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AASHTO Issues the Bottom Line Report,
2002
At a Senate hearing this week, Commissioner
Joe Perkins of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public
Facilities presented the findings of AASHTO's new Bottom Line Report,
identifying highway and transit investment needs through
2009.
Gordon Proctor, Director of the Ohio Department of
Transportation, also testified at the September 30 hearing of the Senate
Transportation, Infrastructure and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, chaired by
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV). Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters also
appeared at the hearing.
AASHTO has developed a comprehensive
analysis of the nation's highway and transit needs to assist the Congress
in reauthorizing federal transportation programs. This year's Bottom Line
Report is the third AASHTO has published; two others were used by Congress
during multi-year reauthorization processes in the early 1990s and most
recently in 1998, the year the current Transportation Equity Act for the
21st Century was passed.
The Bottom Line Report 2002 finds that
capital investment needs are substantial -
$92 billion annually from
all levels of government to maintain the current conditions and
performance of our highway system and $19 billion annually to maintain our
transit systems with only moderate growth in ridership.
To improve
our highway system in terms of reduced delay, increased speed, road
condition and lower user costs, an estimated $125.6 billion would be
needed from all levels of government.
Improving our transit system
to accommodate annual growth of 3.5 percent, and improve service and
conditions, would require about $44 billion annually.
"Meeting our
nation's future transportation needs won't be simple. But it's not
impossible," said AASHTO President Brad Mallory, Secretary of the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. "In the coming year, AASHTO
looks forward to working closely with members of Congress as they craft
legislation that will shape the nation's future transportation systems,
the foundation of our economic growth, and the quality of our daily
lives."
"This report illustrates the daunting challenges we face in
writing the next transportation bill," Senator Reid said. "Unfortunately,
the infrastructure needs of our highway and transit system far exceed the
available resources. As we write this bill I will look at ways of
addressing that challenge and other challenges we face keeping up with the
tremendous demands on our road system and our entire transportation
infrastructure. I want to make sure that in my state and across America we
have a transportation system that promotes economic growth, improves
safety, enhances quality of life, and protects the
environment."
Visit
bottomline.transportation.org to see the report online.
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