SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg was invited to speak to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Wednesday, in a session titled "Aligning Federal Surface Transportation Policy to Meet 21st Century Needs."
He'll represent the National League of Cities and will discuss the needs, challenges and opportunities growing cities face.
"We have roads and road maintenance and a lot of construction we need to have happen so we can keep up with the rate of growth. That’s what our message needs to be and what my message is going to be to Congress tomorrow," Nirenberg said.
The focus of the hearing is on planning for the future and ensuring innovative transportation solutions.
"It’s vital," Nirenberg said. "Transportation improvements and building a transportation system that is durable and ready for the future is absolutely vital for our economy’s survival, to make sure our economy thrives in the future."
In addition to speaking from the perspective of all growing cities, Mayor Nirenberg will provide insight on San Antonio's approach to transportation, which is not limited to automobiles. Still, main priorities for federal funding will include improving and maintaining roads.
"We budget for the basics first," Nirenberg said. "Obviously, a lot of road maintenance, road construction, keep up with capacity, but we’re also working together with our community to ensure we have options, modes, which includes advanced rapid transit, part of our ConnectSA strategy."
Mayor Nirenberg said he's also been asked to weigh in on transit along the Austin and San Antonio corridor, and he plans to talk about what would be necessary to implement a form of more rapid transit.
"It’s the fastest growing corridor in the entire country; it's critical for our state’s economy but also the nation’s economy, so we want partnership with the federal government building a regional corridor between Austin and San Antonio- so that’s part of my message tomorrow," Nirenberg said.