Driving Forward

Hosted by American Highway Users Alliance

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May 2025

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About the show

Are you a highway user who wants to travel on safe, less congested roads? Join Andrew Stasiowski, President and CEO of the American Highway Users Alliance, as he speaks with leading experts about the latest policies impacting the transportation community. Each month, Andrew will cover topics of critical importance to the highway user community, from reducing congestion on roads, to reforming highway trust funds, to increasing global competitiveness. Listen to new episodes of “Driving Forward” wherever you get your podcasts. The American Highway Users Alliance is a nonprofit organization advocating for public policies that promote roadway safety, increase freedom of movement, and preserve opportunities for all people to live, work, shop, and travel unencumbered. To learn more about AHUA, you can visit our website.

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11 recent

May 8, 2025Episode 1128 min

The Road to EV Innovation and Regulation

The rapidly evolving electric vehicle (EV) market has posed significant challenges forpolicymakers, the automotive industry, and the drivers alike. On this episode of Driving Forward,host Andrew Stasiowski speaks with John Bozzella, President and CEO of the Alliance forAutomotive Innovation, to demystify the complexities around EV adoption and regulation.John shares insights into regulatory policy shaping the current EV market, what this means forthe Highway Trust Fund, and the future of highly automated vehicles. John says the key to asuccessful and sustainable EV market in the U.S. involves striking a balance that promotesconsumer choice while better supporting American automotive manufacturers.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

January 30, 2025Episode 1022 min

Why America’s Biggest Source of Infrastructure Funding is in Trouble

As a new Congress begins, the biggest issue facing highway investment is the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund. How did we get here? What does insolvency of the trust fund mean? What can we do about it?Today’s guest, Eno Transportation Weekly Editor Jeff Davis, says solving this funding issue is past due. He says the program has effectively been out of money since September 2008 — the federal government has been transferring upwards of $272 billion in the years since to keep the fund afloat. Jeff says that the best time to address the fund’s budget issues is now.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

December 19, 2024Episode 926 min

How the Highway Trust Fund’s Shortfall Affects You

The Highway Trust Fund — the main source of revenue for the interstate highway system — is facing a budget crisis.For nearly 20 years, the Highway Trust Fund has been running increasingly larger annual deficits due to increased costs and declining revenue generated by the taxes which fund it. This shortfall has been plugged with an increasingly larger share of general fund money, and it is clear that the path for the Highway Trust Fund is unsustainable. With the current Highway Bill set to expire in 2026, there is a real opportunity to reform the Highway Trust Fund and replace it with a more sustainable solution.Today’s guest is Andrew Okuyiga, the Vice President of Public Affairs at UPS. He says this deficit is due in large part to the nation’s gas and diesel taxes remaining stagnant since 1993. He tells host Andrew Stasiowski that the uncertainty in the Highway Trust Fund makes it difficult for states to plan or commit to infrastructure projects, as they don’t know if there will be money to finish the project in a few years’ time. This could add delays, which Okuyiga says will harm the supply chain and ultimately raise the price of everyday goods.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

May 30, 2024Episode 834 min

The Surprising Innovation in America’s Asphalt Pavement Industry

Asphalt is fairly ubiquitous – the material covers 94 to 95 percent of U.S. roads and 80 percent of airfields. But did you know that asphalt is one of the most recycled products in the world? On this episode of Driving Forward, host Andrew Stasiowski is joined by Nile Elam, the Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Asphalt Pavement Association, to talk about innovations in this important area of transportation.Nile explains that increasing recycled asphalt usage by just 1 percent would be the equivalent of taking 25,000 cars off the road – greatly contributing to reducing yearly greenhouse gas emissions. But Nile says the asphalt industry needs better long-term funding, as well as permitting reform to insure projects are done on time and within budget.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

April 11, 2024Episode 721 min

The Changing Landscape of Roadway Safety

On this episode of Driving Forward, host Andrew Stasiowski sits down with American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) President and CEO Stacy Tetschner to talk about safety infrastructure ahead of National Work Zone Awareness Week.ATSSA represents the manufacturers or installers of roadway safety infrastructure like guardrails, cable barriers, signs and pavement markings ,additionally, ATSSA provides critical training on work zone safety Stacy tells Andrew that more than awareness is needed to improve highway safety – it takes investment to make our roads safer. Stacy also tells Andrew how new technology will improve roadway safety.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

March 21, 2024Episode 623 min

What the Construction Industry Needs to Succeed

With the price of materials and construction rising, inflation has hit the construction industry particularly hard. On this episode of Driving Forward, host Andrew Stasiowski talks to Alex Etchen, Senior Director for Infrastructure Advancement with the Associated General Contractors of America. Alex tells Andrew how, despite the billions invested in America’s infrastructure from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2022, roughly 40 percent of U.S. roads are still in poor or mediocre condition. With roughly $800 billion needed to address America’s backlog of repairs, Alex talks about what should be done in future highway bills to help bolster America’s construction industry.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

February 15, 2024Episode 530 min

How to Improve America’s Trucking Industry

More than 70% of all domestic freight in the United States are moved by trucks. One in 18 U.S. jobs are in trucking. What does this massive industry need to stay competitive globally? On this episode of Driving Forward, host Andrew Stasiowski speaks with American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. The pair explore just how impactful the trucking industry is throughout America, as well as the worsening truck driver shortage. Chris tells Andrew exactly how infrastructure investment can improve conditions for truck drivers and how lawmakers can invest to make American trucking more competitive in a global economy. Chis also shares insight into the impact of electric vehicles in the trucking industry and why, if he could wish for anything to help the trucking industry, it would be to greatly improve access to safe parking.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

January 18, 2024Episode 427 min

Learning About the Connected and Autonomous Vehicles of the Future

There has been a lot of talk about self-driving cars changing the way we travel, but how close are we to seeing vehicles drive themselves en masse? On this episode of Driving Forward, Andrew speaks with Hilary Cain, the Senior Vice President of policy at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, about the technological and infrastructure advances needed to make self-driving cars a reality. Hilary tells Andrew about the different “levels” of vehicle automation, and what that means for a future with self-driving vehicles. Andrew also shares why almost two dozen state attorneys general have filed a legal challenge to the Federal Highway Administration's Greenhouse Gas Performance Measurement Rule.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

December 21, 2023Episode 327 min

Gas Prices and Holiday Greetings

As people travel to celebrate this holiday season, they may not be celebrating the price of gas. On this episode of Driving Forward, Andrew talks with Dustin Meyer, Senior Vice President of Policy, Economics, and Regulatory Affairs for the American Petroleum Institute about what is fueling the fluctuating cost of gas and the relationship between crude oil and pump prices. Dustin shares the need for permitting reform, what Electric Vehicle mandates mean for the industry, and the future of energy consumption in the U.S. Andrew also shares some updates to the Federal Highway Administration’s ruling on greenhouse gas performance measurements on the national highway system.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

November 16, 2023Episode 227 min

The Cost of Congestion

With a growing and shifting population comes inevitable increases in traffic congestion. But what is the real cost of congestion on our national highway systems? From billions (yes, billions) of dollars in wasted productivity, to increases in the price of consumer goods, the impact of this issue has significant ripple effects throughout the economy. On this episode of Driving Forward, Andrew talks with Rebecca Brewster, President and Chief Operating Officer for the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). Rebecca shares the astounding results from ATRI’s recently published 2023 Cost of Congestion to the Trucking Industry Study and what this means for the road user community.Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.