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

  • Zipcar deploys car sharing service across eight London Boroughs
    January 3, 2018
    Floating car service Zipcar Flex (Zipcar), which is said to save 54% of transport costs compared to ride-hailing companies, has been made available to 3.5m Londoners across several Boroughs. The 29p per mile solution is designed to provide its members an environmentally friendly alternative to private car ownership and will only charge for the exact time of their trip. Members can use the car for a one-way journey and be dropped off in one of the thousands of spaces available within its Zipzone, which
  • Asia Pacific dignitaries to see connected vehicle showcases at ITS World Congress
    June 14, 2013
    ITS Japan will use advances in the country’s ITS capabilities since it last hosted the event in 2004 as the basis of several showcases and sessions the forthcoming World Congress (Tokyo 14 – 18 October), the association’s president Hajime Amano told ITS International.
  • Fujitsu: technology set to change UK transport in 2018
    March 15, 2018
    60% of UK transport leaders surveyed believe technology will be crucial to overcoming socioeconomic issues that the country faces today, according to Fujitsu’s Technology in a Transforming Britain report. It found that 31% of organisations will implement robotic process automation over the next 12 months while slightly less plan to invest in artificial intelligence. In addition, 28% will utilise biometrics over this period. The study also revealed that 87% of organisations think technology is driving
  • Flir and Traficon track cyclists
    May 21, 2012
    Flir has teamed up with Traficon to develop automatic detection for cyclists using thermal imaging. The two companies have jointly developed a thermal video solution that meets all federal and state guidelines for tracking cyclists throughout the approach to an intersection.