Inadequacies in US Transportation Infrastructure Exacerbated by Increase in Motorists, Lack of Funding

Serious transportation problems are looming in the United States. Aging transportation infrastructure and a lack of proper funding for highway improvements combine to wreak havoc on the highway system which can no longer meet our nation's demands. Failing to keep up with the needs placed on the highway system by population and economic growth has weakened the competitiveness of the U.S. compared to other countries.

Americans rely on trucks to move 70 percent of the nations freight, and this figure is expected to climb. Highways will thus maintain a crucial role in the nation's supply chain. However with more and more drivers using our highways, the efficiency of this system is being taxed. According to the American Trucking Association (ATA), in 2007, drivers in metropolitan areas wasted 4.2 billion hours sitting in traffic, burning 2.8 billion gallons of excess fuel, costing around $87 billion.

A recent report from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) entitled "The Good Haul: Freight Innovations for the 21st Century" gave an estimate that by 2020, over 90 million tons of freight are expected to move throughout the U.S. every day - a 70 percent increase from 2002. Greg Cohen, president and CEO of the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA) told reporters that in the last 30 years, highway capacity has expanded by a mere 4 percent, but vehicle traffic has nearly doubled. This causes severe bottlenecks on the road that cost the trucking industry around $19 billion annually in lost fuel, wages, and equipment utilization. These bottlenecks are responsible for 40 percent of congestion. The remaining 60 percent is attributed to accidents, bad weather, construction, special events, and poor signal timing.

Frighteningly, there doesn't seem to be a long-term plan for how to tackle the problems of a vital but over-used highway system. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, funding for repairs and replacements to highways requires an additional annual investment, by all levels of government, of $27 billion. This 35 percent increase would only just maintain current highway and bridge conditions for the next 20 years. The Department anticipates that a 67.5 percent increase - $96 billion - would be necessary to make improvements.

In a recent attempt to improve U.S. highway system funding, Tim Lynch, senior VP at ATA, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, housing and urban development, and related agencies. He highlighted the weaknesses in the system and the negative impact they are likely to have on the country, calling for increased highway funding to expand and repair existing infrastructure.

"Eliminating bottlenecks on our highways and at our ports and border crossings will greatly enhance America's competitive positioning," declared Lynch. "But failing to address growing congestion problems will cause costs to rise, translating into higher consumer prices and slower job growth, weakening the U.S. ability to compete in the global economy."

According to the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index 2010, America's logistics system ranks 15th in the world, based on key measures including the quality of transportation infrastructure, competence of logistics providers and terminal handling efficiency.

Tim Lynch asked congress for something to be done to address these problems. "The federal transportation program is now being funded by a combination of user fees and, increasingly, General Fund appropriations," he said. "We are concerned that the continued reliance on the General Fund, and the associated lack of long-term funding certainty that this creates for state transportation departments, will prevent investments in critical highway projects that demand a stable source of revenue."

The ATA came out in support of a fuel tax to fund necessary highway improvements, reporting that such a tax would be generally accepted by trucking companies as long as the revenues are dedicated to finding projects that address the most critical highway needs.