ABA Policy and Government Affairs teams are working to insure that motorcoaches are part of the next transportation bill and are included in the work that is going on now to envision and describe the our national transportation system. ABA Policy Staff are meeting with stakeholders and helping formulate a vision that includes motorcoach travel, access, and integration into the transportation system.

In preparation for the next bill the policy committee will meet in Spring 2010.

Spring 2010 Policy & Government Affairs Committee Meeting
Spring 2009 Policy & Government Affairs Committee Meeting
Reauthorization Fall 2008 Board of Directors Presentation

We also handed out a brochure that is a great "leave behind" when you go to visit your congressional members. The Connecting Communities brochure was developed for the National Conventions this summer and found it's way in to many legislators and stakeholder's pockets. If you go to speak with your legislator remember to bring a copy of this brochure and the one pager on the fuel tax.
ABA Reauthorization Issues Digest
Connecting Communities Brochure
Partial Fuel Tax Benefits

We have also been working with the Transportation Research Board and GAO to look at the opportunity for working with Essential Air Service to expand the reach of that service to include connecting bus services. In preparation for this discussion ABA prepared a revised position paper on Essential Bus Service.
Essential Bus Service Position Paper Draft

This is a policy brief put together by America 2050. It is a great document to bring to those public meetings where someone is asking what are you doing there; or what does intercity service have to do with the MPO, the regional plan, or whatever transportation or service plan the meeting is about.

This policy brief is one of the few transportation think tank products that recognizes the role that motorcoaches play in our transportation system. America 2050 is aligned with T4 America and much of the information in this brief has been incorporated into the T4 America "The Route to Reform" blueprint. In this brief the role that motorcoaches and intercity services play in connecting people to air, rail, and bus services is visible and recognized. There are still many blanks that need to be filled in and can be filled in by you as you work with your state and local officials and reauthorization.

The T4 America report also encourages streamlined public private partnerships. Many of you have spent years working out public private partnerships for local access, stations, stops, and service development. It is important to let your elected officials know that public private partnerships happen all the time in the intercity bus industry. Not all public private partnerships are for billions of dollars and toll roads.
America 2050 Intercity Policy Brief

Information is the key to finding and using motorcoach services. More and more information is on the internet and most travel planning and purchase have either internet research or purchasing as part of the travel experience. We need to raise the visibility of motorcoach services so that when people are looking for transportation they can choose a motorcoach if there is one available. People need that travel information when and where they want it. ABA is looking for ways to increase the visibility of your services both to customers and tour operators. Reauthorization provides an opportunity for us to take our travel information to the next level. We are working with CTAA and APTA as well as customer stakeholder groups to develop a proposal to get intercity schedule information integrated into the other travel information available in a community. At the TRB Rural Public and Intercity Transportation Conference there was a presentation on the Missouri needs assessment for intercity bus that provided a preview of what that information might look like.
Missouri Needs Assessment Presentation

ABA Position Papers

If you have particular issues for reauthorization that are not addressed please contact Robin Phillips. We want to work with you to make sure that the next bill opens doors and maintains the foundations of a strong motorcoach industry.