by Larry Lagarde

Travel by motor vehicle is causing a growing crisis in the USA. Traffic congestion and poor road conditions continue to persist despite record spending on highways. In the process, transportation spending is dramatically & unfairly consuming the budgets of America's poor.

According to TRIP, a nonprofit organization that promotes the construction of roadways and bridges, the following roadway statistics were assembled from data compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Texas Transportation Institute. Many of the facts listed below were used by Congress as talking points to pass SAFETEA-LU.

Key Facts About America's Road & Bridge Conditions

* Poor roadway conditions cost U.S. motorists $54 billion/year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs - $275/motorist.

* Traffic congestion costs American motorists over $63 billion/year in time lost and fuel costs.

* Americans spend over 3.5 billion hours/year stuck in traffic.

* Motor vehicle crashes cost U.S. citizens $230 billion/year for medical expenses, lost productivity, travel delays, workplace costs, insurance costs and legal costs - $819/citizen.

* 34% of America's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

* 27% of America's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

* 36% of America's major urban roads are congested.

* 88% of all person miles of travel comes from private motor vehicles (just 8% comes from air travel & 1% from mass transit).

* Vehicle travel on America's highways increased 161% from 1970 to 2003 (while US population grew by 43% & new road mileage grew 6%).

An Unsustainable Model
Suburban sprawl is sapping America's strength. In 2001, it was estimated that roughly 20% of average American household spending was going to transportation. Since then, increases in the cost of fuel have significantly increased American transportation costs, further pinching the ability of the poor to meet their daily needs.

Somehow, more funding must be dedicated to improving maintenance of existing roadways, improving alternative transportation options and rebuilding urban America. Otherwise, future man-made catastrophes such as the I-35W bridge collapse are bound to be repeated.

Labels: I35W-disaster, USA-road-bridge-facts

by Larry Lagarde

I-35W Bridge Collapse & Katrina: Signs of a Superpower's Weakness?

New Orleans and Minneapolis are two major American cities connected by the Mississippi River. Sadly, that connection is now even greater with the collapse Wednesday evening of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis.



Just as authorities have long been aware that the Interstate 35 West bridge over the Mississippi had structural problems, so too had authorities known of shoddy construction of the hurricane protection levees surrounding New Orleans. Both of these man-made catastrophes resulted in the death of American citizens.

Be it a hurricane protection levee or interstate bridge, when American taxpayers/voters authorize a federal building project, we expect that project to be built and maintained properly. According to a story published today in the Washington Post (Collapse Spotlights Weaknesses in U.S. Infrastructure), that's not happening.

At a time when every state department of transportation is attempting to meet a federal mandate to slash transportation projects, it is inappropriate for U.S. transportation secretary Mary Peters to urge every state to inspect all steel arch truss bridges immediately without providing dollars to pay for the work. Nor is it appropriate for President Bush to fly down to New Orleans 2 weeks after Hurricane Katrina, stand in front of St. Louis Cathedral and pledge ...

we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives

and ...

Federal funds will cover the great majority of the costs of repairing public infrastructure in the disaster zone, from roads and bridges to schools and water systems. Our goal is to get the work done quickly

and ...

When communities are rebuilt, they must be even better and stronger than before the storm.

... yet veto key programs and hamstring funds that would do so.

Ultimately, spending on most public works projects in the USA comes from politicians. New projects are equated with progress (the results are also easier for voters to see) so it's easier for politicians to support building something new rather than maintaining something already in place.

The United States is the world's great superpower. Until we as a nation pressure our leaders to be proactive with our public infrastructure and dedicate substantial resources to planning for future needs, Americans will continue to suffer needlessly from major, man-made catastrophes like these.

Tomorrow: America's Roads & Bridges - Key Facts

Labels: I35W-disaster