Meet the New AASHTO?

Today on the Streetsblog Network, member blog Beyond DC has a question: "Where is the old AASHTO and what have you done with them?"

The question is prompted by "You Told Us," a shiny new PDF from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (which Beyond DC describes as "the main professional association for traffic engineers"), the result of a recent campaign soliciting comments from ordinary Americans about what they want in a transportation system:

While the "You Told Us" release is encouraging, there's plenty about old-school highway expansion in AASHTO's policy summaries for 2009. But there are positive signs as well, with lots of talk about intercity rail, expansion of public transit, and even this:

What role do you think AASHTO might play as we go forward toward the reauthorization of the transportation spending bill later this year?

Also on the network today: CTA Tattler has the lowdown on the possibility of a post-Blago gas-tax hike in Illinois, while 1000 Friends of Connecticut argues that higher federal gas taxes would do more good than energy-efficient vehicles.