The Highway Authorization Bill, Essay Example

Policies set up by any systems of governance have a significant impact on every aspect of transportation and logistics. One of the most significant factors about transportation policy is the fact that all stakeholders are affected, owing to the fact that transportation formulates a key pillar of business. One of the most significant transportation policy set developed by the federal government is the Highway authorization bill, otherwise known as the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014. This act was set to ensure that all major highways are adequately constructed and maintained. Since its enactment, the bill has led to a number successful national projects, including the construction of the interstate highway system.

The highway authorization bill affects the majority of businesses throughout the United States. This is due to the fact that the law concentrates on developing major highways throughout all the states, particularly the interstate highway (Library of Congress, 2014). The distribution of this network determines the speed and rate at which stakeholders, such as retailers, can move their commodities from one point to another.

However, this law fails to offer the most adequate solution to the traffic problems that plagues major urban areas in the United States. The Highway Authorization bill gives power to the federal government to regulate the spending on highways (Grinney & Goff, 2014). This has considerably affected the ability of local and state government to develop and construct road, bridge and highway improvement projects.

This problem stems from the fundamental flaw within the system, giving ultimate power and control of the highway, road and bridge developments to the federal government. Local and state governments are best positioned to develop solutions that are specifically tailored for their respective geographic areas. The Highway Authorization Bill has been essential in the development of root network and asset optimization. With the increasing focus on optimization tools that ensure predictability, the highway authorization bill serves to develop a transport network that is reliable and can enhance predictability in the movement of goods from one point to another.

References

Grinney, M., & Goff, E. (2014, April 9). Bringing Transportation Decisions Closer to the People: Why States and Localities Should Have More Control. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from The Heritage Foundation: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/04/bringing-transportation-decisions-closer-to-the-people-why-states-and-localities-should-have-more-control

Library of Congress. (2014, August 8). H.R.5021 – Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014. Retrieved from Library of Congress: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5021