Transportation and the Economy

Transcript

SECRETARY PETERS:   There’s an opportunity, I think a unique opportunity, before us today. Our next President will most certainly sign into a law a new surface transportation bill. If we, together, can get the policy right, that bill has the potential to be as far reaching as the interstate highway system was when President Eisenhower envisioned it in 1956. We have a way to revolutionize the American economy and the American way of life.

Now, let me be clear. If we just content ourselves with figuring out the funding formula, how to divvy up among the states who gets what and what’s left over at the set-asides and the earmarks, we will have failed, and we will have failed this country tremendously. We’re operating a system today that’s very efficient at giving out money -- so efficient, in fact, that the balance in the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund will probably run into a shortfall before year’s end -– and it’s wildly inefficient at delivering results, results that improve commutes and reduce congestion.

We simply can no longer, as a nation, afford to congratulate ourselves for spending record amounts of money on infrastructure but not asking whether or not that money, the public’s money is being spent wisely and well, if it is being spent on the best projects, those that most warrant investment. The time has come for us to move beyond the superficial discussions of how much money we’re going to spend and start talking about a policy, a policy foundation that fits our current circumstances.

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