This post was written for The Ground Floor by Robert Krueger, communications associate at the Urban Land Institute.
As high prices at the pump keep you from either traveling this Fourth of July or spending less, it is important to note how national prioritizing has resulted in both.
If you decide to hit the road, you might notice how Federal prioritizing has affected the roads and bridges that you drive on. Last week, there was an article in the Economist that spoke of America's deteriorating transportation infrastructure, which at one time in our nation's history, was an important national project.
In the same article, Robert Yaro of the Regional Plan Association (RPA), an organization that strives to improve the metropolitan planning in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut region, said that if the U.S. government continues to not address our transportation problems, it will only take a few decades for our roads and bridges will resemble those of a third-world country.
Not only do our roads need repair, but what about providing an alternative to driving? Two weeks ago, the U.S. Conference of Mayors had a meeting in Miami where they discussed how cities' operations are dealing with rising fuel costs. Nine in ten of the 132 mayors surveyed said that they are currently working on proving alternatives to driving, such as public transit.
With a new President and Congress on the horizon, it is imperative to know if they have given serious consideration to dealing with rising gas prices by reinvesting in transportation infrastructure. According to an article by Reuters, this is what the two major party candidates are saying about the issue:
McCain –- A few months ago, he proposed a federal gas tax holiday that intends to provide some relief at the gas pump. He has not suggested a plan for setting a national agenda to address bridge, road, and rail construction projects.
In the Senate, he opposes federal subsidies for Amtrak. Last year, he supported legislation to provide long-term capital funding for passenger rail, but wants to change the way it is managed.
Obama –- Has proposed a $60 billion National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank over 10 years to rebuild U.S. roads, bridges, rail, and ports. He wants to private investment to help fund these transportation improvements.
He supports subsidies for rail and wants to develop high speed corridors (500 miles or less) between major cities. Obama also wants to invest in mass transit and expand freight and rail capacity.
According to Infrastructure 2008: A Competitive Advantage, a book published by ULI, the federal government can waste no more time ignoring the problem. It might need to set up a federal infrastructure bank that could be modeled off the European Investment Bank (EIB). An infrastructure bank could help synthesize policies, transit, and land-use planning for large scale projects that transcend state and municipal jurisdictions.
Let's be honest. The answer to the solution is not tapping into oil reserves or expanding off shore drilling. These solutions only worsen our addiction to oil, and will only a provide temporary and small relief at the pump while other affluent countries accept the worldwide gas problem and forge ahead with national programs to heavily fund transportation infrastructure investment. We need to take a serious look at alternative ways to get around. We need to give public transit investment a second look.
