Dale Bonner, the secretary of California's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, talks about the state's infrastructure challenges with Host Liane Hansen.
LIANE HANSEN, host: As part of our infrastructure series, next we're going to take a look at California. The state recently made some big investments in its infrastructure system, focusing on transportation. Dale Bonner is the secretary of the state's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and oversees a $20 billion budget. He joins us from Los Angeles. Thank you for your time.</s>Mr. DALE BONNER (Secretary of Business, Housing, and Transportation, State of California): Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you.</s>LIANE HANSEN, host: What kind of infrastructure challenges are you facing in California?</s>Mr. DALE BONNER (Secretary of Business, Housing, and Transportation, State of California): Well, you name it. You know, I think I would sum it up this way. California is a state today of roughly 38 million people, and we are expecting to be at about, approximately 60 million in the next 20, 30 years. And we are living on an infrastructure that was designed for about half of our current population. So that tells you, number one, we're very far behind as it is in building out an infrastructure to support our current population. And we've got this massive challenge to build out quickly enough to support the growth that we know is coming. And we're doing this, of course, at a time when we're also trying to clean up the air and the environment. And so it's almost a perfect storm, if you will, of challenges.</s>LIANE HANSEN, host: What kind of cost are we talking about, I mean, in total, do you think?</s>Mr. DALE BONNER (Secretary of Business, Housing, and Transportation, State of California): Well, in transportation alone, we're proposing to spend about $107 billion over the next 10 years to address our highest needs. We know we'll need significant additional investment beyond that. So it's going to be a tremendous investment in California over the next 10 years.</s>LIANE HANSEN, host: Give us an example of a top priority now, where some of this money will go.</s>Mr. DALE BONNER (Secretary of Business, Housing, and Transportation, State of California): Our top priorities right now include, of course, maintaining our existing system. There were some studies showing that the average California driver spends about $700 a year on auto repairs just because of, you know, running over potholes and other kinds of things along the way. Beyond that, we are investing significant dollars in reducing congestion levels at some of the key chokepoints throughout the state.</s>Mr. DALE BONNER (Secretary of Business, Housing, and Transportation, State of California): You may know that the California ports both in Long Beach and L.A. and Oakland, we bring in almost 40 percent of the containerized goods that come into the United States from China and other places around the world. And that's a tremendous burden on our transportation system because when those ships come in and unload the cargo, they're put onto trains and also these 18-wheeler trucks that are also sharing the same freeways and roadways that our commuters are sharing.</s>LIANE HANSEN, host: Has the downturn in the economy and the rising price of gas made this a more pressing issue?</s>Mr. DALE BONNER (Secretary of Business, Housing, and Transportation, State of California): Absolutely. You know, we have the challenge that many other jurisdictions have, namely that a large part of the way in which we fund transportation relies upon the gas tax, both state and federal. So at a time like now when more people are looking for either ways to reduce their need to drive or looking for alternative modes of transportation, what that does if you have fewer people driving or making shorter trips, that's something we encourage and we'd like to see on the one hand. But on the short term, it creates challenges in our transportation funding.</s>LIANE HANSEN, host: Dale Bonner is the secretary of California's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, and we reached him in Los Angeles. Thank you very much.</s>Mr. DALE BONNER (Secretary of Business, Housing, and Transportation, State of California): Thank you very much.