Secretary RAY LAHOOD (Department of Transportation): Clearly, this situation cannot continue. We have inherited a system that can no longer pay for itself.

CORNISH: The shortfall also coincides with the expiration of the current six- year transportation plan. House lawmakers have a new one - more than 700 pages for road repairs, bridges, public transit and high-speed rail. But it comes with sticker shock - more than $500 billion in spending over six years.

So President Obama wants Congress to skip the grand plan for now and pass an 18-month extension of the current law with an extra $20 billion or so for the trust fund. That idea was met with scorn by the House Transportation Committee.

Representative JOHN MICA (Republican, Florida): This is an opportunity for people to go to work in this country. So putting it off for 18 months, to me, is a very bad idea.

Representative PETER DEFAZIO (Democrat, Oregon): Eighteen months of funding means no state will start a project that takes more than 18 months. That's not acceptable to this committee.