The Rockefeller Foundation has a $66 million transportation initiative "aimed at promoting equitable and sustainable transportation policies at the federal and state level."

Its recent survey, released yesterday, carries the following headline: Rockefeller Foundation Infrastructure Survey Reveals Bipartisan Support for Transportation and Infrastructure Investments and Reform. The subhead (in the effort to construct the longest lead-in to a press release in history adds: Four in five voters agree that federal funding to improve and modernize transportation will boost local economies and create jobs.

There’s actually another one-liner about the intent of the initiative before the study results are revealed. The final point of four key findings asserts that "American voters are open to several funding streams for national transportation projects."

In contrast, The Washington Post headlined its Monday story (prior to the poll’s release) with this headline: Rockefeller Foundation survey: Americans rank transportation needs high but don’t want to pay the costs.

Its story emphasized:

• 78 percent of those surveyed say private investors should be tapped to rebuild the country’s aging infrastructure
• 71 percent opposed a tax increase, 64 percent were against new tolls on existing roads and bridges, and 58 percent said no to paying for each mile they drive

Good information from both on a critically important issue (in fact, the Chamber’s BizVoice magazine will tackle transportation and paying for infrastructure improvements in its May-June issue). Just a radically different approach on what to focus on.