Current transportation system investment trends could produce dire consequences for the American people and economy, a new report from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) says.
With the FAST Act, the funding authorization for surface transportation spending, expiring on Sept. 30, ASCE released new data on transit systems, roads and bridges that illustrated the cumulative investment gap between what we’re currently spending on those transportation systems, and what we need to be spending to maintain our surface transportation assets in a state of good repair.
According to ASCE, that gap amounts to about $5 trillion in 2019 dollars.
Over time, the ASCE said, the effects of not keeping up with our infrastructure could cost households and industries $677 billion over the next decade and another $1.3 trillion between 2030 and 2039. Additionally, with an inefficient surface transportation network, the U.S. could lose more than 540,000 jobs by 2040.
ASCE said the current backlog of transit investments amounts to about $176 billion, and could grow to nearly $500 billion through 2039. For roads, the funding gap to rehabilitate pavement and make other operational condition improvement is $12 billion per year. According to the ASCE, Congress should be spending 29 percent more than current spending levels to address the current backlog and anticipate future backlogs.
ACSE said the data was preliminary, but would release a full report later this year.