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The major transportation industry stakeholders are once again urging Congress to advance a six-year highway bill before funding authority for infrastructure programs expires at the end of October.

The top Democrat on the Senate’s transportation panel is predicting that Congress will approve a three-year highway bill, possibly as early as this fall.

A group representing key transportation stakeholders has launched a radio ad campaign to press federal lawmakers to advance a long-term highway bill this fall.

The way Anthony Foxx sees it, there's nowhere to go but up. “The good news, I think, is we are close to rock bottom,” the transportation secretary said Aug. 12 about the struggle to get a commitment from Congress to a long-term highway funding bill.

The Senate on July 30 approved both a House-passed, three-month extension of funding authority for highway programs and a six-year highway policy designed to reform several trucking regulations.

President Obama signed the three-month extension of funding for federal highways measures July 31, but criticized Congress for failing to agree on a longer-term solution.

Federal authority for highway programs will continue uninterrupted through October when President Obama signs a three-month funding extension of the Highway Trust Fund the Senate easily cleared July 30.

Before adjourning for the August break, House Republican leaders on July 29 garnered sufficient support from Democrats to send to the Senate a measure that would authorize funding for the Highway Trust Fund for three months.