U.S. Transportation System at Risk: Lawmaker
Concerns for the U.S. transportation system is rising, as funding becomes more difficult to obtain.
Speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Bill Shuster, chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation Committee, warned about America’s transportation woes: “If we don’t deal with this issue at some point, as I said, we will reach a tipping point and the transportation system may not recover and we will fall behind the rest of the world.”
The major issue is the lack of funding, which has traditionally come from the federal gasoline tax which has been about 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. But with vehicles becoming more fuel efficient, it has becoming an ineffective way to raise revenue for highway projects. A recent study by the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated that $2.75 trillion would be necessary to maintain and improve the U.S. infrastructure by 2020. In comparison, the expected funding for that period is $1.66 trillion.
According to Shuster, the U.S. has gone from being one of the top three, four, or five systems in the world all the way down to the 23 or 24. Unfortunately, there’s no quick option to raise more revenue, though nothing is being ruled out for funding sources.
[Source: Reuters]
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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