The High Cost of Underinvestment
September 4th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
It’s the last (unofficial) weekend of summer, and the Labor Day holiday traffic tends to shine a spotlight on the need to improve our transportation infrastructure. With Congress back in session on Tuesday, hopefully they take note of the ways our aging transportation network is holding us back. A predicted 35.5 million U.S. residents will travel at least 50 miles away from home over this weekend, according to AAA. While that’s the highest number seen since 2008, U.S. Travel found in a new survey that the hassles caused by failing surface and air travel infrastructure will keep 4.1 million potential travelers at home—costing the economy $1.4 billion in spending. This research again proves that our economy suffers when we do not make the investment in our infrastructure. In Washington State, Representative Rick Larson, joined commuters on public transit to see for himself how exasperating the morning commute is. As a senior member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Larson is a leader in getting his fellow U.S. representatives to pass a long-term transportation bill this fall. Roads, bridges, and transit are not the only sectors of infrastructure that need investment; water infrastructure, including underground pipes and locks, are also in need of modernization. In Michigan, the recent shutdowns of one of the Soo Locks—a crucial passageway for nine million metric tons of a freight a month—exemplify how important projects are currently sidelined due to a dearth in funding. During the 20-day period that the 73-year-old MacArthur Lock was closed for repairs by the Army Corps of Engineers, more than 100 vessels — carrying iron ore, coal, grain and more — were delayed at least 166 hours. Out of Vermont is another story demonstrating the side effects of underinvestment in underground water infrastructure. The pipes that are failing range between 40 and130 years old, ass all are reaching the end of their useful design lives simultaneously. Jeff Wennberg of Rutland Public Works, responded to these infrastructure needs by pointing to the funding issue, “There’s no problem here with any of this infrastructure that can’t be fixed. It can all be fixed. The question is, who is going to pay for it and how soon?” While infrastructure needs may vary across the nation, the source of funding remains the biggest obstacle. In a recent poll conducted by the Mineta Transportation Institute, 61 percent of U.S. residents would support a 10-cent increase in the 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax if it is dedicated to transportation projects. As Congress returns to Washington tasked with finding three more years of funding for the DRIVE Act, and passing the bill through the House, hopefully this poll research will encourage them to find the political will to raise the gas tax as a way to #FixTheTrustFund.Congress needs a touchdown; no more field goals!
August 14th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
Football season has unofficially launched, and hopefully from now on punts will remain on the field and outside of Congress. While Congress is back home for summer recess, many states are expressing their opinions about the lack of federal funding as more infrastructure needs rise to the surface. In Nebraska, Senator Deb Fischer and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx hosted an event focused on transportation projects in the states. The secretary expressed encouragement that the Senate passed a long-term funding bill at the end of July, while still pressed for the need of more funding. In order to ensure that state projects continue, Nebraska’s Department of Roads established a yearlong agreement with the Federal Highway Administration that “will allow Nebraska to initiate maintenance and rehabilitation projects more easily throughout the 100,000 miles of roads and 15,500 bridges that cross the state.” Nebraska isn’t the only state expressing frustration with of the uncertainty of federal transportation funding. Pennsylvania, the state with the highest number of structurally deficient bridges in the country, is likewise struggling to invest in much-needed projects. Wyoming is unable to carry out many of their projects without more federal funds, as they receive 66 percent of their capital program budget from the federal government. The Mississippi Bridge is in need of upgrades, but the project is sitting on the sidelines because while Illinois is ready to start the project, Missouri cannot contribute its half of the funds. Bloomberg View also published an editorial this week pleading Congress to pass a long-term bill with reliable funding, and endorses raising the federal gas tax to match inflation. While dwindling federal transportation funding stalls progress on state highway projects, highways are not the only category of infrastructure that needs federal funds. In Tennessee, the replacement lock for the Chickamauga Dam is in limbo because it has not been able to get funding fast enough to get the project completed. This is just one of many examples of the importance of the federal role in infrastructure investment. While your U.S. Representative is back in the district, take a few minutes to send a letter or call their office and share the message to #FixTheTrustFund by the Oct 29 deadline.State Legislators Tell Their Peers It is Possible to Raise Gas Tax, and Give them Guidance on How to Do It
August 13th, 2015 | By: Maria Matthews
State legislators from around the country were in Seattle last week for the annual National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Legislative Summit. Approximately 5,000 state legislators, legislative staffers, federal officials and others attended the meeting to gain invaluable knowledge from experts and fellow legislators to take back to their respective states. Attendees participated in an array of policy-producing committee meetings, issue forums and deep-dive sessions. Transportation funding remains a hot topic for state lawmakers, and the conference featured a “deep-dive” session entitled “Filling Up the Tank: Funding Transportation,” which provided legislators a forum to discuss developing sound transportation plans in their states that create sustainable revenue, prepare for the future and meet immediate needs. Rep. Judy Clibborn, a Democrat who chairs the state’s House Transportation Committee and Senator Mike Vehle, a Republican from South Dakota who has been a leader on transportation issues as well, gave a joint presentation on how their respective states were able to pass gas tax increases. The lawmakers identified some common steps that need to be taken to generate support for, and achieve passage of major transportation funding legislation. Those included:- Generate bipartisan support, specifically through the work of a legislative task force made up of members of both parties.
- Build a coalition of allied interest groups including the business community.
- Support from the Governor and State Department of Transportation is vital.
- Determine the state’s financial need, and set goals before discussing increasing taxes.
- Take the discussions on the road – hold meetings around the state to discuss the need for transportation investment.
- Flexibility and compromise also important.
USDOT to Public: #ShowUsYourInfraWear
August 7th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
With Congress on recess and the new short-term highway patch hourglass beginning to slowly sieve, the symptoms of our nation’s aging infrastructure are gaining more attention from the media and states. Just this week, a subway train derailed in Washington, D.C., causing extreme delays for daily commuters. In response to the ubiquity of worn out infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched an Instagram and Twitter campaign, asking Americans to submit photos of worn-out infrastructure in their local communities with the hashtag #ShowUsYourInfraWear. The goal is to highlight the most pressing infrastructure needs that inconvenience the American public and they could be fixed if there were a long-term surface transportation bill. On a legislative note, Senator Tom Carper from Delaware introduced a bill—believed to be the first-ever to use a hashtag in the bill title. This bill would incrementally increase the gas tax over the next four years, resulting in a 16-cents-per-gallon increase by 2020 that would then be tied to inflation. “At a time when gas prices are some of the lowest we’ve seen in recent memory, we should be willing to make the hard choice to raise the federal gas tax,” Carper said, in regards to the need to produce long-term funding to #FixTheTrustFund. With long-term funding, not only would infrastructure needs be met, but the opportunity to invest in infrastructure projects, as identified in #GameChangers, would arise. This past Thursday was the 101st anniversary of the traffic light, which stood as one of the original game changers of our transportation world. If we want to see more innovations continue to improve our society, we need to be willing to make the investment. It is essential that Congress work diligently in the next three months to find a long-term funding solution for surface transportation. You can write your representative a letter or call their office and share the message to #FixTheTrustFund by the Oct 29 deadline.It’s the Final Countdown
July 24th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
With one week left until the Highway Trust Fund expires, the Senate is kicking it into high gear to agree on a long-term surface transportation bill, even when it means working weekends. ASCE supports swift passage of the bill the Senate is currently considering, which includes, at its core, ASCE’s favored legislation the DRIVE Act, creates at least three years of solvency for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), and includes safety provisions and transit policy. While the bill does not increase the gas tax, it does add revenue to the Highway Trust Fund that will provide three years of certain funding. On Thursday, TRIP, a transportation research group, released a new report that found 28 percent of major urban roads are in poor condition. The largest urban areas with the worst roads are San Francisco-Oakland and Los Angeles-Long Beach. On a brighter note, ASCE just released its #GameChangers report on Thursday to showcase some of the top trends in energy, freight, transportation and water that are paving the way for new innovative infrastructure projects. These game changing trends are examples of what is possible when communities invest, and serve as a reminder of the importance of prioritizing infrastructure at all levels of government. One of the projects featured in #GameChangers, the Lady Bird tunnel-boring machine, had a particularly big week. The machine that had been digging four-and-a-half miles beneath the Anacostia River tunnel system for the past two years finished its work and resurfaced. This revolutionary project is testimony to the infrastructure wonders that can be accomplished with increased investment and ingenuity. Ultimately, without a long-term funding solution for the Highway Trust Fund, we will not be able to fully modernize our infrastructure. Take a few minutes to urge the Senate to work as quickly as possible to agree on a long-term funding solution. You can write your Senators a letter or call their office and share the message to #FixTheTrustFund by the July 31 deadline.Gas Tax Gets New Attention
July 10th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
The hour glass is running thinner on the federal surface transportation program. Congress has only three weeks left to pass a robust, multiyear surface transportation bill before the self-imposed deadline. This week ASCE joined with the American Road and Transportation Builders Association in sponsoring an ad directed at Congress and the President, asking that they continue the legacy of federal investment in transportation. One Congressman introduced legislation this week that could be an answer to that call. Republican Rep. Tom Rice’s legislation, “The Highway Trust Fund Certainty Act,” would raise the federal gas tax by 10.1 cents-per-gallon and index the rate to inflation. This rate would increase Trust Fund revenues by $17 billion—addressing the current funding shortfall and allowing slight growth to the program. In a letter to the Congressman, ASCE commended Rep. Rice’s leadership on this issue, but noted that additional federal investment will still be required to meet our nation’s long-term surface transportation infrastructure needs. Another gas tax increase proposal, the UPDATE Act, also continues to gain supporters and now has 35 co-sponsors. Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is urging Congress to step up and pass a long-term highway funding bill. “We’ve got some problems. I would label it a crisis — a legitimate, disturbing and alarming crisis in our infrastructure system,” Foxx told a small group of reporters at the department’s headquarters Wednesday. He also warned that the administration will begin to notify states about the threat to their transportation funding if Congress doesn’t pass a long-term extension soon. States like Alabama, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Missouri and more are publicly acknowledging their dire infrastructure needs and have begun to halt construction due to the uncertainty of federal funding. With three weeks left, it’s important that your Members of Congress hear from you about why they must work together to come up with a long-term funding solution before July 31 in order to #FixTheTrustFund. Write a letter, call you Senators’ and Representative’s offices, and tweet using #FixTheTrustFund to remind your representation in Washington they have a job to do and a deadline fast approaching.July 1 is a Green Light for OReGO Program
July 1st, 2015 | By: Maria Matthews
Contributed by Jason Magalen, P.E., M.ASCE, Oregon Section ASCE President 2014-2015
Oregon has a history of being a trailblazer when it comes to funding the cost of surface transportation. It was the first state to enact a fuel tax back in 1919 and didn’t stop there. Over the decades the state has completed a number of studies to determine the impact of vehicles on its roads. In 2001, the legislature formed the “Road User Fee Task Force” to explore innovative ways of meeting the maintenance and improvement need of the state’s transportation system. It was this panel that leads us today’s launch of the OReGO program.
OReGO is a first of its kind program through which volunteers will pay a road usage charge for the amount of miles they drive, instead of the standard fuel tax. How does this work? Well, the current usage charge is set at 1.5-cents per mile. Participants will receive a credit on their tax bill to offset the fuel taxes paid at the pump. If you drive an electric vehicle you’ll simply pay the per mile usage charge without the fuel tax offset.
The program rolls begins accepting volunteer applications (up to 5,000 participants) beginning today, July 1, 2015, and I’m proud to be one of them. My decision to participate was based on personal and professional reasons: On a personal level, I feel we all need to contribute to the maintenance and repair of the property we use. On a professional level, civil engineers need to be advocates for ensuring our infrastructure maintenance and repair is adequately funded into the future. You can check out how the pilot program has impacted others who have opted in, including the firsthand account of a state legislator.
Participation is as simple as a completing an interest survey and selecting a service provider to track your mileage. When you receive your device simply plug it in and drive! The device is attached to a credit card and will bill you based on the number of miles you drove during a given period and, of course, receive a credit for any fuel taxes paid during the same period. I’ll be plugging mine in today.
If your immediate thought is “I don’t want the state to track when and where I’m driving,” I had similar apprehensions. There are several available options, though, and volunteers have the ability to select the device, reporting/monitoring, and payment program that fits his/her needs and desired privacy level. He can opt to have “GPS enabled” or non-GPS devices record his miles. The advantage of a “GPS enabled” device is that she will only be charged for miles traveled within the State of Oregon’s borders.
Many of the current comparison models contrast a fuel efficient hybrid with a heavy duty pick-up truck using the average mileage recorded by Oregonians like you and me. Under this model the hybrid driver would pay a little more in user fees but, reap savings in overall fuel costs while the pick-up truck driver would see benefits on both sides via the fuel tax credit applied toward user fees. If you think you might be able to put some cash back in your pocket while still funding our roads check out the monthly cost calculator.
All net revenue generated from road usage fees will be deposited directly into the State Highway Fund. The State Highway Fund is currently distributed 50 percent to the state, 30 percent to counties and 20 percent to cities. It is important to remember that all vehicles are treated the same under the OReGO program. With the exception of a credit received by vehicles that fuel up, the more vehicles that participate in OReGO the more opportunities for Oregonians to share the cost of using our roads.
The Taxman Cometh
June 19th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected balance of the federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF) as of March 2015, which indicates HTF insolvency by September 2015.
Final Inning for Highway Trust Fund Fix
June 5th, 2015 | By: Olivia Wolfertz
With Congress back in session, the countdown for a long-term sustainable solution to fund transportation infrastructure is back on. At this point, lawmakers are in agreement that our infrastructure needs serious attention, yet Congress is in gridlock on finding a long-term solution. Underinvestment in infrastructure does not only lead to a growing backlog of maintenance, but also a drag on the economy. If Congress does not increase investment in the next long-term surface transportation bill, our aging roads, bridges and transit will become an even greater drag on our economy. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explains how poor transportation infrastructure harms businesses, who rely on roads and highways to transport goods in a timely, cost-effective way. This article discusses how road congestion affects businesses by hindering the movement of supplies and lengthening workers’ daily commutes. An effective supply chain relies upon a reliable transportation network, which in turn bolsters the economy. Legislation to raise the federal gas tax, like the bipartisan Bridge to Sustainable Infrastructure Act, would index the gas tax to future inflation and provide Congress strong incentive to bring our transportation costs and revenue under control by creating an automatic revenue increase if Congress fails to act in a year. In a recent CNBC op-ed, Reid Ribble explained that the only way to address our $16 billion annual shortfall is to either cut costs or raise revenues, making a federal gas tax increase the most attractive option. Business Insider emphasized that the Bridge to Sustainable Infrastructure Act is supported by a diverse group of organizations that rely on infrastructure to do business, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The American Trucking Association and The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). On another note, states are flexing their creative muscles to come up with ways to fund their infrastructure needs. In Oregon, ODOT has created a new program called OReGO, which will be the first tested vehicle miles traveled program in the nation. Volunteers will be charged 1.5 cents per mile and will be offered a tax credit reimbursing them for the 31-cent-per-gallon Oregon gas tax. Though Oregonians are excited about this new program, they remain resolved that the federal government find a long-term, sustainable funding solution. With time once again running out, it is critical that Congress feels the pressure to come up with a long-term, sustainable funding solution and passes a multi-year bill by the end of July. If you want to get involved, please write your members of Congress and let them know why America needs a fix to the Highway Trust Fund.Tags: gas tax, highway trust fund
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Win One (Gas Tax) for the Gipper
May 27th, 2015 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
President Reagan Signs the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, January 6, 1983
Tags: economics, failure to act, infrastructure, infrastructure report card, transportation
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