Surface Transportation Repairs Need $163 Billion/Year
The “2015 Bottom Line Report” on transportation investment needs, released by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the American Public Transportation Association, estimates that to meet current demand it will require an annual capital investment over six years by all levels of government in the amount of $120 billion in the nation’s highway and bridge network and $43 billion in America’s public transportation infrastructure.
To meet the combined surface transportation needs, it would require an investment of $163 billion per year in surface transportation over a six year period. Despite those dramatic investment needs, currently only $88 billion is invested in roads and bridges, while just $17.1 billion is invested in public transit.
“The top priority for every state transportation department is to keep America’s surface transportation system operating safely and efficiently,” said AASHTO Executive Director Bud Wright. While the new report highlights a major gap between what is needed and what is actually spent, Wright said that aiming for a more robust investment level “could target the backlog of repair and rehabilitation projects across the country. Workers would benefit – as would the entire U.S. economy.”
The investment-needs, which are derived from economic analysis of demand trends and current network performance, illustrate that government investment in surface transportation infrastructure is far below what is needed to meet demand and allow for safe travel. The report found about 64,000 structurally deficient bridges are still operating across the country. That is after that category shrank by 43 percent from 1994 to 2013 following a major federal infrastructure spending package and state efforts to target older bridge structures.
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