An ASCE Take on the State of the Union
January 24th, 2012 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The President will be speaking before a Joint session of Congress and the American people tonight to discuss the State of the Union. The first State of the Union was delivered by President George Washington in January 1790 and since then has become a vehicle for a sitting President to outline his legislative agenda for the upcoming year. During last year’s State of the Union address President Obama discussed the nation’s infrastructure crisis and referenced ASCE’s 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure as a reason why action must be taken to repair and maintain our nation’s roads, bridges, ports, water systems, dams, and rail. While it is not likely that the Report Card will be reference two years in a row, ASCE still has a few things that we would like to hear President Obama discuss. ASCE hopes that President Obama calls on Congress to rebuild the infrastructure that once was the envy of the world and spur the innovative imagination that has historically defined this country. It is through a state of the art infrastructure and a growing number of students moving into fields like civil engineering, that America can ensure that the state of the our union will remain strong for years to come. Since last year’s State of the Union address Congress has only been able to extend the surface transportation and FAA programs, instead of pass critical reauthorization bills. Additionally, since last January the National Dam Safety Program has expired and drinking water and wastewater state revolving funds continue to operate off of a 1987 authorization. At a time when the nation needs to create jobs and grow the economy in order to remain competitive, funding the nation’s infrastructure and producing students who excel in math and the sciences can prove to be the key. Therefore, ASCE has defined several legislative priorities. First, we need to rebuild America to compete in the 21st Century. For that reason ASCE calls on President Obama and Congress to:- Pass a multi-year surface transportation bill at level funding.
- Finalize a FAA reauthorization in the next few weeks.
- Reauthorize the National Dam Safety Program for 5 years.
- Begin work on drinking water and wastewater SRF reauthorization bills in 2012.
- Take up a new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that includes the creation of a national levee safety program.
- Pass legislation that would reauthorize the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program.
- Reauthorize the existing Math and Science Partnerships program at the Department of Education.
- Increase funding annual funding for NIST and NSF programs.
Tags: dams, hazards, infrastructure, infrastructure report card, transportation, water infrastructure
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Louisiana Section’s PR Campaign Sets a Great Example
January 20th, 2012 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
We are repeating this post because we thought the information would also be of interest to the readers of this blog. It was first posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012 As the Louisiana Section was gearing up to release its first state Report Card this month, members realized that spreading the word of their findings would require an effective public relations campaign. Realizing they lacked the expertise to execute such a campaign, Section members hired a PR consultant, Baton Rouge-based Mark Lambert. The Section also reached out to ASCE’s Communications and Government Relations departments to request training based on ASCE’s PR University seminar. A half-day PR workshop allowed members to work one on one with ASCE staff who traveled to Baton Rouge. As tailored specifically for the Report Card’s release, the workshop identified proper spokespersons and covered potential issues they might have to address. One critical component was the development of strategies to promote the Report Card to elected officials after the planned press conference, in order to keep the momentum going. With what they’d learned during the PR workshop in mind, the Section wisely decided to reschedule the release upon learning that Louisiana’s governor would unveil an education plan on the same date. With that conflict avoided, the consultant and Nedra Davis, the Section’s communications representative, reached out to reporters one day prior to the rescheduled event to make sure the press conference was on their radar. The day of the event, a news release was distributed statewide. ASCE’s Communications staff distributed it to national trade publications, as well as some Washington, D.C.-based reporters who covered ASCE’s national Report Card for America’s Infrastructure and our Failure to Act economic studies. The press conference was a success. Three TV stations and other media covered their announcement. The Louisiana Section’s actions reflect the type and quality of services ASCE can offer to Sections and Branches — whether it is a state Report Card or the designation of a historical civil engineering landmark.Audi's Take on American Roads
September 26th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Have you seen the new Audi ad? Check out what the folks at Foreign Policy’s Passport blog had to say about it. (And if you haven’t seen it, you can view a clip here as well.) My take on the new Audi commercial was slightly different – “Yes, let’s spend even more money on avoiding fixing the problems instead of actually fixing them.” Meaning, we know what it will take to improve the nation’s crumbling roads, bridges and transit systems – larger investments by ALL users, which is pretty much everyone who lives and breathes in the United States. You either use the systems directly, or use products and services that wouldn’t be available without transportation systems. See ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, especially our 5 Key Solutions. Yet, Audi would rather us invest more in their high-tech car that simply lets you avoid the roads that are all used up and in disrepair, rather than investing in fixing those broken-down roads so they would be useable by all vehicles. Not surprising since their goal is to sell more cars and make more profits. But the fact that this feature is first on Audi’s list of reasons to buy their luxury car above all the others means they must know this resonates with someone. This should be a little alarming to anyone who cares about improving our transportation systems."Earthicane" hits East coast
August 31st, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
In the wake of an earthquake and Hurricane Irene pummeling the East coast, there is now a spotlight on infrastructure. Thousands of bridges and roads needed to be inspected to make sure that they were safe for use. The graphic shows the grades from the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. These natural disasters are a reminder of the importance of infrastructure to our daily lives, and that our infrastructure cannot last forever without improvements and renovations. All of these categories were impacted in some way by these disasters. Schools were shut down, rail, roads, bridges and transit needed to be inspected for damage, flights were cancelled, dams and levees were full to the brim, sewage overflows dumped into waterways. As we recover from these natural disasters, we need to focus on preparing for future disasters by making improvements now to our infrastructure. Infrastructure improvements would assist in protecting lives and property against potential disasters. Congress needs to take action now on the nation’s infrastructure problems, before more lives and property are put at risk due to hazards and corrosion. ASCE and other groups involved in transportation are concerned that without swift congressional action to reauthorize surface transportation funding, jobs will be lost and transportation infrastructure will continue to deteriorate. In ASCE’s Failure to Act economic study we found failure to invest in transportation infrastructure will hurt the US economy and families in the long term. When Congress returns from their summer recess they will only have 11 legislative days until the 18.4 cents per gallon gas tax expires on September 30th, which will leave the highway trust fund without revenue. The recent FAA extension, passed during pro forma sessions held while most members of Congress were not in Washington, is set to expire on September 16th. ASCE hopes Congress will act quickly on these important pieces of legislation.Tags: economics, hazards, infrastructure, infrastructure report card
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Falling Apart & Falling Behind
August 11th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Building America’s Future (BAF) unveiled their own study on transportation infrastructure titled, Falling Apart and Falling Behind, which highlights how crumbling transportation system makes the nation less competitive. Falling Apart and Falling Behind findings fit with the results of ASCE’s recent Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation Infrastructure. The report has four sections, the introduction which present the current status of our nation’s deficient transportation and the second of which identities why the U.S. has fallen from 1st place to 15th in the World Economic Forum’s infrastructure ranking. BAF’s study believes this is due to a lack of a coherent vision for nation infrastructure as well as, dwindling funding. The third part of the study shows our economic competitors are putting money into their transportation systems, while we are lagging behind. The U.S. spends roughly 1.7% of its GDP on transportation infrastructure while China spends 9% and Canada spends 4%. Other countries are making necessary investments in infrastructure to improve their economies as we hide from our growing infrastructure deficit. The fourth section makes these recommendations for how to deal with our transportation deficit: 1. Develop a national infrastructure strategy for the next decade that makes choices based on economics, not politics. 2. Re‐orient Washington’s priorities:- Pass a six‐year transportation bill.
- Target federal dollars toward economically strategic freight gateways and corridors.
- Re‐focus highway investment on projects of national economic significance.
- Invest more in mass transit.
- Implement the Next Generation aviation system.
- Improve facilities at economically strategic airports.
- Invest now in true high‐speed rail in economically strategic corridors.
- Establish a National Infrastructure Bank.
- Develop other ways to pay for road maintenance, including: congestion pricing, tolling, carbon auctions, fees based on miles traveled, Build America Bonds, or reserves built into capital budgets.
- Enhance or make permanent some of the innovative financing and funding mechanisms that have recently been put into place including: Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants and the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA).
- Develop “best practices” for public‐private partnerships.
- Increase accountability in the federal funding and project delivery process.
- Audit the U.S. Department of Transportation.
- Encourage and reward local innovation.
- Remove obstacles to state and local innovation.
- Increase Federal Leadership;
- Promote Sustainability and Resilience;
- Develop National, State, and Regional Infrastructure Plans;
- Address Life Cycle Costs and Ongoing Maintenance; and
- Increase Investment from All Stakeholders.
Failure to Act
July 26th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
Have you ever wondered how much congestion costs you or what underinvestment in infrastructure really means? As if the nation’s economy isn’t struggling enough, a new study about to be released by ASCE finds the cost of deficient transportation infrastructure to American households and businesses is staggering. Wednesday, July 27th ASCE will release, “Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation Infrastructure.” The report builds off of ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure and addresses the question, “what if investment does not change?” A key finding of this study is that the increasing deficiency of our nation’s roads, bridges, railways and transit will accelerate the decline in American families’ standard of living. The report delves into this issue deeper by examining — the cost to families and businesses of failing transportation infrastructure — the impact of surface transportation deficiencies on U.S. economic competitiveness — the levels of new investment needed to avoid serious economic consequences The findings of this report is come at a time when Congress ponders deep cuts in transportation infrastructure funding to help reduce the national debt — the opposite of what the nation needs to regain its economic footing and continue to be competitive in world markets. This is the first of four economic studies commissioned by ASCE. Subsequent reports will address water and wastewater, energy transmission, and airports and marine ports. This report will be available on July 27, 2011, and posted on ASCE’s website.Key Senators Unveil Surface Transportation Principles
May 26th, 2011 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is inching closer to releasing a surface transportation authorization bill, which it hopes to mark up by the Fourth of July. This week the big four of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Max Baucus (D-MT), and David Vitter (R-LA) released a much anticipated outline for the legislation. The broad outline of the bill shows that funding would be kept at current levels, meaning it would total $339.2 billion over six years. Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) acknowledged that additional revenues would need to be defined in order to move forward with the package, but at this time funding details continue to remain vague. In order to maintain current funding a minimum of an additional $13 billion annually would need to be available in the Highway Trust Fund.
Here are the key principles released yesterday:
• Funds programs at current levels to maintain and modernize our critical transportation infrastructure; • Eliminates earmarks; • Consolidates numerous programs to focus resources on key national goals and reduce duplicative and wasteful programs; • Consolidates numerous programs into a more focused freight program that will improve the movement of goods; • Creates a new section called America Fast Forward, which strengthens the TIFIA program to stretch federal dollars further than they have been stretched before; and • Expedites project delivery without sacrificing the environment or the rights of people to be heard.
At a time of budget cuts and talk of a House surface transportation bill only totaling between $210 and $240 billion over six years, the larger sum is encouraging. However, without a way to fund the path forward is complicated. As the House and Senate roll out their differing surface transportation authorization proposals in the upcoming weeks the focus will need to be on creating a concrete way fund a critical national program, which lies at the core of government responsibility.
To read ASCE’s policy on the authorization of the nation’s surface transportation program please read our Blueprint for Success and for further information on the condition of the nation’s infrastructure please read our 2009 Report Card.
