Getting Results on Transportation
With the ripple effects of our economic downturn putting state departments of transportation and local transit agencies in serious financial trouble, our federal government needs to make a firm commitment to investing in our crumbling infrastructure and providing Americans with affordable, efficient transportation options.
In an excellent article in this week’s New York Times, writer David Leonhardt reminds us that we can’t simply face these challenges by throwing billions of dollars at new highway construction projects without a coherent set of goals or a system for measuring gains. We need to look at what we’re getting with the money we already spend — and then ask ourselves why the results aren’t better.
A lack of adequate financing is part of the problem, without doubt. But the bigger problem has been an utter lack of seriousness in deciding how that money gets spent. And as long as we’re going to stimulate the economy by spending money on roads, bridges and the like, we may as well do it right.
It’s hard to exaggerate how scattershot the current system is. Government agencies usually don’t even have to do a rigorous analysis of a project or how it would affect traffic and the environment, relative to its cost and to the alternatives — before deciding whether to proceed. In one recent survey of local officials, almost 80 percent said they had based their decisions largely on politics, while fewer than 20 percent cited a project’s potential benefits.
Without accountability at the state, local, or federal level, rigorous data collection to prove results, or coherent national goals that articulate the purpose of our investments, it comes as little surprise that Americans are faced with endless traffic jams, overburdened mass transit systems, and rising costs of transportation.
As Rob Puentes, a transportation expert at Washington D.C. think tank The Brookings Institution, makes clear, the system is broken in part because we don’t think about what benefits our transportation program brings; we just “send a blank check and kind of hope for the best.”
October 15, 2008Thinking Anew About a Migratory Barrier: Roads
The proliferation of heavily-trafficked highways that cut through tracts of wilderness across the United States has created huge problems for migratory wildlife. (New York Times – Jim Robbins)
October 15, 2008Your vote, your crummy highways
CNN looks at the presidential candidates’ plans for investing in infrastructure, highlighting John McCain’s focus on cutting back earmarks and Barack Obama’s proposal to create an infrastructure bank. (Tami Luhby)
September 24, 2008Freeways Without Futures
The Congress for the New Urbanism highlights ten underutilized highways across the nation that would be prime candidates to be torn down and redeveloped.
September 22, 2008Transit takes near billion-dolllar budget hit
For public transportation in California, the hits keep coming — facing overflowing ridership and record costs, transit agencies must now deal with a $952 million-dollar cut in funding by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The state’s budget for roads and highways does not face a similar cutback. (San Francisco Chronicle — Rachel Gordon)
September 15, 2008Paying for Roads
The Washington Post editorial board argues that the next administration must think deeply about the transportation challenges facing the nation and come up with new and sustainable methods for funding infrastructure.
September 12, 2008Still stuck in the ’50s
Maryland PIRG policy associate Kristi Hovarth points to the numerous flaws behind our outdated federal transportation policy — and offers a multitude of suggestions for fixing it. (Baltimore Sun)
September 8, 2008Highway Fund Shortfall May Halt Road Projects
Federal money dedicated to transportation is quickly drying up, and states are facing tough choices on which projects they should focus their resources on — and which ones they should drop. (New York Times — David Stout and Matthew Wald, and Washington Post — Eric Weiss)
August 26, 2008Leasing of Landmark Turnpike Puts State at Policy Crossroads
Pennsylvania’s government is considering leasing the state’s main turnpike to a group of investors for $12.8 billion in a deal that could set a new bar for public-private partnerships. (Wall Street Journal — Craig Karmin)
August 22, 2008Now is time to stop building freeways
An assistant professor from Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability argues that highway-centric development in the region is unsustainable, and presses for denser development as well as more local and regional control over the planning process. (Arizona Republic — Aaron Golub)
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- Why Jackson, MS needs better transit and complete streets
December 17, 2008 - Introducing the Streetsblog Network
December 8, 2008 - Americans overwhelmingly support new transportation investments
November 20, 2008 - Governors call for new approach to transportation
October 15, 2008 - Reinventing American Transportation
October 10, 2008
- Why Jackson, MS needs better transit and complete streets
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