Our Failing Infrastructure

The contributors on the National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog this week are debating how transportation improvements and transformations can make communities more livable. As one of the key goals of the Obama administration, livability is sure to be a hot topic for the next few years. Already, the administration has announced a partnership between the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development and the Envrionmental Protection Agency to start developing a game plan.

ASCE is pleased to see this shift in thinking and has long advocated for more coordination between infrastructure plans. These livability goals, however, will not be acheived overnight. ASCE’s Executive Director says on the blog that we need to start these plans, but in the short run encourage people to change some of their transportation habits by doing things such as telecommuting or working flexible schedules.

Most everyone agrees that the nation’s transportation infrastructure is in serious condition and that we have to take dramatic action to repair and improve it so we can continue to enjoy its benefits and grow as a nation. Some of the changes we need to make are structural, but many will involve changing our behavior. As we look to plan and design our transportation system of the future, community livability and sustainability will have to be priorities.

Civil engineers have long advocated for mode-neutral planning and increased intermodalism. As we plan the communities of tomorrow, we need to do a better job pairing needs with transportation plans. We also have to give people better alternatives to driving than the ones that already exist. ASCE’s 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure found that only half of Americans have access to public transportation and that only about a quarter of those people consider it a “good” option.

 

To read the rest of the response and see what other contributors are saying, click here.

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