Skip to main content

ARTBA highlights transport's importance to US

New data available from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) highlights the importance of transportation spending to US economic growth. This information can be sourced through a new Internet resource set up by ARTBA. The data has been revealed at a time when the multi-year highway/transit authorisation bill is still being discussed in the US Congress. The US secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, said at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011 that he hopes a six year authorisation bill will
May 16, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
New data available from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) highlights the importance of transportation spending to US economic growth. This information can be sourced through a new Internet resource set up by ARTBA.

The data has been revealed at a time when the multi-year highway/transit authorisation bill is still being discussed in the US Congress. The US secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, said at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011 that he hopes a six year authorisation bill will be signed in August of this year, but there is still concern that more delays will appear.

ARTBA’s interactive website provides information about the job creation impacts of federal transportation investment on the national and state economies. The data, found at www.transportationcreatesjobs.org, shows the number of American jobs that could be at risk if the House and Senate fail to take action on a long-term bill. It also provides statistics about the size and scope of each state’s transportation network, the current road and bridge investment needs, commuting patterns, and the impacts on other industries that depend on the nation’s transportation network.

The research was conducted by ARTBA vice president of policy & senior economist Alison Premo Black, an economics doctoral candidate at The George Washington University. Utilising US Census Bureau “County Business Patterns” data and the US Commerce Department’s Regional Input‐Output Modeling System (RIMS II), Black found that the transportation construction industry’s largest economic impact is in the state of California, where it generates or sustains more than 354,000 jobs. California’s followed by New York (286,449), Texas (276,276), Florida (196,087), Pennsylvania (148,669), Illinois (129,014), Georgia (106,658), Ohio (104,310), Washington (100,384) and New Jersey (97,036). Black said that money invested in transportation construction industry employment and purchases generates over US$380 billion in US economic activity, nearly 3% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Related Content

  • US Cities push for smarter poles
    June 25, 2018
    US Cities The need to connect existing infrastructure has led various US transit authorities into imaginative alleyways: David Crawford examines some new roles for street furniture. US cities are vying with each other in developing schemes to create a new generation of connected places. Their strategies include taking advantage of their streetlight poles’ height and ubiquity to give them new roles in supporting intelligent nodes. They are now being equipped for collecting real-time data on key transport
  • FIEC joins coalition: more EU budget for transport
    October 30, 2017
    The European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC) has joined a coalition of stakeholders to promote a stronger EU budget for transport after 2020. It believes that there are transport infrastructure projects that require a commitment from the EU and national public authorities which are vital for the EU’s competitiveness but do not generate the necessary return on investment to attract private investors.
  • Elon Musk’s underground movement
    August 3, 2020
    The Boring Company is building tunnels under various US cities – but for what? Kristina Smith delves deep into a project which may (eventually) have real appeal for mass transit providers and transportation agencies
  • Port Authority of New York to go all-electric
    November 2, 2018
    A leading US public transportation agency has become the first in the country to embrace the Paris Climate Agreement, and will introduce an all-electric airport shuttle bus fleet. The voluntary Paris deal is aimed at curbing global temperature rise to under 2 degrees Celsius. As part of a commitment to achieving this, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it will aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 35% by 2025 – and 80% by 2050. Its shuttle fleet will consist of 36 electric vehicl