Move It! How the U.S. Gets Transportation Policy Wrong—and How to Get it Right

This article describes how America needs to start directing traffic. The public sector spends more than $170 billion each year on transportation, and more is needed to modernize the battered infrastructure. Before more checks are written, the nation needs to stop and think long and hard about transportation. Not only is the nation spending too little right now, but the nation is not spending it wisely. The article describes how the nation lacks a clear-cut vision for transportation, and there is no way to target spending to make sure all those billions of dollars help achieve economic and environmental goals. That means there are a lot of bridges to nowhere, with nobody making sure that these big investments generate enough returns to be worthwhile, or that they address any number of the large problems that are crucial to the well-being of the nation. For instance, we do a great job of building new roads—since 2000, there have been enough new lane miles built to circle the globe four times. Yet border crossings, crucial to the nation's exports, are chronically congested, and there's no concerted effort to help unblock them. Meanwhile, at the government's urging, companies are gearing up to produce large numbers of electric cars, but there is no assurance that drivers will have anywhere close enough to recharge them. With the economy is struggling and the nation is trying to achieve a host of conflicting priorities, this can't be afforded anymore. The nation wants to be energy independent and go green. But the nation also wants to boost exports, which means putting more trucks on the road to chug fuel and cough out carbon. The nation wants the mobility that comes from cars and planes but also wants to reduce the amount of energy expended. Clearly, a new approach is needed. Transportation needs to be put squarely in the service of the American economy. The nation must coordinate the efforts of the public and private sectors to make it easier to move freight, find ways to cut carbon emissions, integrate new technologies into daily commutes and connect workers to jobs that are far from their homes.

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  • English

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  • Accession Number: 01342543
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jun 23 2011 9:06AM