New Report: Infrastructure Funding Should Focus on Fixing Crumbling Roads and Bridges

Given the uncertain future of transportation, federal funding should be focused on maintenance over expansion.

NEW YORK, NY — American transportation infrastructure is in a sorry state. As much as 20 percent of the country’s roads are in poor condition, while tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient. And yet, federally funded highway spending is most often focused on highway expansion rather than repair. A new Manhattan Institute report by senior fellow Aaron Renn argues that this is a costly mistake, given that investment in new or expanded highways shows lower economic returns than maintenance.

Further, given two recent developments, it has become even more likely that continued investment in highway expansion would be misguided:

1. Self-driving cars. The timing and spread of this technology is uncertain, but many researchers and experts expect the shift to autonomous vehicles to have dramatic and unpredictable effects on, for example, traffic congestion.
2. “Peak car.” The long-term trend in traffic growth underwent an unprecedented reversal in 2007, with several years of actual decline. Vehicle miles traveled has begun to grow again, but some researchers believe that the U.S. may be at or near the end of per-capita traffic growth.

With the future of transportation so uncertain, the government would be wise to invest in what we know will deliver: the maintenance of our existing roads, bridges, and transit lines.

Click here to read the full report.