Don Phillips

Transportation crisis? We'll

worry about that tomorrow

We either spend now or forfeit our economic future

 

Consider this blunt statement from a new study on transportation

in the United States: “The reorganization of the U.S. and

continental grid is being driven by the private sector in response

to global economic demands with no public policy framework.

There is no national policy, and no apparent coordination with

Canada and Mexico, to guide its direction.”

 

In other words, when it comes to freight transportation, the

U.S. federal government doesn’t have a clue and isn’t acting with

the slightest planning or intelligence.

 

That wasn’t the only message from a new study called “Transportation:

Invest In Our Future,” a report that is far more important

than its mere 93 pages would indicate. Despite its polite words, and

despite the relatively poor attendance at a Washington press conference

where it was released, it is a straightforward warning about the

direction this country is headed in ground and sea transportation.

 

The message was simple: Start spending on transportation big

time, or forfeit the future of economic development to China, India,

and other countries that understand the value of mobility.

 

What is interesting is that it was produced by an organization that

was once called the “highway lobby,” the American Association of

State Highway and Transportation Officials. In truth, the organization

has long supported rail and all other forms of transportation.

 

Even more interesting was who else was represented at the

press conference and in the report. The railroad industry and the

trucking industry sat side by side. Environmentalists and industrialists

signed off on the same recommendations. The American

Automobile Association was present. It was as if every form of

surface transportation, shipper, and public interest group was saying

the same thing: Start spending real money on transportation

or face the economic and social consequences.

 

Reporters attending the press conference were, as always, skeptical.

I got a laugh when I asked if the truckers and railroaders would

leave the room and immediately start a battle over truck size and

weight. Ha, ha …. Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking

Association, laughed with everyone else, then he turned serious. “I

hope the answer is never,” he said. “Too much is at stake.” Graves

added that it is more important to win the battle over gridlock than

it is to stage yet another fight with railroads. “We must be willing to

give a little to get a lot,” Graves said.

 

It was at this point that I began to realize this was more than just

another special-interest press conference. These were people who

understood that the crisis in transportation is here and now.

 

Commuter rail was represented at the news conference, but not

Amtrak. However, the report stressed that a major increase in intercity

passenger rail service, and a doubling of transit ridership, is

vital to maintaining human mobility, as is an 80-percent increase

in intercity highway lane-miles. “Passenger and freight rail must

continue to grow,” the report notes, “and, where necessary to

maintain the efficiency of freight movement and expand passenger

rail service, public investment should be provided to establish additional

and separate infrastructure.”

 

Unfortunately, none of this will happen any time soon. President

George Bush has promised to veto any spending bill for transportation

that goes beyond his recommendations. That means that transportation

next year would fall $2.5 billion behind the amount necessary

to just stay even. By 2010, the transportation budget would be

$18 billion behind the break-even point. Bush’s budget would allow

transportation to deteriorate rather than grow at a time when major

growth is needed. He also, once again, wants to kill Amtrak while

offering no alternative plan that makes any sense.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think the Democrats would do much

better — at least not until transportation collapses into gridlock.

 

Meanwhile, massive highway and rail building programs are under

way in Europe. The first phase of a new French-German highspeed

line is open, and the two longest rail tunnels in the Alps —

one to become the longest rail tunnel in the world — are complete

or nearing completion. China is in the midst of a large-scale transportation

improvement program, and already has produced (gasp)

one of the safest and most effi cient airline systems on earth. Iran

(gasp) is building new railroads as if its future depends on it.

 

These countries, and others, understand their future depends on

mobility. From the United States comes the sound of snoring.

 

There is no political leadership at the federal level. Even the

federal offi cials who understand the problem can do nothing more

than talk. There is no extra money.

 

Everyone at the AASHTO press conference attempted to be polite.

But it didn’t take reporters much to scratch beneath the surface

and see how upset they were. I felt sorry for them. They were facing

mostly specialty reporters who write for well-informed readers.

There were no TV cameras. No major newspapers showed up. The

big news organizations with access to the majority of the public are

out covering war and electoral politics.

 

Pete Ruane, longtime president of the American Road Builders

and Transportation Association was blunt. He had no need for polite

language. When asked how soon the crisis would hit, he said, “I

believe we’re already there. The crisis is with us.”

 

DON PHILLIPS, a newspaper reporter for more than four decades,

writes this exclusive monthly column for Trains.

There's a couple of other similar threads that we might combine into this, more appropriately titled thread...

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=14029.0

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7939.0

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=13939.0