Infrastructure
Basics
Study: Most Roads Don’t Pay for Themselves
Most American roads -- even the most highly trafficked -- are financial losers. That's a major finding from a new study by the Center for American Progress [PDF].
May 4, 2015
You Can Help Make State DOTs Accountable for How They Spend
Pressure is mounting on the president and Congress to keep roads and bridges from falling apart by increasing transportation funding. But a big part of the problem is states, which receive the lion's share of federal transportation funds but opt to spend most on new roads, instead of maintaining existing infrastructure.
April 27, 2015
More Money Won’t Fix U.S. Infrastructure If We Don’t Change How It’s Spent
"America's infrastructure is slowly falling apart" went the headline of a recent Vice Magazine story that epitomizes a certain line of thinking about how to fix the nation's "infrastructure crisis." The post showed a series of structurally deficient bridges and traffic-clogged interchanges intended to jolt readers into thinking we need to spend more on infrastructure.
February 5, 2015
The Indiana Toll Road and the Dark Side of Privately Financed Highways
This is the first post in a three-part series on the Indiana Toll Road and the use of private finance to build and maintain highways. Part two takes a closer look at how Australian firm Macquarie manages its infrastructure assets. Part three examines the incentives for consultants to exaggerate traffic projections, making terrible boondoggles look like financial winners.
November 18, 2014
President Obama’s Hollow Push for Infrastructure Investment
This afternoon, President Obama stood by New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge and made a speech pressing Congress to do something about infrastructure investment. It’s part of his Infrastructure Week push for Congress to pass a fully funded transportation reauthorization bill. Many other groups are spending this week sounding the same horn.
May 14, 2014
Stuck With No Bike Lane? Your Complaint to Congress Is Three Clicks Away
A few months ago, we told you that Building America's Future had released an app called, "I'm Stuck!" It allowed you to send a quick email to your Congressional representatives, telling them that you were stuck in traffic, or on an overcrowded bus or a delayed train, and you wanted Congress to approve more funding to upgrade infrastructure. At the time, we noted that there was no bike/ped component to the app, but BAF has changed that -- halfway, at least.
November 20, 2013
Senators Warner and Blunt Take Another Stab at an Infrastructure Bank
You’d be forgiven for being cynical about big plans in Washington to create an infrastructure bank.
November 19, 2013
Wisconsin’s Misplaced Priorities on Display as Green Bay Bridge Sags
In yet another reminder of what happens when states ignore their existing infrastructure while plotting massive road expansions, a section of heavily traveled bridge in Green Bay Wisconsin is "sagging" nearly two feet. Authorities have closed the bridge, which carries about 40,000 vehicles a day, after frantic calls from drivers.
September 27, 2013
“The Twilight of the Appropriations Process”: House GOP Gets Its Knives Out
Constrained by Paul Ryan's budget and the sequester, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and HUD passed a $44 billion spending bill for 2014 – 15 percent lower than 2013 enacted levels. The bill contains $15.3 billion in discretionary appropriations for the Department of Transportation, also 15 percent below enacted 2013 levels and amounting to about two-thirds of the president’s request. It passed the subcommitee this morning on a voice vote.
June 19, 2013