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AASHTO-TCC Policy Forum Examines Future of the Interstate System

National leaders from both the public and private sectors gathered Wednesday and Thursday to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Interstate Highway System and to discuss the future at a policy form sponsored by AASHTO and the Transportation Construction Coalition.

Speakers at "The Interstate Highway System Fifty Years and Looking Forward" policy forum briefly lauded the Interstate Highway System but quickly turned to themes that were prevalent throughout the forum including the need for a new national vision for transportation – not just the Interstate Highway System, a sense of urgency in addressing what strategist Michael Gallis termed a "transportation crisis," a clear belief that the business community must advocate for transportation investment, and a mandate for the transportation construction industry and public agencies to communicate with the public in ways that the public can understand in order to build support for a new vision.

Welcome and Forum Overview

In the opening session, speakers set the tone for the rest of the policy conference and lauded the men and women who planned, funded, and constructed the Interstate Highway System.

"The system was built by people who were, in many ways, the risk takers of their time," said Forum host Jane Garvey, executive vice president of APCO Worldwide and former FHWA and FAA administrator.

Harold Linnenkohl, AASHTO President, introduced a theme that participants were to hear time and time again. "The Forum is the first step in looking at the vision of the future of the Interstate Highway System." He added, "We need a bold vision to ensure the Interstates continue to be the backbone of this nation's prosperity."

Gene McCormick, ARTBA Chairman, said "This forum is a turning point... a springboard to the future."

Steve Massie, Senior Vice President of the Associated General Contractors of America welcomed participants and said, "Yes, we have come a long, long way, and yes, we have a long way to go. The challenges in the future are going to boil down to money."

The Look Back: History of the Interstate

Dr. Bruce Seely, a professor at Michigan Technological University, noted that passage of the 1956 act creating the federal Highway Trust Fund was not a given. From 1945 to 1952 Congress was "tied in knots" over how to pay for the envisioned Interstate system, and it was not the Interstate funding program failed once in Congress in 1955 that Hale Boggs proposed the Highway Trust Fund construct with dedicated funding from users and "found an answer so you kept everyone happy."

Seely noted that the creators of the Interstate got some things right, including selecting routes that best served commerce and growth based on plans sketched out in 1939. The creators understood the importance of the system to the U.S. economy and that Interstate sections leading into cities would make important changes on the lives of average Americans. Research processes and implementation were also significant successes.

But the creators missed the mark in other areas, said Seely. The system's policy vision limited to "roads and roads only" did not take into account land use, aesthetic considerations, and other modes of transportation. The Interstate System did not do what some officials most wanted it to do – to connect suburbanites to downtowns. Instead, the Interstates facilitated an exodus to the suburbs that began in the 1890s as wealthy people began moving out of cities. He also noted that the poorest in society suffered disproportionate social consequences due to the loss of housing for routes.

The role of the public has changed over time, noted Seely, and "highway departments had to learn new relationships." Politics has also become a factor, whereas in the 1950s decisions were driven by technical experts. Seely said he was "dumbfounded that experts have been totally lost in the policy debates of the moment."

Gallis Addresses Global Competitiveness

Before participants dispersed to discussion groups, they heard from strategist Michael Gallis, whose comments focused on the changed global economic environment and the necessity for a strategic transportation system to support continued U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The current U.S. approach – "responding in bits and pieces" – has not resulted in public support for infrastructure investment. A strategic approach is essential in the near term because, "We have gone beyond an infrastructure problem to an infrastructure crisis. Infrastructure is a long-term problem. If we walked out of the room today with a vision it would still be 20 years before it was realized."

He also encouraged the audience to think of the transportation system as a whole. "There is only one transportation system and it is global. The U.S. is only one subset and the Interstate is only a component." He elaborated by likening the United States to England in the 1900s. "We are the island nation in a global marketplace. Our road and rail systems are internal and connect to the international system of air and ships."

What makes infrastructure imperative today is that infrastructure is a cost to every business in America, but the importance if infrastructure is misunderstood by the public in the U.S. Other governments in the world, including the Chinese government, understand the importance of transportation systems to their competitiveness and are making strategic infrastructure investment part of national policy frameworks designed to support economic growth.

Economic growth means more goods flowing, more people moving, and more information moving, said Gallis. "We Americans need to wake up to see this is a national competition issue in a very, very competitive 21^st Century."

Gallis encouraged the audience to proactively understand what users of the system will need in the future, noting that transportation system providers react to demand rather than asking the question, "What do we want?" "Do we really understand the competitive relationships that are going to drive the transportation network of the future? Transportation is no longer a separate system. It is part of the manufacturing economic process."

He noted that time is of the essence for creating a national policy framework. "The private sector has developed regional approaches and created workarounds out of the frustration that there is no policy framework. How long can the private sector do this when competing with a nation [China] whose goal is to... support economic growth?"

Gallis suggested a new strategic partnership for positioning North America, including the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, in the global economy that brings users, all transportation modes, and the civic sector to the table and that would focus on strategy rather than projects and being proactive rather than reactive.

Mineta Brings Presidential Greetings

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta was greeted by a lengthy standing ovation at the policy forum and complimented AASHTO for its continued commitment to America's mobility.

He shared a message from President George W. Bush, which stated, "50 years after the Federal-aid Highway Act of 1956 was signed, the Eisenhower Interstate System has made our society the most mobile in the world and contributed to the continuing growth of our economy."

Mineta focused his remarks on the need to fight congestion, saying, "The Interstate was a quantum leap in the competitiveness of our economic and quality of life. Now that progress is being threatened by congestion."

He suggested that cultural change in the form of accepting the private sector as a full partner in management and operation is the "critical first step" to keeping the system in good repair, addressing choke points, and managing the network for the next 50 years.

Since 1956, surface transportation infrastructure has been the purview of the public sector. "This mindset needs to change," said Mineta. "Some question this approach and label in controversial because they are wedded to the status quo." Encouraging public-private partnerships is a centerpiece of the Bush Administration's congestion initiative, which involves educating states and localities about the opportunity for private financing.

He also urged participants to embrace technology as a way to build roads that open faster, last longer, and give a smoother, better ride and cited Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) as making a real and significant contribution to relieving congestion and saving fuel. Mineta urged the industry to work with the private sector to move ITS experiments into "everyday reality."

The vexing issue for the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commissioners will be to define the total needs, decide how to prioritize those needs, and then determe how to fund them.

"The 50^th anniversary is a time to singularly commit ourselves to be forward looking in our efforts to keep America moving ahead into our future."

Mineta noted that with regard to freight movements, solutions will have to embody all modes of transportation because of the tremendous growth in freight. "It's not a question of 'build it and they will come.' It's coming. All modes really are going to be growing... All modes will rise with the tide."

Emphasizing transportation's role in the economy, he recalled a meeting with corporate leaders who informed him that "a bathing suit has the shelf life of a banana."

He called on participants to "keep that constant drumbeat about the need for transportation," because transportation is not something that people think about until they are without it. "Remember the New York blackout in 2003? If we had a blackout in transportation like that, where would we be?"