$2 Trillion Needed for Infrastructure Challenges

 

Urban Land Institute determined that there has been a mixed record to date with regard to the success of public/private partnership. The report pointed out how some states -- including Virginia, Florida, and Texas -- have been enjoyed more success than most in hammering out relationships with private firms to design, build, operate and maintain transportation infrastructure.

The United States is falling significantly short when it comes to addressing major transportation infrastructure priorities, concluded a report released Monday by the Urban Land Institute.

The nation will need to invest an estimated $2 trillion just to rebuild deteriorating networks and more money to expand or at least maintain infrastructure that encompasses roads and bridges as well as water lines, sewage treatment plants, and dams, ULI asserts.

The report, which focused on both the infrastructure challenges and financial constraints that confront 20 major metropolitan regions, found that some cities have had more success than others moving forward with key projects due to pooling resources among local governments and achieving consensus on planning and spending. Other cities examined in the report, however, have been compelled to cut back on new projects and still come up short on money for needed repairs.

"They must make difficult triage decisions, including service cutbacks and fare increases for transit systems," according to the report.

Other recommendations made by ULI include giving the highest priority to projects to repair and upgrade existing networks, focusing funds on metropolitan areas, creating federal and state infrastructure banks to help support project financing for such initiatives as public/private partnerships, and ensuring increased long-term certainty for federal money on behalf of planning for capital projects.

– Courtesy of AASHTO