With federal highway and bridge funding to the states in jeopardy later this year, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is using the March 4-8 CONEXPO-CON/AGG trade show in Las Vegas—one of the largest gatherings of U.S. transportation design and construction professionals in the world—to tell members of Congress to fix the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).

On average, 52 percent of the funding for state and local road and bridge work—the largest market sector—comes from the federal program that is supported by the HTF. Without action by Congress and the President before October 1, that funding will be gone for new projects in FY 2015.

In a short "call-to-action" video sent to 125,000 CONEXPO attendees, ARTBA President Pete Ruane urged industry professionals to deliver this simple message to their elected leaders: "Congressman...Senator...you represent me and my family in Congress. And my job depends on Congress fixing the Highway Trust Fund before October 1. Please do your job and make sure that happens." Along with the video, ARTBA will be delivering its message at the show via tens of thousands of flyers, onsite promotional banners, and earned media.

ARTBA is also encouraging CONEXPO participants to download the free Transportation Construction Advocate app, which is available on both the iTunes and Google Play stores. The app provides users with key state-specific transportation statistics, a direct connection to the House and Senate, and a "Feedback" button to provide reports about meetings and conversations with lawmakers.

Hosted by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, CONEXPO-CON/AGG is an international gathering place for the construction industries, showcasing the latest equipment, products, services and technologies for every major sector including asphalt, aggregates, concrete, earthmoving, lifting, mining, utilities and more.

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