New Federal Transportation Bill Signed into Law
MAP-21 will provide funding through September 2014
Contacts: Greg Smith, Chief Financial Officer
Image Sensing Systems, Inc., Phone: 651.603.7700
Saint Paul, Minn., July 10, 2012 – Image Sensing Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISNS) is pleased to report that a long-term Federal transportation bill extension has been signed into law. The bill, MAP-21, was signed last Friday by the President and authorizes over $100 billion in spending through the end of the Federal government’s fiscal year 2014 which ends September 30, 2014. This is the first major new legislation for transportation funding since the 2005 bill ran out in September 2009 and was subsequently extended in nine short increments to take funding through June 30, 2012.
Ken Aubrey, CEO, said, “We are happily surprised, contrary to the expectations of many, that this bill made its way into law before the election. As we stated in previous discussions on the matter, we believe it is critical for our state and municipal customers to have an adequate advance look ahead in Federal funding to be able to plan significant projects. In our view, many of these projects became all but impossible to plan due to the stop and start nature of ongoing short extensions. We believe MAP-21 once again gives our customers an improved time frame to make prudent, return-based investment decisions that were difficult to contemplate when funding was guaranteed for only a matter of months.
“As an intelligent transportation systems (ITS) solutions provider, we are pleased that MAP-21 includes special promotion of ITS and the expanded use of technology. The bill ensures ITS technologies are eligible for funding in every major formula program and that the Department of Transportation will establish a performance management process to improve accountability around transportation spending. Additionally, the bill supports technology introduction and advancement through two means - the restoration of the ITS research program, with funding of $100 million per year; and the creation of the Technology and Innovation Deployment program to accelerate the adoption of new transportation technologies, with funding of $63 million per year,” continued Aubrey.