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The U.S. House will be prepared to craft legislation next year that would provide long-term infrastructure funding for freight and commuter corridors around the country, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Nov. 13.

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s win, trucking and transportation industry executives saw the president-elect’s bullish interest in modernizing the country’s infrastructure as a glass-half-full.

Voters in Illinois and New Jersey approved lockboxes for transportation funding while those in Washington State rejected what would have been the nation’s first statewide carbon emissions tax.

The re-election of senior Republicans on Nov. 8, solidifying the party’s control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, is expected to help Republicans unify the divisions within their party and approve a long-term funding fix for freight infrastructure projects next year, the incumbent lawmakers and GOP leaders said.

Intermodal volumes declined in the third quarter because truck prices are lower than a year ago and that has diverted business away from railroads, the Intermodal Association of North America reported.

Advocates of heavy-duty engines powered by diesel or natural gas are vying for a share of the windfall directed at nitrogen oxide mitigation in all 50 states after recent approval of the federal government’s multibillion-dollar settlement with Volkswagen AG.

Pennsylvania’s former governor and infrastructure proponent Ed Rendell (D) will be joined by Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett for an in-depth look at infrastructure and transportation needs for the coming year.