2008 was a big year for legislation promoting transportation.  Several initiatives, backed by MoDOT, were voted into law this session.

The Missouri Highways and Transportations top legislative priority sailed through both the house and senate. With the passage of a Unified Carrier Registration bill, MoDOT can meet customer needs and continue to collect $2.3 million a year in motor carrier registration fees.

Other proposals that passed will infuse MoDOT’s multimodal division with funding to keep Missouri’s aviation, rail, ports and transit resources vital and healthy.  With no dedicated funding stream for these modes, educating legislators on the need for state investment was crucial.

With the passage of bills related to ports, transit, aviation, and rail, Missouri has the ability to improve these modes of transportation.  

Several Missouri ports will share $6.65 million for capitol improvements.  This is the largest budget in history for Missouri waterways.

Rail services received enough money to continue twice-daily operation of Amtrak and received an additional $5 million for target rail capacity projects to help relieve congestion and improve on time performance.

With the lifting of funding caps on the aviation trust fund, airports will have additional money available for marketing and maintaining their facilities, which means possibly bringing in news carriers and services. Previous caps were locked in at $6 million per year. Legislative action raised the cap to $10 million.

Public transit benefits from the legislative attention included a $500,000 increase for improved services for the elderly and handicapped.

All-in-all, multimodal received a vote of confidence that translates into nearly $25 million in general revenue funding.