Ed. note: This is cross-posted on the U.S. Department of Transportation's blog. See the original post here.
We all know the “road to prosperity” is a metaphor, but what if it were an actual road?
The fact is, investing in transportation creates value, and that means it’s a worthwhile investment — for public funds, yes, but also for the private sector. So, with public investments in our nation’s important transportation assets steadily declining, we need to find better ways to partner with private investors to help rebuild America.
And rebuild America we must. The American Society of Civil Engineers predicts that we’ll face a $1 trillion funding gap for transportation by the end of the decade. More than two-thirds of American roads are in less than good condition, and if you lined up all of the structurally deficient bridges in the country, they would stretch from Boston to Miami.
It might save money up front for legislators to ignore our infrastructure deficit, but you are paying the price for this head-in-the-sand approach to transportation every day. You pay it in longer commute times — 5.5 billion hours annually — higher vehicle repair costs, and increased spending on wasted fuel. It’s not small change; the extra fuel and lost hours cost Americans about $120 billion a year. And the businesses of our nation pay as well, in additional freight costs to the tune of $27 billion a year.
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