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- Massive investment that can reach all sectors of transportation is key to maintain competitiveness, other nations are closing the gap
- A broad transportation strategy is key to economic competitiveness—all areas of transit are congested
- Crumbling infrastructure kills our competitiveness--now is the key time Halsey 11
- Failure to invest in transportation infrastructure is decking U.S. global competitiveness Rendell Ortis, 11
- National infrastructure bank will reverse decline in competitiveness Cooper, 11
- Key to affordable consumer goods and business global competitiveness AGC, 11
competitivenessInadequate infrastructure hurts US competitiveness and business confidence—other countries prove it’s reverse causal McConaghy and Kessler 11 (McConaghy, Ryan, Deputy Director at the Schwartz Initiative on Economic Policy, and Kessler, Jim, Senior VP at Third Way, January 2011, “A National Infrastructure Bank”, Schwartz Initiative on Economic Policy) FS The infrastructure gap also hinders America’s global competitiveness. Logistics costs for American business are on the rise, but similar costs in countries like Germany, Spain, and France are set to decrease.18 And while America’s infrastructure spending struggles to keep pace,19 several main global competitors are poised to make significant infrastructure enhancements. China leads the world with a projected $9 trillion in infrastructure investments slated for the next ten years, followed by India, Russia, and Brazil.20 In a recent survey, 90% of business executives around the world indicated that the quality and availability of infrastructure plays a key role in determining where they do business.21 If America is going to remain on strong economic footing compared to its competitors, it must address its infrastructure challenges. Massive investment that can reach all sectors of transportation is key to maintain competitiveness, other nations are closing the gap Pisarski 8 (Pisarski, Alan E., government transportation consultant, 2008, “The Transportation Challenge: Moving the US Economy”, US Chamber of Commerce—Building America’s Future)FS The large national backlog of needed capacity improvements and continuing underinvestment are critical factors contributing to declining transportation performance. A recent NCHRP report, Future Financing Options to Meet Highway and Transit Needs, estimated the annual gap between revenue and expenditures to maintain highway and transit system performance at $58 billion per year and the gap to improve performance at $119 billion per year over the next decade, given current revenue forecasts.65 Ports need more investment to accommodate a near doubling of cargo volumes by 2020, with some ports facing a tripling or quadrupling of container volumes moving across their piers. ASCE estimates that $125 billion must be invested to replace locks on our aging inland waterway system. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) estimates that an investment of $148 billion is needed just to keep pace with economic growth and ensure that the freight railroads can carry the volume of freight forecast for 2035.66 A recent report on passenger rail estimates $166 billion in investment needs through 2030.67 The FAA estimates that $41.2 billion of Airport Improvement Program (AIP)-eligible infrastructure development will be needed in the next fi ve years. The Airport Council International of North America estimates that during this same period, more than $87.5 billion will be needed for aviation infrastructure, including projects not eligible for AIP support. The nation’s air traffi c control system also faces a multiyear overhaul, with initial plans by the FAA showing that $4.6 billion is needed over the next fi ve years. While the United States is underinvesting in its transportation infrastructure, other countries are catching up or moving ahead with massive investment programs. Europe has embarked on an ambitious infrastructure improvement program called TEN-T (the trans-European transport network), whose objectives (according to Eurostat) are to “link island, peripheral, and landlocked regions with the Union’s more central regions through interconnecting and interoperable international networks by land, air, sea, and inland waterways.” The European Commission, through TEN-T, has prioritized 30 key transportation infrastructure projects that will help achieve these objectives. Europe is not alone in launching coordinated initiatives to improve freight and passenger transportation to support economic development. Less-developed economies also have been ramping up their investment in transportation infrastructure. Although investing less as a percentage of their GDP, developing countries have been investing dramatically in infrastructure over the last fi ve years. China is completing a 25,000-mile highway system in 12 years and plans a 53,000-mile system by 2020. The mileage of subway in Beijing has increased from 70 to 335 miles in less than a decade.68 Downtown Pudong and Shanghai’s international airport have been connected by an eight-minute trip on a train traveling up to 270 miles per hour. In addition, China has just completed a $4.2 billion rail line between Beijing and Lhasa in Tibet. India is close to fi nishing a $12 billion national ring road connecting major cities. Its national government has identifi ed $22 billion of investment needed for new ports. A $430 million privately managed international airport is scheduled for completion in Bangalore next year, and large-scale expansions and facelifts are under way at the Mumbai ($515 million), Delhi ($600 million), and Hyderabad airports.69 With mounting information about the inadequate condition and performance of the U.S. transportation system and compelling information about the willingness of U.S. trade partners and economic competitors to invest in their transportation system, the United States can no longer postpone developing and implementing its own vision, policies, and programs to ensure a strong transportation system for the 21st century. A broad transportation strategy is key to economic competitiveness—all areas of transit are congested Pisarski 8 (Pisarski, Alan E., government transportation consultant, 2008, “The Transportation Challenge: Moving the US Economy”, US Chamber of Commerce—Building America’s Future)FS The freight productivity improvements gained through past investment in the Interstate Highway System and economic deregulation of the freight transportation industry in the 1980s are showing diminishing returns. Demand is now pressing the capacity of the nation’s highway, rail, waterway, and port systems. The effects of rapid growth in demand and limited growth in system capacity are reflected in increased congestion, increased freight transportation prices, and less reliable trip times. Congestion, higher transportation prices, and lower reliability, in turn, lead to increased costs for manufacturers and consumers and a need for businesses to hold more expensive inventory to prevent stockouts. The effect on individual shipments and transactions is usually modest, but over time, these costs add up to a higher cost of doing business for firms, a higher cost of living for consumers, and a less productive and competitive economy. Crumbling infrastructure kills our competitiveness--now is the key time Halsey 11 – Washington post Infrastructure writer (Ashley III, “U.S. facing infrastructure roadblock,” May 17, 2011, The Washington Post, Lexis)//SPS The United States is falling dramatically behind much of the world in rebuilding and expanding an overloaded and deteriorating transportation network it needs to remain competitive in the global marketplace, according to a new study by the Urban Land Institute. Burdened with soaring deficits and with long-term transportation plans stalled in Congress, the United States has fallen behind three emerging economic competitors - Brazil, China and India, the institute said. The report envisions a time when, like Detroit, U.S. cities may opt to abandon services in some districts and when lightly used blacktopped rural roads would be allowed to return to nature. Eventually, the report says, the federal gas tax will be increased; local governments will be allowed to toll interstate highways; water bills will rise to pay for pipe and sewer replacement; property and sales taxes will increase; and private, profit-seeking companies will play a much larger role in funding and maintaining public projects. "Over the next five to 10 years, public concerns will grow over evident declines in the condition of infrastructure," the report says. "At some attention-getting point after infrastructure limps along, platforms for reinvesting in America could gain significant traction and public support." The report is the latest in a series of studies to conclude that the nation will face dire long-term consequences if major investment in transportation revitalization is postponed. "Infrastructure should be part of the larger conversation about 'what do you want government to do and how do you want to pay for it?' " said Jay Zukerman of Ernst & Young, which conducted the institute's study. The report lends global perspective to an issue addressed last fall by a panel of 80 experts led by former transportation secretaries Norman Y. Mineta and Samuel K. Skinner. That group concluded that as much as $262 billion a year must be spent on U.S. highways, rail networks and air transportation systems. Congress has failed to approve the two major bills that allow for long-term funding and planning for aviation and transportation. The Federal Aviation Administration has been operating under a funding bill that expired in 2007 and has been extended 18 times. The Surface Transportation Act, which provides the balance of federal transportation funding, expired in 2009 and has been extended seven times. As Congress debates how much should be spent and where to find the money, China has a plan to spend $1 trillion on high-speed rail, highways and other infrastructure in five years. India is nearing the end of a $500 billion investment phase that has seen major highway improvements, and plans to double that amount by 2017. Brazil plans to spend $900 billion on energy and transportation projects by 2014. The United States, the institute report concludes, needs to invest $2 trillion to rebuild roads, bridges, water lines, sewage systems and dams that are reaching the end of their planned life cycles. The report says the desire of Congress to curtail spending will push costs onto "budget-busted" state and local governments. It points to highways and water treatment plants, built with federal funds 40 to 50 years ago, that will become financial burdens to local governments as the time comes for replacement. "We're seeing less federal support and less local revenues because of unemployment," said Maureen McAvey, executive vice president of the institute, a non-profit group that analyzes policies and programs. "Some of the ambitions some growing cities had just a few years about are being cut back or put on hold." Failure to invest in transportation infrastructure is decking U.S. global competitiveness Rendell & Ortis, 11 --- former governor of Pennsylvania, AND ** mayor of Pembroke Pines (8/19/2011, Ed & Frank, “Infrastructure investment boosts U.S. economy, competitiveness; Infrastructure is America's economic backbone,” http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-08-19/news/fl-infrastructure-us-competitiveness-20110819_1_infrastructure-ports-economy, JMP) From highways and bridges to ports and aviation, infrastructure is the economic backbone of America that allows commerce to flow and keeps our quality of life high. However, the United States has not kept pace with our growing infrastructure needs. And when it comes to transportation policy, we are still following an agenda set more than 50 years ago when Dwight Eisenhower was president. As proof, we need to look no further than right here in Florida, where much of the infrastructure is outdated, underfunded and badly in need of repairs and modernizations. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, nearly one in five of Florida's bridges is structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, needlessly putting our families and commuters in harm's way. Many of our state's road networks are so jammed with traffic that drivers in Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando annually waste more than 200 million hours and nearly 150 million gallons of fuel sitting in traffic. All of this adds up to a $3.8 billion hit to the state's economy. The story is much the same around the rest of the country: We are living off of investments made several generations ago, and we have not reinvested in the systems needed to ensure that future generations can compete in a global market. This short-sightedness is wasting taxpayer money and time and slowing down the efficient movement of goods around the nation. For example, congestion is so bad in Chicago rail yards that it takes a freight train longer to get across the city than it does to get from Chicago to Los Angeles. Building America's Future Educational Fund, a national and bipartisan coalition of state and local elected officials, of which we are members, recently released "Falling Apart and Falling Behind." The report lays out the economic challenges posed by our nation's ailing infrastructure, provides a comparative look at the smart investments being made by our international competitors, and suggests a series of recommendations for crafting new, innovative transportation policies. Our global economic competitors get it. At a time when budgets around the world are being slashed, our competitors are wisely continuing to make robust, cutting-edge transportation infrastructure investments. And those decisions are reaping a variety of benefits for their citizens and economies. Since 2000, China has invested $3.3 trillion in infrastructure projects. They now have six of the world's top 10 ports, while the United States has none. Shanghai's port now moves more container traffic a year than the top seven U.S. ports combined. The European Union invested over $578 billion to create a single, multi-modal network to integrate land, water and air transport networks throughout the EU. And Brazil is developing a $19.7 billion, 223-mph high-speed rail line between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which is expected to be running by 2014. Economists, academics and, indeed, many of our global competitors, all seem to agree: Infrastructure is an investment in our country's future that will create jobs and economic prosperity. What seems to be missing in the United States is the political will from the federal government. Instead of educating constituents on the economic and job-creating benefits of infrastructure investment, some members of Congress offer a knee-jerk reaction to any new spending. What they fail to understand is that to get our nation's economy back on track, we must develop a new, long-term vision for making the type of strategic investments that are based on economics — not politics. They must embrace such innovative and viable financing options such as creating a National Infrastructure Bank and allowing greater state and local innovations such as congestion pricing. Congress needs to pass a six-year transportation bill and invest more in mass transit, the Next Generation air traffic control system and true high-speed rail. It's a big job, but America is up to the task. It's time we got started. National infrastructure bank will reverse decline in competitiveness Cooper, 11 --- Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (11/9/2011, Donna, “Not Fixing Our Infrastructure, Not Creating Jobs; Conservatives in Congress Are to Blame for Both Dismal Outcomes,” http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/11/infrastructure_jobs.html, JMP) Cuts to urgently needed federal infrastructure funds are reckless on safety grounds but they are also irresponsible on economic grounds. The 2008 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index ranked America’s infrastructure among the 10 best in the world. This year our ranking dropped to 24th, behind nearly every major European nation, Singapore, Australia, and Canada. Our ranking declined for the simple reason that we have failed to adequately invest in repairing and modernizing our infrastructure while competitors are doing just the opposite. One reason these other countries are able to make so much progress is that they have effective public financial institutions like the proposed U.S. Infrastructure Bank—financial institutions that invest with private partners in worthy large-scale and state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements. The European Investment Bank, for instance, has $300 billion to invest in worthy large-scale public infrastructure projects. Key to affordable consumer goods and business global competitiveness AGC, 11 (5/19/2011, The Associated General Contractors of America, “THE CASE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE & REFORM: Why and How the Federal Government Should Continue to Fund Vital Infrastructure in the New Age of Public Austerity,” http://www.agc.org/galleries/news/Case-for-Infrastructure-Reform.pdf, JMP) PART II: BENEFITS OF INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS Not only is there a clear role for the federal government in investing in infrastructure, but there is also a clear national benefit from those investments. Much of our current economic prosperity derives from a long legacy of federal support for infrastructure. Federal infrastructure investments have protected thousands of towns and millions of acres of farmland from flooding and erosion, saving billions in costly repairs and lost productivity. Federal investments have irrigated farmlands, protected our drinking water, connected farmers to markets and closed the distances between our communities. Federal transportation investments, for example, have given the United States what is inarguably the world’s most efficient transportation network. Our interstate highways are the backbone of our modern economy, allowing businesses to quickly and affordably ship billions of dollars worth of goods every year. These highways have facilitated the transition to today’s just-in-time economy. This has allowed employers to significantly increase their productivity by eliminating the need to stockpile large inventories. Instead, parts are delivered to factories and goods are delivered to stores only when needed. These new efficiencies, which wouldn’t be possible without our highway network, have lowered the cost of consumer goods, allowed our businesses to compete globally and supported entirely new industries like overnight express delivery and supply chain management firms. Federal investments in aviation infrastructure have made air travel more affordable, more efficient, and safer than virtually anywhere else in the world. The U.S. has many world class airports, first rate runways and an air traffic network that safely handles tens of thousands of commercial flight operations every day. Our investments in aviation safety have led to the safest era in commercial aviation the world has ever known. Meanwhile, our investments in community and general aviation airports have connected communities and enabled business people to conveniently travel to virtually any part of the country to meet with clients, supervise factory operations or scout out new opportunities. Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 1.1 Mb. Share with your friends:
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