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.

Related Content

  • Schneider helps relieve traffic in Dallas in U.S. DOT pilot program
    April 23, 2013
    A U.S. DOT pilot program in Dallas aims to reduce traffic congestion along a 28-mile segment of US-75 through closer coordination of multiple transportation agencies and city governments.
  • Renault and Waymo explore AV service in Paris
    November 14, 2019
    Renault and Waymo are hoping to establish an autonomous mobility service between Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport and La Défense, a business district in France’s capital Paris. Valérie Pécresse, president of the Paris region, says the service could “play a key role for the mobility of Île-de-France inhabitants, tourists and therefore for the international attractiveness of our region, which is investing €100 million to develop the infrastructure on which autonomous vehicles will operate.” Both partie
  • Europe's senior execs converge for connected car forum
    October 8, 2013
    Telematics Munich 2013, Europe's largest and most influential business conference and exhibition for the connected car industry, will host twelve hours of networking sessions across two days, 11 and 12 November. The official agenda is the result of six months of independent research, reflecting the latest trends, market activities and exciting growth in the European connected car space.
  • Registration now open for ITS Europe Congress
    March 16, 2016
    Registration for the ITS European Congress in Glasgow, Scotland on 6-9 June 2016 is officially open! Early bird registration rates are available until 18 April. Over 2,5000 ITS professionals are expected to attend the event which has an extensive programme this year, including the Mayor’s Summit on Wednesday 8 June and a Gala Evening at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Wednesday 8 June. In addition, there are more than 100 sessions around the five Congress topics, a student programme, technical vis