Transportation officials in Tennessee said Thursday that they would accept a temporary federal spending measure, as proposed last week by President Obama.

The federal Highway Trust Fund is expected to go broke by Aug. 21 because of declines in revenue from gas and truck sales taxes.

Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass a new six-year transportation bill. The House has a draft bill that calls for $500 billion, which would increase highway aid 40 percent and double transit funding.

But Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has said the administration's proposed $20 billion for an 18-month extension is necessary to keep transportation funds flowing to states and to give Congress time to pass a comprehensive bill.

David Goldberg of Transportation for America, an advocacy group for alternative transportation such as mass transit, said the draft bill for a new six-year spending cycle is a start on reforms that are needed..

People are driving fewer miles while mass transit ridership is rising. The crash this week of the Washington, D.C., Metro train shows the current system does not adequately fund mass transit, he said. He spoke on a teleconference Thursday with Tennessee officials.

James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and 42 other Democratic members of the House committee said in a letter to President Obama this week that they oppose an 18-month extension because that's too long to wait for transportation reforms and needed funding increases.

Ed Cole, environmental bureau chief with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, agreed it is a critical moment but said an 18-month delay may not be significant. And, he confirmed, Tennessee's fuel tax revenue is short of budget projections as this fiscal year wraps up.

"I'd like to see a bill tomorrow," said Greg Adkins, executive director of Tennessee Public Transportation Association, which advocates for mass transit. "But it is such a big deal, everyone wants to get it right."

Michael Skipper, executive director of Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, also finds a temporary bill acceptable. What is more important, he said, is that a bill eventually provides local officials more flexibility in using federal transportation money and transfers more oversight of projects to regional planning groups.