Congested Roads Threaten Our Health, Safety, Welfare And Economy

Civil Engineers Say Administration Must Take Action to Prevent Looming Infrastructure Crisis

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2007; Statement attributable to W. F. Marcuson, III, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.M.ASCE, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE):

The overburdened state of the nation's urban roadways has increased so dramatically in the past 25 years that congestion now poses a significant and immediate threat to public welfare and our economy. The recently released Texas Transportation Institute report told us that Americans are now forced to waste more than 4 billion hours each year sitting in traffic, at an enormous $78 billion cost to our economy -- $710 per peak traveler -- and an immeasurable cost to our way of life. As a nation, we are failing to maintain even our current substandard conditions.

The problem on our roadways is complex, and will require a multifaceted solution. However, while it is true that bold thinking and leadership are part of the solution, that bold thinking and leadership must also extend to making hard decisions when it comes to infrastructure funding. The administration's continued refusal to acknowledge that a gas tax increase must be part of the answer -- despite its high-level results and minimal long-term impact on the taxpayers themselves -- is at best, disheartening and shortsighted. A ten cents per gallon increase would raise more than $17 billion a year, while costing the average motorist less than $10 a month.

The American public needs to tell their elected officials -- local, state and federal -- that they will no longer tolerate wasting time sitting in traffic instead of spending that time with their families. Time is working against our infrastructure. We must demand decisive, innovative and meaningful action from our elected officials now, or suffer the safety and economic consequences of inaction.

For more information on ASCE's Report Card for America's Infrastructure and Action Plan for the 110th Congress, please visit: http://www.asce.org/reportcard.

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 140,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. In March 2005, ASCE released its 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, with grades in 15 categories. For more information, visit http://www.asce.org/.