Skip to main content

Trump calls on Congress to produce $1.5tn bill for infrastructure

President Donald Trump has announced a plan in his State of Union to push Congress to approve a $1.5tn (£1.05tn) scheme which he described will “build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land.” A report from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association revealed that 54,259 of the nation’s bridges are rated structurally deficient with Americans crossing them 174 million times a day. The president added that every Federal dollar should be leveraged by
February 1, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

President Donald Trump has announced a plan in his State of Union to push Congress to approve a $1.5tn (£1.05tn) scheme which he described will “build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land.” A %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external report American Road &amp; Transport website link false https://www.artba.org/2018/01/29/54000-american-bridges-structurally-deficient-analysis-new-federal-data-shows/ false false%> from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association revealed that 54,259 of the nation’s bridges are rated structurally deficient with Americans crossing them 174 million times a day.

The president added that every Federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with State and local governments, and where appropriate, tap into private sector investment to fix the infrastructure deficit.
 
Shailen Bhatt, CEO and president of ITS America, believes that the president’s announcement represents a major opportunity for the ITS industry. Speaking to ITS International, he said: “If you want to leverage dollars, there’s no better tool in your toolbox than ITS technologies.”

Other key findings in the report showed that 226,837 U.S. bridges and 17,726 interstate highway bridges have identified repair needs. In addition, it revealed that Iowa has the most structurally deficient bridges with 5,067 followed by Pennsylvania’s 4,173 while at least 15% of bridges in Rhode Island, Iowa, West Virginia South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Nebraska all fall under the structurally deficient category.

UTC

Related Content

  • March 8, 2016
    Bill Shuster to headline IBTTA Transportation and Finance Summit
    Bill Shuster, chairman of the United States House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, will lead a notable list of political and policy experts when he addresses the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association's (IBTTA) Transportation Policy and Finance Summit, 14 and 15 March 14-15 at the Washington Marriott Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The meeting is co-hosted by IBTTA local members; the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the Transurban Group and the Virginia Department of
  • September 23, 2019
    ITS European Congress: call for contributions
    Ertico – ITS Europe is calling for session proposals and papers for the 14th ITS European Congress, which takes place in Lisbon, Portugal on 18-20 May 2020. Themed ‘ITS: The Game Changer’, the Congress will look in particular at data, focusing on areas such as connected and automated mobility, and new mobility services, as well as transport network design and operations. A welcome message from European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, explains: “The Congress will also specifically look at other to
  • January 16, 2015
    ITS World Congress last call for papers
    The ITS World congress takes place in Bordeaux in October 2015. Authors who wish to submit technical, scientific and commercial papers and proposals for special interest session have just three days left. The deadline is Monday 19 January at 23.59 CET and no extensions will be granted. Submit your papers and proposals here now.
  • January 23, 2014
    FHWA developing 2015 infrastructure guidance for connected vehicles
    The US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) plans to issue deployment guidance on connected vehicles to transportation infrastructure owner/operators in 2015 and is seeking input on what would best support decision-making and deployments at the state and local level. The FHWA is specifically seeking input on the following: • What type of guidance is needed to best support the successful deployment of connected vehicle technologies? • What specific issues would you like to see addressed for plannin