DALLAS — Transportation infrastructure investments totaling $163 billion/year are needed to meet the needs of a growing population and a recovering economy, a far greater amount than the almost $100 billion of current annual spending by all levels of government, according to a new joint report from two transportation groups.
Keeping pace with demand will require annual capital investments over the next six years of $120 billion for highways and $43 billion for public transit, said the report, which was commissioned by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the American Public Transit Association. Current transportation spending, based on 2011 data, totals $83.1 billion a year for highways and bridges, and $17.1 billion for transit.
U.S. transportation elements are uniformly poor, with rankings ranging from 16th to 19th in the world due to under-investment, the study said.
"Inadequate supply of infrastructure is listed among the most problematic factors for doing business in the United States," the two groups said in the study.
Federal, state, and local governments failed to take advantage of low construction costs and favorable interest rates over the past five years because their revenues were sharply limited by the recession, according to the study.
The investment in highways and bridges needed to meet current demand tops $740 billion over six years without even considering future growth, said AASHTO executive director Bud Wright. That total includes $392 billion for highway system maintenance, $237 billion for expansion of the current network, and $112 billion for bridge projects.
The need for increased investment is obvious, Wright said as he called on Congress to agree on a multi-year surface transportation bill well before the current extension of the Highway Trust Fund expires on May 31.
The business community, labor organizations, commercial truckers, and numerous associations such as AASHTO and APTA back a robust program of federal transportation funding, Wright said.
"There is little disagreement about the value of transportation," said Wright.
"The key is reaching consensus on Capitol Hill," he said. "We hope this report will help decision-makers better understand what's at stake in deciding on a long-term, sustainable stream of revenue to support transportation infrastructure."
The $740 billion projection is based on annual 1% increases in traffic. The latest figures from the Federal Highway Administration show a 2.3% increase in miles traveled for September of this year compared to the same month in 2013, with a 0.7% increase through the first eight months of the year.
The annual price tag for highways and bridges would balloon to $148 billion if vehicle-miles traveled goes up by 1.4% a year and to $156 billion at a 1.6% annual rate.
Americans are expected to drive 3 trillion miles in 2014, a level not seen since the recession began in 2008. The rebound in travel miles has been slow, but the report found the steady increase to be sustainable, spurred by higher employment and lower gasoline prices.
The low level of funding for transportation infrastructure and steady increases in ridership has left transit systems in a hole, said Michael Melaniphy, APTA's president.
Current annual capital spending on public transit is $17.1 billion, but an annual investment of $43 billion a year is needed if passenger-miles grow by 2.4% a year as expected, he said. Transit ridership in 2013 totaled 10.7 billion, the highest level since 1956.
"As the demand for public transportation increases, our systems are strained and in dire need of strong investment," Melaniphy said. "After years of a lack of robust investment, the public transit infrastructure that our communities and businesses rely on to grow and prosper is crumbling."
The Federal Transit Administration earlier this year estimated the current transit infrastructure maintenance backlog at $87.7 billion.
