suggestion that freeways should be anything but free.

The recommendation came in a report prepared by the California Department of Transportation to respond to a congressional request for advice on new policies that would govern the financing and development of the nation’s transportation system in coming years.

As the interstate highway system nears completion, Congress is re-examining the role that the federal government plays in building and maintaining the transportation system as the nation’s demographics change and urban congestion worsens.

The recommendations of California, the most populous state, are expected to have a major impact on the final decision.

For that reason, Democratic legislative leaders were quick to denounce the report, complaining that it had been drafted without their input. In a letter to the California delegation in Congress, they urged that it be disregarded because it reflects only the views of one branch of state government, the Administration of Gov. George Deukmejian.

Among the controversial proposals in the 63-page report is a recommendation that tax breaks for alternative fuels be either reduced or discontinued. The report notes that the alternative fuel tax exemption, “intended to encourage the production and use of cleaner fuels,” costs the Federal Highway Trust Fund about $600 million annually.

The report also proposes that states be given more flexibility in solving their transportation problems and recommends eliminating dozens of programs that designate funds for specific projects. That way, once a problem is identified, the states would be free to come up with their own solutions and not be tied to federal regulations.

It suggests that more weight should be given in federal formulas for distributing funds according to population and number of road miles in each state--a change that would greatly benefit California.

Although Democrats acknowledged that many of the suggestions met with their approval, they said they parted company with the Republican Deukmejian Administration on suggestions that Congress should seriously consider expanding privatization of the transportation system and reduce the tax breaks for alternative fuels. They also criticized the report for what they said was insufficient emphasis on mass transit.

The report suggested that private investment could be used to repair and rehabilitate highways, construct or repair highly traveled bridges and maintain rest areas. It noted that the charging of tolls is one of the most common ways of repaying private investment and allowing entrepreneurs to earn a profit.

“While the political unpalatability of raising additional taxes is apparent,” the report said, “ . . . increased privatization will help bridge the widening gap between transportation infrastructure investment needs and available funding.”

For rest areas, the report suggested that space could be leased to private businesses for gas stations, restaurants and other retail outlets. As part of the lease agreements, the private businesses would be required to maintain free public services such as parking, restrooms and picnic areas.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, said the inclusion of the privatization recommendation was ill-timed, since the Legislature only last year approved four pilot transportation projects for private investment. Caltrans is expected to designate the projects in August.

“We need to know how those do before we enact a statewide toll-road policy,” Katz said. “To make that the policy of the state before the experiment has even started seems like Caltrans is jumping the gun.”

Katz said it is one example of the distorted picture that results from the Deukmejian Administration’s failure to consult with lawmakers and seek their approval. Caltrans, which has worked on the report for two years, is scheduled to formally release it on June 29.

“To me it’s outrageous that the construction arm of the transportation system (Caltrans) is back in Washington representing themselves as the policy-makers of the state of California,” Katz said. “We’re letting them (Congress) know that whatever representation Caltrans makes, it’s out there on its own. Whatever it is proposing does not have the approval of the governor, the Legislature and the (California) Transportation Commission.”

Even state Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco), upper house Transportation Committee chairman and a supporter of privatization of roads, protested, saying he felt state bureaucrats had tried to bypass the Legislature.

“This (report) inaccurately states these are California’s recommendations. They are not. They are the recommendations of the Department of Transportation,” he said. “This should not be conveyed to our congressional representatives in this form. In fact, I don’t think it should be conveyed, period, until such time as California has gone through the normal operation of legislative action and gubernatorial concurrence.”

Jim Drago, a spokesman for Caltrans, called the controversy an apparent misunderstanding. He said there still could be changes made in the report. However, Carl Williams, an assistant Caltrans director who helped prepare it, told a commission meeting last week that only minor alterations would be made.

“There was no intent by us to deceive anybody or do an end run around anybody,” Drago said.

Although the governor’s office has not yet reviewed the report line by line, Drago said aides of Gov. George Deukmejian had worked closely with the agency in the last year and approved it “conceptually.”

He said the intent of the report was to incorporate in its recommendations many of the transportation policies and procedures that have been developed in California over the past years.