Fasten Those Seat Belts, Change Is on the Way
John Horsley, Executive Director American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
What may lie ahead for America's travelers in 2008 and beyond?
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Looking back to 1958 is not only nostalgic, it gives a glimpse of life-changing road signs just starting to emerge.
In 1958 you could purchase a brand-new Edsel for $2,200, and fill up the tank with gas costing 30 cents a gallon. Sounds like a bargain, but then the average worker only made $5,500 a year, and anyone earning the minimum wage got paid a buck an hour.
Foreign cars began to appear on the scene with the arrival of Toyotas and Datsuns. Intel developed the first Microchip. (And Elvis was inducted into the Army.)
As the Interstate Highway System construction was beginning, the nation's population was about 180 million. Some 80 million vehicles traveled 800 billion miles, for the most part on two-lane roads. And the United States had its sights firmly fixed on the sky, with the creation of NASA and a national commitment to launching man into space and safely returning him home.
Today, we have our own road signs to the future. We've experienced since the 60's a ten-fold increase in fuel costs, and there is no expectation that fuel prices will decline. Our population is 300 million, and the vehicle fleet is 237 million. Annual travel in 2006 was three trillion miles. More people, more travel, and still more to come.
In the years ahead, Americans will be making some pocket-book decisions on how they travel, and what kind of fuel economy they will seek in buying a new car. The newly passed energy bill will alter the kind of choices we may have.
High fuel prices also have implications for the highways we drive on. Construction costs have soared along with fuel costs, forcing states to delay projects and rethink how to pay for needed improvements. Federal coffers, supported by a user fee of 18.3 cents not changed since 1993, are inadequate and the Highway Trust Fund may run into bankruptcy in 2009, forcing a 40 percent cut in federal highway spending.
2008 will be a pivotal year for defining the future of transportation and new thinking is required. In many states, blue-ribbon commissions are searching for ways to meet transportation funding shortfalls and provide improvements to relieve congestion, accommodate growth and support businesses and industries that provide jobs.
At the national level, the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission will assess America's transportation investment needs and in January recommend program reforms. Reforms in response to the "Bridge to Nowhere" may well become the bridge to a new way of doing business in transportation, as Congress develops future highway and transit legislation.
Congress will be on the hot seat to find solutions before the current federal highway and transit programs run out of money in October, 2008. Continued concern over global climate change will prompt efforts to reduce emissions without stifling economic growth by artificial limits on travel.
The Interstate System, built in the 60's and 70's, is overdue for a makeover that can reduce urban congestion, connect new population centers, accommodate a coming tsunami of freight, repair and improve what we have built, and reduce the death toll on our highways. The kind of technological advances that enable us to carry the world in our pocket can be integrated into the highway system to eliminate collisions, warn drivers of traffic jams and offer alternative routes.
Whether at the state or national level, the road signs to the future all state the same thing: "Work Zone Ahead, Proceed with Vision."
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071219/DC10308http://photoarchive.ap.org/