Blog Post from American Trucking Associations

Economy and Environment to Benefit from Infrastructure Spending

February 13, 2009

Congested highways and crumbling overpasses headline a laundry list of problems described by the American Society of Civil Engineers in their recently issued 'infrastructure report card.'

CNN reports that, "Roads got a D-, with Americans spending more than 4.2 billion hours a year stuck in traffic."

"Poor conditions cost motorists $67 billion a year in repairs and operating costs. One-third of America's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and 45 percent of major urban highways are congested," the engineers' report said.

In addition to threatening our nation's productivity, congestion annually costs the U.S. economy $78 billion in the form of 4.2 billion "lost hours" and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel, says the Texas Traffic Institute, which has identified some 437 urban areas nationwide that are plagued by traffic congestion.

If key congestion bottlenecks were eliminated, the trucking industry alone could save 4.1 billion gallons of fuel over 10 years, and 45.2 million tons of CO2 emissions.

Relieving highway congestion is also a critically important strategy for reducing carbon emissions.

Improving the nation's highway infrastructure is a long-range challenge, and ATA has recommended a 20-year program, focused initially on fixing critical bottlenecks. Longer-range ideas include creating truck-only corridors which would permit carriers to further increase the use of more productive vehicles. If congestion in identified urban "chokepoint" areas were eliminated, the reduction in truck CO2 emissions would be 45.2 million tons over ten years.

For more information about all of ATA's recommendations for reducing emissions and delivering a more sustainable future, visit the sustainability Web site at www.trucksdeliver.org.