The transportation landscape is likely to change dramatically over the next five to 15 years in response to technological advances, changing driver demographics and continuing uncertainty over how much federal support will be available for road construction, a new study conducted by the National League of Cities indicates. These developments are likely to influence how cities, states and even the federal government finance, build and maintain large public transportation projects, the study, “City of the Future: Technology & Mobility,” released Nov. 6, indicates.
New approaches to funding and conducting these projects will be necessary as a continuing decrease in the number of drivers on the nation’s roadways, coupled with increased fuel efficiency, further reduce the amount of gas tax revenue that is funneled into the Highway Trust Fund. Still, an analysis of city and regional transportation planning documents from 68 large communities nationwide indicates that half of these plans include recommendations for new highway construction.
As a result, states will increasingly turn to public-private partnerships to fund major road projects, including toll roads, parking structures and other types of infrastructure “that fall outside the traditional purview of city management,” the study predicts. One example is the Chicago Regional Environmental and Transportation Efficiency program, through which federal, city and state agencies, Amtrak and six private freight railroads are making improvements to the regional rail system to increase Chicago’s rail capacity and ease congestion.
States and the federal government are also likely to consider establishing infrastructure banks (I-banks), which “typically consist of revolving investment funds that can provide fiscal support to different types of infrastructure projects within the state” to meet transportation infrastructure needs. “Currently, 32 states and Puerto Rico have established some variation of a state I-bank and some states that do not have them, such as Connecticut and Maryland, are considering them,” the report states.
The report also presages a rise in the number of cities that adopt “paid road models”— user fees — to pay for such projects. Oregon started a pilot system in July that charges drivers for vehicle miles traveled and will test various collection mechanisms and Washington, Nevada, Minnesota, California and university transportation centers are exploring their feasibility. “… [G]iven the perpetually depleted nature of the Highway Trust Fund, many more states will feel pressure to consider this model,” the report says.
States and cities can use these approaches to identify and pursue financing and expertise from private sources, reducing the need for federal support, which experts view as a positive direction for future infrastructure development.
“There is a great deal of innovation coming out of the private sector and government has started embracing it and applying it in ways that meets civic needs and goals,” Gabe Klein, who formerly headed Chicago’s and Washington, D.C.’s transportation departments, says in the report.
Klein’s comments are echoed elsewhere in the report. “Public-private partnerships have experienced a surge in popularity in the last couple of years and they will continue to become more common as success stories in this vein become more and more prevalent. Effective partnerships between the public and private sectors heed possibilities for improved service delivery, more effectively developed and maintained infrastructure and incorporation of new and innovative modes and technologies into the existing mobility network,” the report concludes.
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By November 19, 2015