Irving, TX – Addressing transportation leaders at one of the country’s largest transportation and infrastructure summits today, U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL) proposed a massive investment in America’s infrastructure.
Mica, Republican Leader of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told the group at the Texas Transportation Summit that the I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota is only the tip of the iceberg, and the nation has a growing backlog of improvements needed for our aging and deteriorating roads, bridges, ports, airports and rail systems.
“This nation lacks a true comprehensive transportation strategy,” Mica said. “Not since President Eisenhower laid out his vision for the Interstate System have we seriously considered a national transportation strategy.
“The infrastructure of this nation is deteriorating, and I’m sorry to say that no one can tell me what the federal role is in maintaining and expanding this infrastructure for future generations. For example, we have no idea what our Interstate System will look like in 20 or 30 years. We’ve got to stop thinking of transportation as a stove-piped patchwork of systems and develop a national transportation strategy to address the key transportation issues of today and tomorrow,” Mica said.
The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation’s infrastructure an overall grade of “D” and estimates that an investment of $1.6 trillion over five years is needed to raise that grade and improve our infrastructure.
“Addressing these transportation infrastructure needs will require a dramatic investment in our highways, bridges, airports, transit systems, ports, waterways, and passenger and freight rail systems.
“Transportation leaders will have to think creatively to finance these vital improvements. We must find ways to better leverage the taxpayer’s dollar and we must take advantage of the investment potential that exists in the private sector. I’m disappointed that our current Democrat leaders in Congress have thus far failed to utilize public-private partnerships as one tool to encourage investment in our infrastructure,” Mica added.
Mica recently met with Presidential policy advisors to express his concerns about the lack of a national strategy to address the nation’s many critical transportation and infrastructure needs.
Nearly 27% of the nation’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. According to Department of Transportation estimates, investment levels for our highways and bridges aren’t enough to even maintain current conditions, let alone improve them. One result of this investment shortfall is that our urban areas experience an average of 6.6 hours of highway congestion every day.
The Federal Aviation Administration projects that in less than ten years, U.S. commercial airlines will be carrying a billion passengers per year. If air traffic grows according to FAA estimates, we stand to see a 62% increase in delays between 2004 and 2014.
This nation lacks a single true high speed rail system. The slowest Japanese Shinkansen train averages 125 mph; the French TVG recently reached a top speed of 357 mph; yet Amtrak’s so-called “high speed” Acela averages just 86 mph between Washington, D.C. and New York City – too slow to even be considered high speed.
Although 95% of international trade volume arrives in the U.S. by ship, only 13% of domestic freight moves by water. The United States must modernize its ports and waterways and take advantage of shipping as a way to alleviate the congestion plaguing other modes of transportation.
“If we fail to invest in our infrastructure, our transportation systems will continue to crumble and this country loses the means to compete in a global marketplace,” Mica concluded.
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