As the debate over jobs and funding drags on, it has occurred to me, as well as many other transportation professionals, that we need to change our position on the subject of maintaining and improving our nation’s infrastructure. It’s painfully clear our transportation inventory is aging, and our country needs to be more resilient against natural and manmade disasters. We know globalization is driving a need for better intermodal connections to encourage trade — that our economy is challenged and job creation is paramount — and we must meet these demands or fall behind. Until recently, our arguments for funding transportation have necessarily centered solely around all of these critical needs. Our industry has centered the discussion around what the American people won’t have without action by our political leaders.

While this funding uncertainty has caused many state departments of transportation to postpone or cancel vital projects and related jobs, our message has yet to motivate politicians to compromise on a multiyear reauthorization bill. Recent activity by the House and Senate to move a transportation bill forward is encouraging. However, that movement is tempered by recent appropriation activities that reduce last year’s funding to states by $2 billion dollars, putting 50,000 to 70,000 jobs in jeopardy. We need congressional action that creates jobs, not reduces them.

Let’s continue this trend to redirect the conversation by creating a sense of urgency. Rather than sending out distress calls, we need to emphasize and illustrate infrastructure’s return on investment. ROI is something everyone understands and values.

The historic precedent and constitutional mandate is clear — meeting our nation’s infrastructure needs is foremost to our interstate commerce, safety, security and global competitiveness. Our best-regarded presidents supported infrastructure and fully understood what America would get in return for its investments. From George Washington’s survey work for the first proposed national road that traced a path similar to today’s Interstate 70 from Maryland to Indiana, to Thomas Jefferson’s promotion of the development of the nation’s early canals, to Abraham Lincoln’s support of the construction of the transcontinental railroad, our greatest political leaders have long known that a strong infrastructure system promotes a more nimble military, creates jobs, sparks economic development and advances America’s competitiveness in the international marketplace.

Contemporary presidents and infrastructure proponents such as Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton also understood such investments provide an outstanding return, and that there needs to be a source of revenue to pay for them. Under President Eisenhower, the National Defense Highway System began, funded by a gas tax, that later turned into our current interstate highway system that is so vital to our economy. Revenue increases to the Highway Trust Fund occurred during both President Reagan and President Clinton’s administrations. President Reagan said in signing the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, “The state of our transportation system affects our commerce, our economy and our future.” All three of these presidents saw the need to fund transportation, and all three administrations moved the economy of the United States in a positive direction.

Our elected officials, and all Americans, can help shape the nation’s transportation future while contributing to our nation’s economy and prosperity. Congress has the opportunity to envision what “could be” — a new multimodal transportation plan that incorporates highways, rail, air and water. That vision can start with a robust highway and transit bill with adequate investment levels and needed policy reforms that will allow us to move our transportation infrastructure program forward. Quite frankly, the status quo in terms of investment and how we meet national priorities is just as unacceptable as the current performance of the nation’s surface transportation network. America could be home to an integrated, multimodal transportation network connecting our ports and manufacturing areas with raw materials and moving goods in a cost-effective manner, while transporting people safely and efficiently, all within the context of protecting the environment.

Healthy infrastructure supports a healthy economy, attracting new employers and improving the overall quality of life in our communities. We consistently see paybacks along the roads, rails and bridges that get us to our workplaces, schools and other destinations. These dividends — safe, secure, efficient transportation — pay us back in our day-to-day lives well in excess of every dollar we invest in them. In fact, Moody’s estimates every additional dollar spent on infrastructure generates a $1.44 increase in gross domestic product.

For these reasons alone, the transportation industry should not simply accept fewer federal dollars in the future, and the American public should not accept deterioration of the infrastructure they rely on. People are willing to pay when they know what they will get in return and that there will be accountability in delivering it. More than 70 percent of local infrastructure funding issues have passed in approximately the last five years. Congress needs to hear this.

Even in an era of limited resources, the demand for true infrastructure investment remains high. It’s time to innovate, to bring all forms of funding, financing and technology-based tools to the table. It’s time to change the process of how we plan and deliver infrastructure projects. It’s time to change the conversation — and keep moving forward, working diligently for everything we can get, until we get what we want: to keep America safe, mobile and economically competitive. End of conversation.

HNTB expert contact information:
Paul Yarossi
President
HNTB Holdings Ltd
(212) 594-9717
E-mail: pyarossi@hntb.com

Changing the Conversation viewpoint