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The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission has provided it's report to Congress.  At my first reading, this report merely looked like a treasure trove of handy quotes endorsing CART's vision.  For example:

Our Nation will need to put more emphasis on transit and intercity passenger rail and make them a priority for our country.  A cultural shift will need to take place across America to encourage our citizens to take transit or passenger rail when the option is given. (volume I, p.1)

But the report goes far beyond that. It seeks an end to the pork-for-pork's sake mentality that is deeply entrenched in Washington. No longer will congresswomen and state DOTs be able to dream up any old crazy project and fund it through political power alone, rather

[T]he new user-financed Federal surface transportation program the Commission proposes will be performance-driven, outcome-based, generally mode-neutral, and refocused to pursue activities of genuine national interest. (Volume I, p.10)

They'd create cost-benefit analysis tools, and force money to be allocated accordingly.  This is not hard - some states and the UK already do this.  It would level the playing field between highways and transit, so that the two modes can compete on their merits, not on their ease of funding. 

Such a funding mechanism will greatly help cities - cities are the main victims of congestion, and multiply increased quality across huge numbers of passengers and tons of freight. 

Within the cities, probably all modes will gain, but the biggest winners will be foot, bicycle, and public transit.  That's because those modes have suffered under a continuous funding handicap relative to highways. Furthermore, these modes benefit when transportation is fully priced with it's ecological costs.  Investment in alternate modes in the city centers constitutes the low hanging fruit of rational transportation investment.  (partial source: Eddington Report, I.84, p.35)

Historically CART's strategy, especially at the state and local level, has been to create an affirmative-action system for public transit and rail transportation, whereby they get a quota of funds.  Because these systems have been chronically under-funded relative to their value, this has made sense in the past.  However, if the policy's recommendations are adopted, we may be able to abandon that strategy, and simply begin educating officials on the benefits of public transit and regional transportation. CART is better at that than we are plumbing the intricacies of funding.

In short, the panel's recommendations are CART's dream. 

Now cross your fingers that Congress can do the right thing.

The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission's final report can be viewed here.