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TRIP

Executive Summary
California’s extensive system of roads, highways, bridges and public transit is the backbone that supports the state’s economy. California’s surface transportation system needs to provide safe and efficient commutes to work and school, visits with family and friends, and trips to tourist and recreation attractions while simultaneously providing businesses with reliable access for customers, suppliers and employees. With an unemployment rate of 12.5 percent – the fourth highest in the nation – and with the state’s population continuing to grow, California must improve its system of roads, highways, bridges and public transit to foster economic growth, avoid business relocations, and ensure the safe, reliable mobility needed to improve the quality of life for all Californians.

As California looks to rebound from the current economic downturn, the state will need to enhance its surface transportation system by improving the physical condition of its transportation network and enhancing the system’s ability to provide efficient and reliable mobility for residents, visitors and businesses. Making needed improvements to California’s roads, highways, bridges and transit could provide a significant boost to the state’s economy by creating jobs and stimulating long-term economic growth as a result of enhanced mobility and access.

California faces enormous challenges in addressing its transportation needs. Urban road conditions are among the roughest in the nation. The state faces crippling traffic congestion, which threatens to impede economic activity and diminish quality of life. The state’s public transportation systems are also in disrepair and must be modernized and expanded.

While the needs of the state’s highway and transit systems continue to grow, the amount of revenue to address these needs is expected to remain limited, leading to significant challenges in providing a smooth, efficient and well-maintained system of roads, bridges and transit. Despite recent gains in transportation funding, the state still faces an annual highway transportation funding shortfall of approximately $4 billion. This is in addition to the $6.9 billion annual shortfall in funds needed to improve and expand the state’s public transit system.

As the state lacks adequate funding to improve physical conditions and traffic congestion worsens, meeting California’s need to modernize and maintain its system of roads, bridges and public transit will require a significant boost in local, state and federal funding.

Approved in February 2009, one aim of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is to stimulate the economy and provide a significant, short-term boost in transportation funding. California’s estimated $3.6 billion in stimulus funding will allow the state to make some needed rehabilitation and improvements to its road, bridge and public transit systems, but this one-time funding boost will not allow the state to proceed with numerous projects needed to modernize its surface transportation system. Even with the aid of stimulus funding, the state will still face a sizeable, on-going transportation funding shortfall.

This report examines the use, condition and funding of California’s roads and bridges as well as its public transportation system. Also included in the report are individualized analyses for California’s six largest metropolitan areas. These areas are the Los Angeles urban area (which encompasses Los Angeles County and Orange County), Riverside and San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, and the San Francisco–Oakland area. These individualized reports cover each respective city and the surrounding metropolitan area and contain regional data on road and bridge conditions, congestion, transit use, transit system conditions and traffic safety, as well as lists of each area’s most deteriorated roads and bridges. These regional assessments are included as Appendices A through F in the report. All data used in the report is the latest available…

Download full report (PDF): FUTURE MOBILITY IN CALIFORNIA

About TRIP
www.tripnet.org
“Founded in 1971, TRIP is a nonprofit organization that promotes transportation policies that relieve traffic congestion, improve road and bridge conditions, improve air quality, make highway travel safer and enhance economic productivity.”

Tags: CA, California, TRIP

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 6:36 pm and is filed under Aging Infrastructure, Competitiveness, Funding, High Speed Rail, Highway, Infra Views, Local, Policy, Public Transportation, Roads, Transit . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.