It is no secret that the United States has been struggling with its aging and crumbling infrastructure for decades. Investing in fixing and repairing its infrastructure must be done now.
On 5 November 2021, Congress approved a bipartisan infrastructure law, and on the 15th, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law. With a price tag of $1.2 trillion, the legislation is the largest federal infrastructure investment in decades to fix and modernize America’s critical infrastructure.
What is unique to this bill is that apart from fixing and upgrading American infrastructure, which it badly needs, the legislation also aims to address climate change—investing in public transportation, EVs, renewable energy and the expansion of renewable and clean energy.
However, since the bill’s passing, a disproportionate amount of money has gone into maintaining and widening roads and highways rather than improving public transportation and cycling infrastructure.
A recent analysis by Transportation for America reveals that out of the allocated $130 billion for transportation spending, only one-fifth has been used for public transport.
The report highlights that nearly $70 billion went into highway expansion and resurfacing, representing a continuation of past practices rather than the transformative change sought by the bill and climate action advocates.
The coalition emphasizes that this approach amounts to doubling down on a strategy that has historically fallen short, while states and authorities are slow to allocate funds for transit and other emissions-reducing projects despite the urgent need to address the climate crisis.
According to the report, states have broad flexibility in using the funds and spending them on traditional and unsustainable road-building projects. If this spending trend continues, the country will be on track to emit an additional 178.5 million tonnes of GHG by 2024 or the equivalent of running 48 coal-fired plants yearly.
Talking to The Guardian, Corrigan Salerno, policy associate at Transportation for America, says that how states spend the IIJA federal dollars is not “too conscious of the climate across the board from states” and that nothing is fundamentally changing in terms of modes of transport. He says the country has been expanding highways for decades, yet everyone consistently finds themselves stuck in traffic.
Salerno adds that the Infrastructure Bill, originally intended to address the country’s infrastructure and emissions, will cause it to generate more emissions from transport than if the bill had not been passed.
The country’s transportation sector contributes to GHG emissions, making up 28% of its total carbon emissions.
The article notes that the US has a fixation with hulking roads and supersized cars, which are responsible for about 40,000 deaths per year, and the figure has only increased in recent years. The rising number of road fatalities has led advocacy groups in climate, biking, and walkability to call for a moratorium on highway expansion.
Why States and Cities Should Think Beyond Highway Expansion
Based on the WRI article, studies have confirmed that expanding roads does not alleviate traffic congestion. This is because a larger road capacity only leads to more users, known as “induced travel” or “induced demand”.
Conversely, research also demonstrates that investing in cleaner transportation methods like public transit, walking, and cycling brings significant public health benefits.
These benefits include reducing emissions, enhancing air quality, lowering injuries from motor vehicle accidents, and elevating physical activity levels. It has positive impacts on communities of color and low-income communities, which have historically experienced higher pollution exposure rates and limited access to public transportation due to discriminatory policies.
Maintaining current services that the community needs or expects whilst transitioning to different modes of service delivery is hard and takes time. The application of infrastructure asset management planning tools and techniques can assist in planning and managing these service delivery mod shifts.
Source:
Modernizing US Infrastructure: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. (2021, November 15). The White House. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2021/11/15/the-time-is-now-to-modernize-u-s-infrastructure/
The IIJA is a climate time bomb. Will states defuse it? (2024, February 28). Transportation for America. Retrieved from https://t4america.org/2024/02/28/the-iija-is-a-climate-time-bomb-will-states-defuse-it/
Milman, O. (2024, February 29). US spends billions on roads rather than public transport in ‘climate time bomb’. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/29/biden-spending-highways-public-transport-climate-crisis
Lavelle, M. (2024, May 6). ‘Build Green’ Bill Seeks a Clean Shift in Transportation Spending. Inside Climate News. Retrieved from https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06052024/build-green-bill-clean-energy-transportation/
Saha, D., Bradbury, J., Kruger, J., Lashof, D., & Litz, F. (2022, May 6). Beyond Highways: Funding Clean Transportation through the US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. World Resource Institute. Retrieved from https://www.wri.org/insights/clean-transportation-us-bipartisan-infrastructure-law
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