Skip to main content

Obama administration begins work on 30-year transportation plan

The Obama administration has begun to map out a 30-year framework to meet US infrastructure needs, according to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, speaking in an interview with the Washington Post. Foxx promised a comprehensive review of the demand for new or replacement systems a year ago in an address to the Transportation Research Board. He returned to the group this week to roll out conclusions expected in a report later this year. “Transportation is a system of systems,” Foxx said, rather tha
January 14, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The Obama administration has begun to map out a 30-year framework to meet US infrastructure needs, according to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, speaking in an interview with the Washington Post.

Foxx promised a comprehensive review of the demand for new or replacement systems a year ago in an address to the 856 Transportation Research Board. He returned to the group this week to roll out conclusions expected in a report later this year.

“Transportation is a system of systems,” Foxx said, rather than the aggregate of separate systems that can be addressed individually. “The idea that we’re looking at the system comprehensively is the thrust of this report.”

He said the report, which will be followed by a formal comment period, is intended as the beginning of a conversation about the future, rather than the conclusive definition of a path forward.

The report being drafted by the Transportation Department draws in part on data compiled in recent years by such groups as the Miller Center at the 2005 University of Virginia and the 5515 American Society of Civil Engineers.

An ASCE report two years ago concluded that it would take a US$3.6 trillion investment by 2020 to meet infrastructure needs, about US$1.6 trillion short of current spending. The Miller Center said maintaining infrastructure at current levels required additional spending of US$134 billion to US$194 billion each year through 2035.

Related Content

  • January 7, 2015
    Increase infrastructure spending says senator
    US Senator Bernie Sanders is to introduce legislation when the new session of Congress convenes this month to authorise a US$1 trillion, multi-year program to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges and invest in other infrastructure modernisation projects. The investment not only would begin to address a growing backlog of badly-needed repairs, it also would put 13 million Americans to work at decent-paying jobs, according to Sanders, who will take over this month as the ranking member of the Senate Budget
  • October 3, 2014
    IBTTA commends new report on infrastructure planning
    The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) has responded to the joint report by the Eno Center for Transportation and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which highlights the benefits of life cycle cost analysis in planning transportation infrastructure projects. Executive director and CEO Pa trick D. Jones said: “We commend ENO and ASCE for issuing an important report, Maximizing the Value of Investments Using Life Cycle Cost Analysis. This report is especially timely
  • May 12, 2015
    US transportation secretary supports Infrastructure Week
    In support of the third annual Infrastructure Week, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is participating in events in Washington and will then head out to meet with state and local leaders, business leaders and academics in Tennessee, California, and Iowa. “Our nation’s economy and the way we live both depend on having strong infrastructure,” Secretary Foxx said. “But the truth is that our current levels of investment are falling short of what is needed just to keep our existing system safe and in g
  • March 31, 2015
    Secretary Foxx sends six-year transportation bill to Congress
    Over the past year, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has visited more than 100 communities and heard one common story about crumbling infrastructure and dwindling resources to fix it with. Foxx has now sent to Congress his solution to this problem: a long-term transportation bill that provides funding growth and certainty so that state and local governments can get back in the business of building things again. The Grow America Act reflects President Obama’s vision for a six-year, US$478 billion