APTA | Passenger Transport
The Source for Public Transportation News and Analysis November 1, 2013
Forward   |   Calendar   |   APTA Home   |   Advertise with Us
Inside
» NEWS HEADLINES
» APTA MEMBER PROFILE
» MEET THE APTA STAFF
» APTA NEWS
» AROUND THE INDUSTRY
» COMMENTARY
COMMENTARY
The Unexpected Ways Engineers Help Us Move Faster
BY ROBERT VICTOR, P.E., NOVA/DC/MD Transportation Business Group Lead, HDR Engineering Inc., Washington, DC

We are a society obsessed with speed—“the fastest” never ceases to capture our imaginations. The fastest production car? The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. The fastest train? The SCMAGLEV in Japan. The fastest passenger plane? The Concorde. Astonishing engineering has endowed these vehicles with remarkable quickness, but their raw feats are only half the story. The Veyron couldn’t reach 267 mph on a bumpy back road, the SCMAGLEV couldn’t hit 361 mph without a highly specialized track, and the Concorde wouldn’t have been able to travel at twice the speed of sound if no runways existed to get it aloft. Marvelous machines fulfill one half of our need for speed. Infrastructure satisfies the other.

Expanding cities, global businesses, and an interconnected world mean that people need to travel to more places than ever before. Cities cannot prosper in isolation, and businesses cannot thrive if they cannot move goods effectively. As our nation continues to grow, so too must our basic infrastructure. Today, our roads, bridges, and transit systems are not keeping pace with America’s rapid change—meaning we are not positioning ourselves for the future.

In the 20th century, creating American infrastructure meant building the Interstate system, but today, the era of massive road expansion is largely over. Now, engineers and planners are working on how to use the infrastructure we have most efficiently. This doesn’t mean just repairing roads, though that is an essential piece of the puzzle. Rather, new advancements in construction, design, and technology promise to revolutionize how we move people and goods on roads, on rails, and through the air. Cities and states across the country are experimenting with different strategies to maintain and modernize their infrastructure, spurred by the challenges caused by decades of underinvestment.

My colleagues and I at the American Society of Civil Engineers recently released its 2013 Report Card on America’s Infrastructure, giving the nation a cumulative grade of D+ across 16 categories of infrastructure. Since the first report card was issued nearly 15 years ago, grades have mostly been poor—averaging a D—due to delayed maintenance and underinvestment across most categories. To catch up, we estimate that across all categories of infrastructure, we need to spend over $200 billion a year from now to 2020.

Fortunately, that’s an attainable goal—our peer countries invest more than four times what we do as a percentage of their GDP. It may seem like a large outlay, but it’s an investment that would pay dividends for generations. . . .

On the Right Track
As our nation’s population grows and traffic swells along with it, more people will be looking for alternatives to the automobile. One established mode that’s been getting a new look in recent years is rail. Though passenger trains in the U.S. haven’t kept pace with others around the world, new projects are starting to change that. Chicago, for example, is overhauling its main north-south rapid transit line, and Denver and the San Francisco Bay Area are expanding their existing commuter and subway lines by dozens of miles each. New York City is midway through an extension to the Long Island Railroad, one of the busiest passenger railroads in the country.

Amtrak, too, has been rehabbing old track and bridges. Along the Northeast Corridor, the most heavily traveled passenger line in the U.S., it replaced a bridge over the Niantic River in Connecticut that was over a century old. Even people who never ride the train could benefit from this upgrade. Since Amtrak shares track with freight railroads, the new bridge will speed non-passenger trains as well.

Then there’s high-speed rail. Though the excitement of a few years ago has died down, California’s system is moving along. There have been a few hitches of late, but construction is still scheduled to begin in October. And don’t forget the Acela, currently the nation’s only highspeed rail line. Connecting Boston with Washington, D.C., it carried a record 3.4 million passengers last year. The slightly slower Northeast Regional, which runs the same route, hauled 8 million passengers. The trend in train travel only seems to be increasing, too. . . .

At a Turning Point
Many of our interstates, bridges, and subways are nearing the end of their useful lives. Most of our railroads are more than a century old, and dozens of our airports are bursting at the seams. As we decide how to fix and upgrade our infrastructure, the question is, will we just slap on another band-aid or will we seize the opportunity to modernize our outdated systems?

Repairing our infrastructure isn’t just about fixing potholes or straightening wobbly track, it’s about moving people faster and more efficiently. That way, people can spend less time in transit and more time with their families, friends, or even at work.

The benefits of optimized infrastructure also extend to our economy. ASCE estimates that if the U.S. continues down its current path of meager infrastructure investment, we will lose $3.1 trillion in GDP, $1.1 trillion in trade value, and 3.5 million jobs by 2020. Infrastructure is the foundation of our economy. If we can move things faster, we can reduce costs, improve productivity, and save people money.

Despite the fact that infrastructure is directly tied into so many issues people claim to care about, it is rarely discussed. The quickest, most long-lasting, and best way to fix our nation’s infrastructure is to hold our leaders accountable and demand bold action. An infrastructure grade of D+ means our problems are large and complex. There are amazing examples of innovation being implemented every day, but only bold leadership—at all levels—will fix the massive issues we face.

Robert Victor chaired the advisory committee for the ASCE’s 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

This column excerpts with permission an original column published here. © 2013. All rights reserved.

This “Commentary” section features different points of view from various sources to enhance readers’ broad awareness of themes and views that affect public transportation.

« Previous Article
Return to Top
CLASSIFIEDS
» The Toronto Transit Commission is looking for a deputy chief operating officer, subway operations. [More]
» Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit has an opening for a superintendent of vehicle maintenance. [More]
View more Classified Ads »
TO PLACE AN AD: E-mail or fax the requested date(s) of publication to: ptads@apta.com or FAX to (202) 496-4898. Mailing address is: Passenger Transport, 1666 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006. Ad copy is not accepted by phone. DEADLINE: Noon, Monday, one week prior to publication date. INFORMATION: Phone (202) 496-4877.
© Copyright American Public Transportation Association
1666 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone (202) 496-4882 • Fax (202) 496-4321
Print Version | Search Back Issues | Contact Us | Unsubscribe