The Need for a Revival of American Infrastructure

Perhaps, the best way to solve the Grand Challenge of restoring and improving infrastructure would be to apply the new technologies that have been investigated and tested the most, and put them into action. There is no doubt that the infrastructure from the 20th century has been a great accomplishment, however, we have pushed the problem of improving and restoring the infrastructure off for years, when it is in current need of repair. Moving forward, it is a necessity that our old infrastructure be replaced and re-engineered the best it can be. Additionally, infrastructure needs to be built

Over the years, lawmakers didn’t make big investments into infrastructure in the U.S. because they didn’t know how to fund infrastructure without raising taxes or adding to the national deficit. So, the root cause of a problem like neglected infrastructure in the U.S. stems from American political processes. Political processes are basically how something gets done. In 2009, fiscally conservative Republicans turned down a $478 billion investment plan for infrastructure (Berman, 2015). But, I don’t think that lawmakers can keep putting off on investments in public safety because the U.S. is losing economic competitiveness, jobs, and growth. One of Trump’s biggest campaign promises was revitalizing U.S. roads, bridges, and airports. Trump says that his $550 billion infrastructure plan will grow the U.S. economy and create more jobs (Great Again, 2015). Trump’s also planning on private-sector investors funding this project with tax credits to give investors a return on their investments. I think it’s about time for a more reliable and efficient transportation system. For example, in 2007, the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145 people (Change, 2007). Faulty design led to the bridge collapse. One more example is an Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia in 2015, killing 8 people and injuring 200 people (Calvert & Loftus, 2015). The train accelerated toward a curve but investigators didn’t know if the engineer caused the train to speed up, if there was a mechanical error, or if there was something about the track that cased the crash. Airports in the U.S. are also operating beyond the capacity that they were intended to manage and that’s why terminals are crowded and there’s longer waiting times to get through customs especially at international airports. One time, Joe Bidden even compared LaGuardia Airport in New York to “some

Because of the poor state of the economy the care American infrastructure has been ignored, which poses a danger to everyone that come in contact with it. Recent disasters have reminded many how important the care of American infrastructure is. America’s infrastructure gets a grade of “D” from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which recommends that we spend $2.2 trillion on repairs and maintenance. “Much of America is held together by Scotch tape, bailing wire and prayers,” says director of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. But with the country no longer swimming but drowning in debt the upkeep of things such as roads and bridges, which we use every

The issue of restoring American bridges comes from a federal point of view, specifically the Department of Transportation that in charge of ensuring the passing of FHTF-RAIAPS. Passing this bill signifies an increase in gasoline tax as well as an increase in corporate tax. FHTF-RAIAPS resembles President’s Obama proposal— to overhaul corporate and business taxes to pay for repairing and replacing the nation’s aging roads, rails, bridges and tunnels— except that he opposed to raising gasoline tax (Shear, 2014). The fact they differ in equitable taxation for gasoline, makes their restructuring approach totally different from obtaining public input, delivering organizational activities, getting outputs and achieving the desired

This book changes the way people should think about the Interstate highways because it shows how much people do rely on them; maybe even too much. The book also makes one think about how much money we spend on gasoline and our reliance on foreign oil companies. The highways are a statement of what the American people are. The Interstate system was a great engineering feat, and it changed the landscape of the United States. It is a controversial subject, but it does reflect us as Americans. Lewis say, “the Interstates have reflected our shifting attitudes about technology, landscape, community, race relations, and the quality of our lives. Indeed,

The regulation that will be discussed in this week’s assignment is the Federal-Aid to Highways Act of 1956 found in the e-book: American Transportation Policy. The reason that I have chosen to cover this topic is because this was the start of the development of the highway systems that we are familiar with today. The Federal Highway Act of 1956, in fact, was a bill that was very important with introducing a framework for highways and was done during the Eisenhower presidency.

Within the United States Department of Transportation exists an agency called the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) which was created on October 15, 1966. The FHWA supports State and local governments in design, construction, and maintenance of the Nation’s highway system. The Administration’s mainly responsible for making sure that the highways and roads continue to be among the safest and most technologically available in the world. The FHWA core highway topics are: environmental, federal and Indian lands, highway funding, international, research and technologies, roads and bridges, road users, safety, and road operations and congestion. In order for the FHWA to cover all those topics mentioned earlier the administration has many offices one of which is the Office of Operations.

California is the highest populated state in the USA spanning to be third-largest in area. It has 160,000 square miles of area and more than 50,000 miles of roads and conventional rail networks in addition to over 100 airports. This shows that the state is undoubtedly very well developed. However, the available current transportation systems are not able to satisfy the demands of the current population and the forecasted future demographics. The congestion in the transportation system is causing huge burden to the Californians and the government in terms of time and money.

The topic of infrastructure is one that is repeatedly assessed in regards to urbanization. Infrastructure is an issue that is always being talked about, but it has a vast definition. Infrastructure, in the context of urbanization, is defined as, “the basic physical and organization structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) need for the operation of a society of enterprise (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/infrastructure). Infrastructure includes the basic needs that a society must have to function efficiently. The infrastructure within the United States, a country in the more developed world, is not sufficient in all areas. There are several areas of the country that lack these basic needs. When a

The United States needs a top class infrastructure system. We need a transportation system by land, water, and air that will move people and goods in an organized way and at an affordable cost. However, our infrastructure

Even if the responsibility will be upheld through the Department of Transportation and local public works, the funds for these projects need to be available. According to Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, public spending on infrastructure has fallen to its lowest level since 1947 and the federal Highway Trust Fund is the major source of funds for infrastructure maintenance. However, its main source of funding is the federal gas tax of 18 cents a gallon and is not nearly enough funding to support the maintenance of the infrastructure (Kroft, 2014). In an interview between 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft and Ray LaHood, Ray LaHood goes on to say, “The last time we raised the gas tax, which is how we built the interstate system, was 1993… Politicians in Washington don't have the political courage to say, ‘This is what we have to do.’ That's what it takes.” Another way to fund these projects can be seen through the FIGG Engineering Group. A bridge that linked Chesapeake and Portsmouth, VA became structurally deficient and unsafe to cross. In this case, the local government could not fund the replacement of the bridge (Sofge, 2012). The FIGG Engineering Group organized a bridge construction in the bridge replacement project. The 5,375’ long bridge links Chesapeake and Portsmouth Virginia and was built in less than two years. This bridge

Under MAP-21, the enhanced National Highway System (NHS) is composed of approximately 220,000 miles of rural and urban roads serving major population centers, international border crossings, intermodal transportation facilities, and major travel destinations. It includes the Interstate System, all principal arterials (including some not previously designated as part of the NHS) and border crossings on those routes, highways that provide motor vehicle access between the NHS and major intermodal transportation facilities, and the network of highways important to U.S. strategic defense (STRAHNET) and its connectors to major military installations. The NHPP is authorized at an average of $21.8 billion per year to support the condition and performance

The Way Forward A New Economic Vision for America’s Infrastructure May 2014 By Robert Puentes, The Brookings Institution Bruce Katz, The Brookings Institution Marc Lipschult z, KKR Raj Agrawal, KKR

The current election cycle has two candidates that are both polarizing and have many flaws. The one issue that both candidates can agree on is infrastructure. Both believe that the US must invest in new infrastructure to rebuild the old failing structures that currently exist. NY Times contributor Paul Krugman agrees with the candidates and offers his opinion of how the government can pay for the new construction (1).

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) was created to better the transportation infrastructure in the United States. One of the main reasons for the act was that it “emphasized intermodalism - the seamless linking of highway, rail, air, and marine transportation” (Schweppe, 2001). The legislation enabled the state and local government to have a greater flexibility in transportation programs such as safety, traffic mitigation and reduced emissions. This has lead to many positive changes in the enhancement of roads and bridges along the intermodal transport system to include historic and scenic improvements. What the legislation did not enable the federal government to be directly involved with innovative changes