TITLE
Recommendation to direct City Manager to support House of Representatives Bill 5624, the "Economy in Motion: The National Multimodal and Sustainable Freight Infrastructure Act" by Congressman Alan Lowenthal.
DISCUSSION
H.R. 5624, the "Economy in Motion: The National Multimodal and Sustainable Freight Infrastructure Act" by Congressman Lowenthal, provides funding for goods movement infrastructure. This legislation will benefit Long Beach, as the City is home to the second busiest port in the nation.
The Long Beach Freeway (1-710) facilitates hundreds of thousands of trucks to the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles each year. These trucks link the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to major Southern California distribution centers and intermodal rail facilities. As a result of population growth, increased cargo container volume at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, increasing traffic volumes, and an aging infrastructure, the 1-710 Freeway experiences serious congestion. Congestion mitigation, greenhouse gas reduction, and other transportation efficiency projects are being developed to address these issues, but the City and Port of Long Beach need a funding source to implement freight specific solutions.
Legislation introduced by Congressman Alan Lowenthal provides funding for freight specific projects in States, cities and ports such as the City of Long Beach and Port of Long Beach. H.R. 5624, "Economy in Motion: The National Multimodal Freight Infrastructure Act" will provide a dedicated and sustainable revenue source to fund multi-modal, freight-specific formula grants to states and a multi-modal, freight-specific competitive grant program to local, regional and state governments.
Goals of the legislation include:
• Strengthening the contribution of the national freight network to the economic competitiveness of the United States;
• Improving the efficiency, reliability, cost and safety of freight transportation;
• Supporti...
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