"Infrastructure Debt" and Funding to Fix It

Governor Rendell calls for more funding to "salvage" America's highways and bridges, and the Infrastructurist reports on America's infrastructure debt. More to follow in today's Infrastructure in the News.

National News

Cascadia Prospectus: Federal Transportation May Skid Off the Road
Proposals are under consideration to change the way transportation is funded nationally, and the consequences are not very promising for transportation, or, for that matter, the federal budget. Instead of funding roads and transit out of transportation tax revenues reserved for that purpose, the idea from the new House leadership is to roll transportation revenues into the general fund and then let roads and trains compete with everything else.

Dallas News: As TxDOT guest, Gov. Rendell of Pa. calls for more taxes, more tolls and more privatization of highways
Texas transportation leaders welcomed on Tuesday one of America's most outspoken Democrats to a stage often used in the past by Gov. RIck Perry, and Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania spent nearly every minute of his fiery speech calling for more taxes, more tolls and more borrowing to salvage what he called the country's fast-deteriorating highways and bridges.

Switchboard: Minding the Gap: Deficit Spending and Transportation
Much has been written about the massive gap between what America actually spends on infrastructure, and what needs to be spent in order to keep the system we've built over generations in a state of good repair while also meeting future transportation needs.

The Transport Politic: Ideological Debate Simmers Over How to Determine Appropriate Transportation Funding Levels
The federal government does not fully cover the cost of its transportation investments through the collection of user fees. The same can be said for many local and state governments. Each has come to increasingly rely not only on fuel taxes to build highways and streets, but also general revenues derived from income and sales taxes.

The Infrastructurist: America's Infrastructure Deficit
Seven of the country’s major transit projects received a late (or very early) Christmas present last week, when the Federal Transit Administration announced the distribution of $182.4 million under the New Starts program, which provides aid to local subway, light rail, and bus rapid transit lines — and, we've argued, creates jobs in the process.

State News

Progress Illinois: Another Midwestern Rail Project Is Threatened
Rail projects in the Midwest have sustained hit after hit since the November elections, when GOP lawmakers took control of several governors' mansions and legislative bodies across the region. In Wisconsin, newly elected GOP Gov. Scott Walker scuttled an $810 million Madison-to-Milwaukee high-speed rail line. The new Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich, did the same for a high-speed rail plan that would have linked Cincinnati and Cleveland. Now Republicans in Iowa are getting into the act.

NBC Bay Area: High Speed Rail Goes to Ghost Town
What's that? You weren't planning to visit this abandoned gold rush town, where the main highlight is a tiny cemetery for railroad workers? Well, that doesn't matter: it's the site of initial construction on California's new network of high speed rail.

PR Web: Michigan Set to Lead America's Industrial Recovery
The Interstate Traveler Company LLC has been working internationally for more than eight years since the first publication of their insightful plans to build a national magnetic levitation high-speed rail network. Since day one, their plan has been to use Detroit factories and skilled labor to mass produce it. They say the system is powered by solar panels that help make hydrogen and they call it the Hydrogen Super Highway.

On Milwaukee: Planes, trains, and Segways: road to Madison paved with options
Supporters of the proposed high-speed rail line connecting Milwaukee to Madison were furious when the federal government decided to yank the majority of the $810 million in funds originally promised to Wisconsin after Scott Walker was elected governor in the fall election.

The Lone Star Report: Legislators touch on transportation reforms, funding at forum
Transportation advocates from across Texas converged on the Hilton in downtown Austin for the The Sixth Annual Transportation Forum to confab on issues facing infrastructure in the Lone Star State, as well as advances that could be applied to the state's mobility system.

The Arizona Republic: Phoenix officials propose another water-rate hike
A year after approving a controversial water-rate increase, Phoenix officials are proposing another rate hike, saying the money is needed to pay off debt and comply with federal clean-water rules.