On Wednesday, 74 senators, Republicans and Democrats, joined together in a real accomplishment. They approved a two-year, $109 billion transportation bill …. Authorization for federal highway spending ends on March 31. Without action, construction, repair and maintenance will halt across the country.

Which has put pressure on the House. The Republican majority had big plans for its transportation bill, looking, appropriately, at a five-year spending plan.

Unfortunately, Republicans included many misguided provisions, including a proposal to end the long-established routing of a portion of highway trust funds to public transit. …

What will the House do? It should take the cue of the Senate, and quickly approve the legislation that won bipartisan support.

The Senate bill has many appealing aspects. It protects the money for public transit. It consolidates 196 transportation programs to a dozen or so …. It requires spending at least 60 percent of the money on highway repair, a more efficient and effective investment.

Since 2009, and the expiration of the previous transportation bill (signed in 2005), Congress has approved eight temporary measures. Passage of the Senate bill would avoid an embarrassing ninth.

… The need is real. Borrowing is relatively cheap. So are materials. Heavy unemployment afflicts the construction industry. The overall economy could use the bolstering.

All of this isn’t to overlook the flaws in the Senate legislation. Most striking is the failure to deal with a Highway Trust Fund on a path to going broke by 2014.

The reasons for the funding troubles are plain, Americans driving less and often at the wheel of more fuel-efficient cars, diminishing the level of gas tax revenues flowing to the fund. …

Rather than raise the gas tax, at 18.4 cents since the early 1990s, the Senate applied an assortment of gimmicks and diversions to patch funding shortfalls. …

So a big job looms for Congress. What can be achieved now? Surely, enough House Republicans and Democrats can recognize what is possible, and give their approval soon to a Senate bill that is much better than another temporary measure.

Akron Beacon Journal