Potholes are an easy target, but we all hate when our transportation infrastructure is run down and doesn’t work. There’s automobile traffic that costs the Chicago region $7.3 billion in wasted time and fuel, slow zones on the El (I can walk faster!), Metra switches that freeze in the cold (while we freeze on the platform texting our co-workers we’ll be late again) and Amtrak congestion going to Union Station (that last mile can take as long as the first 100). Why can’t we just get where we want to go on time?
All of these issues are a result of:
The latest Congressional Budget Office also data reveals the continuing trend in the decline of transportation spending as a share of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. It is down to just 1.36 percent, well below most European countries, Japan and China.
In 2014, $233 billion in federal, state and local dollars were invested in highways, mass transit and rail infrastructure. While that’s a large figure, since 2002, spending on transportation infrastructure at all levels has declined annually.
The solution: With fewer resources, the nation needs to:
1. Focus on maintenance first
Americans spend a long time commuting to work, more than every European country except Hungary and Romania. According to The Economist, “America's spending as a share of GDP has not come close to European levels for over 50 years,” and while “America still builds roads with enthusiasm…it spends considerably less than Europe on maintaining them. In 2006 America spent more than twice as much per person as Britain on new construction; but Britain spent 23% more per person maintaining its roads.” The result? No potholes!
As John Oliver hilariously and satirically points out, cutting ribbons for the next roads, bridges and trains hogs all the spotlight and, until last week (link to pothole video), I don’t recall ever seeing a ceremony for a pothole filling. But as I said, most of the infrastructure in the country is at the end of its useful life—that means roads with potholes, bridges that are uncrossable and trains that don’t run on time. With less and less money available for transportation, we need to focus investments on maintaining the infrastructure we have so it runs better before we build anything new and consider long-term maintenance costs when evaluating whether or not to invest in new capital.
Well, the latest Congressional Budget Office data also shows that maybe decision makers want fewer potholes too. While overall spending at every level of government is down, since 2002, there’s been a smart focus on maintenance over building new.
2. Update revenues: Illinois fuel tax revenues declining
In Illinois, the maintenance backlog is tens of billions of dollars, but per-capita fuel tax revenues have declined by more than a third since the early 1990s, even as construction costs have more than doubled because of inflation. Right now, the average person in Illinois is only contributing $8.25 a month through the state gas tax for the upkeep of our transportation network. I think it’s worth a few extra dollars a month to ensure we don’t get stuck with a more expensive flat tire because a pothole wasn’t filled.
Just in the past three years, 13 states have taken action to invest more in transportation and 18 more are considering action this year. If Illinois doesn't do something this year, not only will we continue to suffer potholed roads and delayed trains, but we will be less attractive to new businesses that want to invest and create jobs in Illinois.
The Metropolitan Planning Council’s Accelerate Illinois initiative, which is being conducted in association with AARP, Active Transportation Alliance, Transportation for Illinois Coalition, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and others, is designed to address these issues that keep us from getting from A to B in a timely fashion by identifying new state funding for transportation.
Don’t be a victim to pothole season 2015—Join Accelerate Illinois today by adding your name to the growing list of Illinois residents and businesses letting our leaders in Springfield know that we are committed to improving our transportation systems.