Funding infrastructure.(THE LAST WORD)

In a 2006 report to Congress, Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta claimed that U.S. transportation infrastructure was improving, but it wasn't. He was cherry-picking facts. While it is apparently true that since the mid-1990s the percentage of highways providing "acceptable" rides increased and bridges having deficient ratings decreased, in terms of miles of highway and total numbers of bridges that need serious upgrades or replacement, the numbers have gone up dramatically.

For instance, according to the Federal Highway Administration in 1992, the number of bridges that were deemed functionally obsolete or structurally deficient stood at a grand total of 33,519. By 2006, that number had grown to 153,990. The reason the percentage went down was because many new roads and bridges were added to the transportation system. Clearly, infrastructure in the United States is being allowed to deteriorate instead of being fixed or replaced.

The deteriorating infrastructure is creating a safety concern, to be sure, but it is also causing an economic problem as well. According to an article entitled "US Urban Highways' Condition Worsening; Repair Fund Waning," rough roads alone cost urban motorists "$383 [per motorist] annually in additional vehicle operating costs due to accelerated vehicle deterioration, additional maintenance needs and increased fuel consumption."

A Forbes article reported that "conservative estimates by the DOT say the U.S. loses $168 billion yearly from highway congestion [and] the nation's trucking system in 2004 lost 243,032,000 hours due to traffic delays."

And, according to Aggregates Manager, "the inland waterway system through the heart of the United States--the Upper Mississippi-Illinois Waterway System--[which] is responsible for transporting nearly 116 million tons of commodities valued at $23 billion each year ... is in disrepair."

This shoddy infrastructure reduces the United States' ability to compete in world trade by raising our manufacturing and shipping costs. The reason, we are told, behind the decrepit infrastructure is lack of money. Most Americans, knowing that our politicians concentrate their efforts on whatever topic is politically correct at the time, would likely attribute the sad state of our highways and bridges to simple ignorance by politicians. The politicians don't take care of the problem because it is not on their radar screen and is not a topic that draws votes. But ...