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I’M SURE THAT SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION RAY LAHOOD
didn’t quite mean what he said when he told the Senate Budget Committee,
“There’s a lot of lousy bridges and roads that need to be constructed.”
While the comment is amusing, LaHood’s larger point was a crucial
one—one that is frequently acknowledged and too seldom addressed: The
nation’s transportation infrastructure is in sore need of investment in
repairs, upgrades, and added capacity.
It’s not as if the nation doesn’t already spend a lot on such projects, but
the need is far greater than the resources allotted to them. LaHood told the
committee that the Department of Transportation has a backlog of
between $80 billion and $100 billion in high-priority infrastructure
improvement projects that it cannot afford to fund,
Infrastructure projects were intended to be an
important part of the federal plan to stimulate the
economy, and with good reason. One is jobs. The
Associated General Contractors of America estimates
that 25 percent of construction workers are unem-
ployed, so the need is great. But spending on infra-
structure is not just federal largesse intended to make
work. It is a form of investment crucial to our eco-
nomic well being.
For several years now, businesses that move goods or
depend on their movement have sought to convince
policymakers of the importance of a sound, efficient
national infrastructure to our economic strength.
Trouble is, it’s not easy to measure the return on investment in things like
roads and bridges. We all know they can pay off in improved safety and
reduced congestion, but how much exactly?
We may soon have some answers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is
launching an effort to measure the performance of the nation’s infrastructure and quantify exactly how it affects the U.S. economy. As Senior Editor
Mark Solomon reports in this issue’s News Worthy section, the trade group
will create national and state performance indexes for each of what it considers the four core sectors of U.S. infrastructure: transportation, energy,
broadband, and water.
The transportation index will be the first one the chamber issues, probably in mid-summer. Once Congress turns its attention to the next round
of transportation authorization bills, the index could provide just the sort
of information needed to show how investment in roads, bridges, and so
forth pays off for the entire nation—not just in construction jobs but in
providing the clear arteries required for a healthy and vibrant economy.
