Secretary Anthony Foxx
Washington, DC, August 11, 2015
This workshop comes at a very important time in the history of U.S. transportation. We find ourselves in a moment where the continued uncertainty at the federal level has paralyzed our transportation system. We know of at least seven states pulling back projects to the tune of at least 2 billion dollars – and those are just the states that have admitted it. We know that across the country more states are delaying projects.
The second reason this is a very important moment is because while revenues and certainty are low we also know, as [Federal Highway Administrator Greg Nadeau] pointed out, that demand is increasing on our transportation systems. So the fact that we’ll have 70 million more people trying to move around over the next 30 years as the Beyond Traffic report says – that means that we’re going to face a time where resources, if they’re not increased, if we don’t find a way to build more, we are going to be constrained. We are going to have longer travel times and more headaches.
Those people who are coming, those 70 million people above and beyond the rest of us, are going to want to move around just like us; they will want to have things brought to their homes, just like us. They’re going to want to be able to work productively in this country. And so we’re going to need to find the resolve to achieve both the maintenance of our current system and also the added capacity that we’ll need.
The other side of this, though, is that we’re going to have to do more than just maintain what we have. We can’t just maintain what we have because, as I said, all things being equal, you can only fill the glass with so much water before it starts overflowing. And if you have 70 million more people, a lot of pressure on your freight systems, eventually the infrastructure’s not going to be able to handle it. So maintenance is not the solution. It is necessary, but not sufficient for what we need for the future. We’re going to need to strengthen it. And we’ll need to make infrastructure more resilient as well.
Beyond Traffic tells us that another super storm or hurricane or some weather event is coming around the corner for us in transportation and in fact climate change plays a role in how we now look at how our infrastructure is built.
Last year we experienced the warmest year on record. And the data shows this record won’t last very long. Our data also tells us that the trend will actually continue and then by 2050 our temperature will have risen another 2.5 degrees. Sea level is expected to rise by a full foot by 2045. Both droughts and floods are expected to become more frequent. We might even start experiencing what we now think of as 100-year storms every 3 to 20 years instead.
And frankly, we’ve already seen a preview. I’m reminded of the damage that occurred following Superstorm Sandy and what it did to our transportation systems in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. And this month marks the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, whose effects are still being felt even a decade later. So let me talk some about what the Administration is doing and this Department, in particular, has been doing in response to these challenges.
First, we’re trying to reduce the carbon footprint of our national transportation system. This is good for the environment, but it is also the economy because it will save families money.
Our National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has worked with the EPA to establish efficiency standards for cars and light trucks that will lead to a near doubling of fuel economy by 2025. We’ve also set the first-ever fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles for model years 2014 to 2018. And we’ve proposed a second round of standards that – among other things – would cut fuel costs by about $170 billion. We’d actually see a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is roughly equal to the energy currently used by all U.S. homes annually.
We’ve also done things like supporting increased investment in transit and intercity passenger rail. We’ve launched a national program to make environmentally friendly transportation choices like bicycling and walking safer and more accessible. We’ve funded projects to develop alternative fuels for aviation and maritime and put more hybrid buses on the streets. We’re even allowing DOT employees to charge their electric vehicles in our parking lot.
But the reality is that even with these other efforts to mitigate the future effects of climate change we still need to protect our transportation systems from what lies ahead. Sea level increases could submerge our east coast rail system and the runways of some of America’s busiest airports.
Meanwhile, higher temperatures could cause asphalt to wear out more quickly and rail to buckle more. So there’s more than a little urgency behind our getting together today to talk about how we can make our infrastructure more resilient in the future.
I also wanted to say that we’ve been able to move the dial on these issues since Sandy by awarding $3.5 billion in grants to 40 transit resiliency projects. The Federal Highway Administration has completed demonstration projects to identify vulnerabilities in our roads and analyze adaptation options. And earlier this year they released the Gulf Coast Phase 2 study on the Mobile, Alabama region.
The goal of that effort was to help Mobile put risk management tools in place to help guide how they safeguard their infrastructure. And as Greg said, my team is going to share many of these tools with you today – tools that you can use in your own backyard.
These tools will help states and transit agencies and communities across the country incorporate resiliency into strategies they have for managing assets. These tools will help you do more with data you have so that you can identify vulnerabilities and prioritize work plans.
So I hope you’ll take these tools and these lessons back with you to your communities. And I want you to remember that we are here to help you. But let me also say that all of you will be able to apply these tools more effectively and be in a stronger position to build more resilient transportation systems if you have a long-term transportation bill with funding growth for these types of efforts.
I don’t have to remind you that Congress recently passed its 34th short-term funding extension.
And I also don’t have to tell you how it makes it more difficult to get projects done. Particularly in this era when we need to rethink the design of projects to raise the standard of resiliency the planning process is even more important. And not having those dollars and that certainty available at this time is creating a real crisis in our nation’s transportation system.
Further to the point, who among you has a project that you can begin and end in a three-month period? My guess is probably none of you. And unfortunately the extension we have is a three-month extension. But even a six-month project or a one-year project wouldn’t happen. So, for us here in Washington and for you back home, wherever you happen to be, we need to continue raising our voices and asking Congress to advance a long-term bill.
Now there is some partial good news here, which is that at least one house of Congress has advanced a six-year policy bill with three years of funding. That’s a start, hopefully not a finish. But my hope is that all of you are also speaking up about why you need certainty to plan and execute projects where you live and what we need in the 21st century.
We’re going to keep pushing for a long-term bill because that puts our investments levels and policies in line with our actual needs as a country. And for way too long we’ve been trying to patch our system together and look under mattresses for resources. But the reality is that America’s transportation system can’t wait any longer. So I hope that you will help us continue to push for a long-term solution.
And with that, I want to thank you very much for being here. It’s my pleasure to be part of this. But I want to say to my team here: I want to thank you all for the incredible work you all have done. You have moved the dial on this issue more than I think any generation of folks at this Department. And I want to say thank you personally not only on my behalf but on behalf of the President for all the great work you’ve done. Thank you.