Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Infrastructure

Confounded by Spike in U.S. Traffic Deaths and Injuries? Look Around

By Brad Aaron | Aug 18, 2015 | 56 Comments

Traffic fatalities in the U.S. increased by 14 percent through June of this year compared to the first six months of 2014, and serious injuries jumped by 30 percent, according to the National Safety Council [PDF]. At the current rate, the group says, nationwide road deaths would top 40,000 for the first time since 2007. […]

The State of American Infrastructure Spending in Four Charts

By Angie Schmitt | May 21, 2015 | 7 Comments

If you’ve checked the news on the subject of American transportation infrastructure lately, you’ve probably heard that the sky is falling. It’s true that Congress can’t get its act together and pass a decent transportation bill, but the amount of money that’s being spent isn’t the problem so much as the fact that we’re spending it […]

Is Raising the Gas Tax Really the Answer?

By Tony Dutzik | May 6, 2015 | 22 Comments

Cross-posted from the Frontier Group … In the 1920s, Great Britain debated the future of its Road Fund – a pot of money raised from vehicle excise taxes and devoted exclusively to road repair. Then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill opposed the fund, arguing that, if drivers paid taxes dedicated solely to roads, “It will be only […]

Study: Most Roads Don’t Pay for Themselves

By Angie Schmitt | May 4, 2015 | 35 Comments

Most American roads — even the most highly trafficked — are financial losers. That’s a major finding from a new study by the Center for American Progress [PDF]. A financial analysis by the think tank found that about four out of 10 U.S. highways don’t carry enough traffic to generate sufficient revenue to pay for their maintenance […]

You Can Help Make State DOTs Accountable for How They Spend

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 27, 2015 | 2 Comments

Pressure is mounting on the president and Congress to keep roads and bridges from falling apart by increasing transportation funding. But a big part of the problem is states, which receive the lion’s share of federal transportation funds but opt to spend most on new roads, instead of maintaining existing infrastructure. Between 2009 and 2011, states spent just […]

More Money Won’t Fix U.S. Infrastructure If We Don’t Change How It’s Spent

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 5, 2015 | 26 Comments

“America’s infrastructure is slowly falling apart” went the headline of a recent Vice Magazine story that epitomizes a certain line of thinking about how to fix the nation’s “infrastructure crisis.” The post showed a series of structurally deficient bridges and traffic-clogged interchanges intended to jolt readers into thinking we need to spend more on infrastructure. The idea […]

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