National Roundtable on Surface Transportation

Our national transportation policy is broken. The federal government collects from taxpayers and dispenses almost $50 billion a year on transportation, yet provides no guidance on what purpose our transportation system should serve and requires very little accountability of how transportation funding is spent.

Given the impact of transportation on our daily lives it seems incomprehensible that such a large amount of money is distributed without using it to make a difference in the things that matter to people and businesses. Yet our transportation policy is stuck in self-perpetuation mode, building roads for the sake of building roads, and transit for the sake of building transit –not to mention an occasional ​“bridge to nowhere.” All of this money is being spent in the absence of a thoughtful national strategy defining how transportation can help the U.S. meet some of the major challenges that lie ahead.

In less than fifty years, the population of the United States will grow by 40 percent, adding more than 120 million additional people. During that same time, we estimate that the U.S. will add or replace over 80 million housing units. All of this growth is occurring at a time when most of the nation’s big infrastructure systems, including the interstate highways, airports and seaports, are at or near capacity, leaving little or no room for this growth.

Some of the most rapid growth in the nation is taking place at the fringe of metropolitan areas; as these regions sprawl into each other, megaregions are emerging, consisting of networks of adjacent regions linked by overlapping commuting patterns and economic connections. Freight movement will grow exponentially, as we increase the share of foreign trade in our national economy and ​“just in time” delivery creates more short truck trips on the nation’s roadways. Against this backdrop of growing demand, scientists and policy experts estimate that to avert the catastrophic impacts of global climate change we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Leaving climate change alone for a moment, just accommodating the projected increases in population and freight movement without overwhelming communities in traffic congestion, air pollution, and road construction will require a major shift in how we coordinate land use and transportation policy. Creating quality communities in this context will require reducing our dependence on cars, which in turn will require a commitment to coordinating land use and transportation decisions – something that is largely absent from national policy today. As we look ahead, environmental exigencies and demographic changes suggest that single-family houses in single-use neighborhoods can no longer be the dominant form of development in America. National policy must lead the transition to more active, mixed-use communities integrated with transportation options.

Maintaining America’s position in the global economy and ensuring its future prosperity will require strategic investments in key global gateways, landside access to ports, intermodal hubs, and freight corridors. On the passenger side, it will require low-carbon, dependable transportation options for intercity trips, replacing short-haul air travel with high-speed rail in select corridors and megaregions. These investments must be led by the federal government and should adopt a new intermodal approach that breaks through the decision-making and financial silos that separate road, rail, air and maritime infrastructure. Projects and system improvements should be evaluated for their ability to promote efficient movement of goods and minimize environmental impacts, to facilitate global trade and dependable service for users.

The transportation sector, which is responsible for about 1/3 of carbon emissions in the U.S., has a large role to play in mitigating climate change. As noted by Steve Winkelman in our discussions, reducing carbon emissions from transportation requires action on all three ​“legs of the stool” – vehicle fuels, vehicle technology, and trip demand (reducing vehicle miles traveled.) Real change will require leadership by the federal government to set emissions caps and improve vehicle efficiency standards, while allowing flexibility and innovation on the part of states and local government to meet those targets. The changes involved in the transition to a low-carbon economy are nothing short of radical, but also present opportunities for the growth of new industries and technologies, which should be supported by national policy.

In short, the word that best applies to the next transportation authorization in 2009 is reform. Incremental changes to the transportation legislation (SAFETEA-LU) that was widely criticized in 2005 for its lack of purpose and profligate earmarks will not be sufficient to tackle the profound challenges that face our nation. The next authorization requires major reform, a bold vision, and a sense of purpose cutting through its programs against which every project can be weighed.

In this spirit, Regional Plan Association and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy convened a roundtable forum of thirty distinguished leaders and scholars in transportation, planning, and business at the Pocantico Conference of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund to develop transportation strategies to meet the challenges that lie ahead. Included in this volume are the briefing papers for that meeting and selected notes from our conversations.

In the pages that follow, Michael Meyer discusses the major trends shaping national transportation policy in America, providing the context for the next ​“vision” of national transportation. Gary Maring of Cambridge Systematics outlines the major funding gap around the corner and proposes a range of revenue raising options to maintain and expand the system. And Mort Downey explores the glacial pace of transportation policy reform, providing a history of the three major ​“waves” of transportation policy in preparation for mounting a ​“fourth wave” of policy reform in this new century.

This is just one of many conversations taking place across the nation in preparation for the transportation bill in 2009, including the official National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, which will present its recommendations in December 2007. We hope the ideas provided here can strengthen the call for real reform and plant the seeds of a vision of how transportation can support the nation’s sustainable growth and long-term prosperity.

For additional information on the America 2050 project, visit the archived America 2050 website.