Title: Six Ideas for Fixing the Nation's Infrastructure Problems
Headings: Six Ideas for Fixing the Nation's Infrastructure Problems
Six Ideas for Fixing the Nation's Infrastructure Problems
Here's how to plan, fund and make a safer, more efficient transportation system.
Revamp the Highway Trust Fund
Get Washington to Take the Issue Seriously
Empower State and Local Governments
Increase Rural Access
Get Cities to Think Big
Make Bridges Smarter
Caroline Cournoyer

Content: Six Ideas for Fixing the Nation's Infrastructure Problems
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Six Ideas for Fixing the Nation's Infrastructure Problems
Here's how to plan, fund and make a safer, more efficient transportation system. iStockphoto
By most accounts, transportation infrastructure in the United States is in serious disrepair. As roads and bridges across the country continue to age and deteriorate, governments at all levels are struggling to pay for maintenance and upkeep -- not to mention investments in much-needed upgrades and new projects. Since the federal Highway Trust Fund was established in the late 1950s, total combined highway and transit spending as a share of gross domestic product has fallen by about 25 percent, according to the federal National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission. Without changes to current policy, the commission projects a federal highway and transit funding gap totaling nearly $2.3 trillion through 2035. With Congress debating reauthorization of the transportation bill this summer, and with states and localities looking for their own solutions, here are six ideas for fixing the nation’s infrastructure system -- how to plan it, how to fund it and how to make it safer and more efficient than ever. Revamp the Highway Trust Fund
Speaking before a conference of state transportation officials in a D.C. hotel ballroom in March, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood challenged his audience to ask him some hardball questions. John Schroer, the transportation commissioner from Tennessee, delivered. Schroer wanted to know how Congress and the Obama administration are addressing a situation most state and local transportation officials worry about: the future of the gas tax. “