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

  • Study - Move to digital railway systems fuels need for big data
    March 13, 2015
    New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Analysis of Big Data in Rapid Transit, finds that global annual rail investment in big data will reach over US$2.14 billion by 2021. Investments will grow at a minimum of 60.3 per cent. The study covers hardware, big data distributions, data management components, analytics and visualisations, and services. The global rail market offers huge opportunities for big data technology providers. As some of the signalling equipment on rail networks is nearly 80 years o
  • Peru's ‘chaotic’ traffic problems
    August 7, 2014
    Peru's ‘chaotic’ urban transport system generates losses of US$20 billion a year due to health, transport and economic costs, according to state news agency Andina. Luis Gutiérrez, head of Latin American BRT association (SIBRT), said accidents, pollution-caused breathing problems and sedentary-related illnesses cost US$8 billion a year in Peru, while transport-related problems such as time wasted in traffic and higher gasoline consumption cost another US$8 billion. The remaining US$4 billion is the impact o
  • U.S. parking sector to help grow workplace electric vehicle charging
    February 1, 2013
    The American parking industry is backing a government initiative to expand electric vehicle charging stations in the workplace. The International Parking Institute (IPI) has become a founding ambassador in the US DoE’s Workplace Charging Challenge, the latest element of the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge, announced by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu at the recent Washington Auto Show’s Public Policy Day. The Workplace Charging Challenge is assisting the growth of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) by urging emp
  • Florida SunTrax centre wins top IBTTA award
    September 16, 2020
    Florida's Turnpike Enterprise R&D facility has four toll sites for testing