John Hennessy III,
P.E.
MILLER CENTER OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
Transportation systems are the backbone of America: They keep our nation strong and moving. But we have not been taking good care of this resource. Lacking a coherent vision for our transportation future and chronically short of resources, we defer new investments, fail to plan, and allow existing systems to fall into disrepair.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS
The transportation investment in stimulus is working—and in every state across the nation. More than $40 billion in highway and transit projects have been approved and are moving forward—almost $30 billion are under contract on 16,761 different projects. More than 63,000 direct on-project jobs have been created or sustained in August as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and states have already paid out $3.2 billion in payroll.
TRANSPORTATION EQUITY NETWORK
Research has consistently shown that spending on transit creates more jobs than spending on highways. Estimates of job generation include the workers who construct the infrastructure and operate transit, as well as the jobs created by suppliers to the construction industry and by the increased spending of workers in the local economy. Transportation spending also has indirect effects on job creation by increasing the efficiency of the transportation system and improving business productivity.
In a guest commentary, Richard G. Little, Director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at the University of Southern California, offers his own reflections on how the reality of constrained resources and greater spending discipline in the next Congress might affect our future transportation policy.
View this complete post...Over the weekend, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie abruptly halted work on the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project, saying he needed greater assurances that the $8.7 billion commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River could be delivered on budget. This has left transit advocates and New Jersey commuters wondering if the Governor is focused on reducing costs, or whether he intends to cancel one of the nation’s most important transit improvements. We’re all waiting with bated breath.
View this complete post...
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Of the $64.1 billion provided for transportation and infrastructure programs under the Recovery Act, Federal, State, and local agencies administering programs within the Committee’s jurisdiction have announced 19,754 transportation and other infrastructure projects totaling $62.8 billion, as of August 13, 2010. This amount represents 98 percent of the total available funds. Within this total, Federal agencies, States, and their local partners have obligated $51.9 billion for 19,488 projects, representing 81 percent of the available funds.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE
INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
Just as the Interstate Highway System transformed the way Americans live and where they work, high-speed rail has the same transformative potential. In the arena of transportation, it is a disruptive technology, with the power – as LaHood noted – to reshape entire regions and communities in a more sustainable manner. Southern California will be ground zero for this transformation: of the seven corridor segments identified in the California High Speed Rail Authority business plan, Los Angeles to Anaheim is currently the most advanced in the planning and environmental review process, and could see limited service commence as early as 2017.
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