U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar was late for an interview Saturday. And that’s unusual for this normally prompt, veteran congressman who can cite statistics on a variety of issues without a cheat sheet.

But Oberstar’s strength in Congress and his ability to not only understand, but often meet, local needs makes him a target for local officials and residents who want to bend his ear on issues important to them. And Oberstar listens.

Oberstar, now serving his 18th term, visited Borderland Saturday to take part in ceremonies to dedicate Voyageurs National Park’s tour boat and to mark the start of construction of a building to be owned by International Falls and serve as VNP’s headquarters.

But there were a number of other items on his agenda, including an interview with the local newspaper, meeting Boise Inc. paper mill manager Bert Brown, and meetings with representatives of International Falls and Koochiching County on issues important to the community. He packed in more than a full day of activity, arriving Friday night and boarding a plane at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Among the issues high on his priority list is finding out how a Delta airlines proposal to operate the Falls International Airport under the federal Essential Air Service program will impact the area. The proposal has already cut one flight in and out of International Falls, and raised concerns by local officials about the schedule for the two remaining flights. The timing of those flights, officials say, make it almost impossible to meet connecting flights. This could force some people to drive to other airports or spend additional money to stay an extra night to meet the scheduled flights. Several members of the International Falls-Koochiching County Airport Commission were waiting to meet with him on the issue Saturday afternoon at the airport.

Oberstar says he has no answers on how to resolve concerns about the proposal at the moment, but said he is investigating.

“I expect out of today’s discussion to come out with proposals and I will take those to the (U.S. Department of Transportation) and Delta and see if we can, as Lyndon Johnson used to say, ‘reason together,’” he said with a broad smile.

Oberstar recalled that he predicted in this era of anti-trust immunity alliances, that communities at the end of the spokes, in the airline hub and spokes system, would be victims of the acquisition by Delta of Northwest Airlines. That started with Grand Rapids, which lost its service all together, and with the shared service between International Falls and Chisholm/Hibbing. Service at Ely, which had profitable service in the summer months, was also terminated.

“Now, the service from International Falls is being emasculated,” he said. “A terrible arrival and departure schedule, especially if you are a business person... you will have to (stay) overnight. Or if your destination is beyond the Twin Cities, you may have a four-hour layover.”

Just after Oberstar’s last visit to the Falls, he announced his plans for a six-year transportation bill. The bill has moved through subcommittee.

On Wednesday, the House voted to extend for three months the current law, which ends Sept. 28. Oberstar called that a major step and said it allows time to refine and further study the bill.

The three-month extension contrasts with the Obama administration 18-month proposal of current law, and the Senate’s concurrence with the administration’s plan.

“I want to do three months, move our bill through the House, engage the Senate in conference, engage the White House in that conference, and pass a six-year bill so we have stability in the future of the Surface transportation program, instead of a series of extensions of law with funding levels inadequate to meet the needs of transportation,” he said.

People who say that Oberstar’s bill calls for a gas tax to finance the six-year proposal are mistaken, he said. How to finance the bill has not yet been determined, he said.

“This is not about a gas tax increase,” Oberstar said. “Before the Ways and Means Committee hearing in July, I laid out seven options for funding the future of transportation. In our six-year bill... we have a number of public-private partnership funding mechanisms... but they aren’t sufficient in and of themselves to sustain a full six-year program.”

Oberstar said the transpiration bill would follow well with the American Recovery and Renewal Act. Last week, the U.S. Chamber, American Trucking Association, Road and Transportation Builders Association and building trade labor unions announced support for the bill, as well as an increase in the gas tax, which Oberstar says is budget neutral and would not increase the federal deficit.

“Groups typically opposed to tax increases say this is one they understand because it links the user to the system of paying for the use,” he said.

Oberstar said news that he supports use of a vehicle miles traveled tax or fee is premature.

“I said this is one among many that we ought to consider — consider, I didn’t say implement,” he said. The merit of the VMT fee, he said, is that it measures more directly use of the travel way than a fuel-based fee.

It doesn’t matter what fuel a vehicle uses, it is still having an effect on the road surface by the miles traveled, he said. “It ought to be considered a more equatable way of measuring use of the system than a gas tax,” he said.

Concern about a VMT fee has been raised by rural residents who say they must drive long miles by nature of their location, he said. “Yet in the 100 or so metropolitan areas of this country, 15 percent of our highway mileage is located, but 50 percent of the vehicle miles traveled are in metropolitan areas,” he said. “So metro area residents would be paying substantially greater portion of vehicle miles traveled than those in rural areas.”

Key is credibly testing that theory, he said. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies is seeking a grant to do such testing.

“We shouldn’t reject a new idea out of hand,” he said. “I don’t know and can’t say this is what we ought to do until we have the empirical data on which to make a judgment.”

Meanwhile, Oberstar pointed to photographs, mixed with those of his daughter Monica and newest granddaughter Kallie Jo, of a pipe replacement project, funded by the Recovery Act, he visited in Bemidji in August.

Oberstar said it will be announced Thursday that 120,000 direct on-project, full-time jobs have been created as a result of the highway and transit formula of the act. Add to that the 100,000 jobs created in the supply chain as a result of the jobs created by the act, he said.

“Real people, real lives, real jobs, making a difference,” he said. “That’s what this stimulus package is all about. And it’s happening all over the country.”