Deteriorating Transportation Infrastructure Could Cost America $3.1 Trillion

[marmar]

from HuffPost:



New tires add up. That's the finding of a report issued Wednesday by the American Society for Civil Engineers, which tallies up the cost of our decaying surface transportation infrastructure, from potholes to rusting bridges to buses that never come.

The engineers found that overall, the cost of failing to invest more in the nation's roads and bridges would total $3.1 trillion in lost GDP growth by 2020. For workers, the toll of investing only at current levels would be equally daunting: 877,000 jobs would also be lost. Already, the report found, deficient and deteriorating surface transportation cost us $130 billion in 2010.

By and large those costs would not come from the more dramatic failings of America's transportation system -- like the collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minnesota -- but more mundane or even invisible problems. The minivan that hits a pothole chips away at a family's income. The clogged highway that drains away an extra half hour of a trucker's day also drives up the cost of shipping for businesses.

Congestion, the report found, is of particular cause for concern. Already, 40 percent of urban interstates have capacity deficiencies. Currently, that costs us $27 billion a year in lost time and other inefficiencies wasted on the roads. By 2020, that number could grow tenfold, reaching $276 billion a year. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/27/transportation-infrastructure-cost_n_911207.html?1311795208

[gratuitous]

1. Sure, it costs us all a little bit

But it doesn't cost wealthy jerks an extra three cents on the dollar for their "earnings" above a quarter million a year, so it's all to the good.

Of course, these externalized costs, spread over a wide swath of the population, go practically unnoticed. If your neighbor buys a new set of tires because the old ones wore out prematurely on poorly-maintained roads, does it really affect you? Or if your boss sits in traffic for an extra five minutes on the way into the office, you might actually appreciate a little extra quiet time to work in a project. All of this little stuff adds up, though.

We could generate a whole lot of jobs by investing in infrastructure maintenance and repair with money currently going to the war effort in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places not quite so newsworthy. And, whereas the money spent on Afghanistan pretty much vanishes out of the American economy, the money spent fixing old roads and laying new roads gets spent in various ways throughout the economy. Better roads means better travel efficiency. Road workers spend their paychecks in the area, buying goods and services that in turn pay the salaries of other workers.

But for some reason, our nation refuses to consider changing the way things are, and our infrastructure declines bit by bit, more people die needless and useless deaths overseas, and the big shots who dominate our discourse shrug and say nothing can be done.

[lib2DaBone]

2. ..yet we spend $20 Billion a month in Afghanistan and Iraq....

while our country crumbles... it doesn't make sense?

[Cali_Democrat]

3. No....

Plus, if we spent the money on infrastructure here, we would create jobs :think:

[ixion]

4. One thing that could ease pressure on the infrastructure: Telecommuting.

Anyone who works at a keyboard for a living should be able to do so from their home. It saves time and money and increases productivity. What's not to love?

[Glimmer of Hope]

5. Can we afford that?