Transportation is really a simple idea. We want to move ourselves or our things from one place to another efficiently, reliably and safely. We, as users of the transportation system, think little of the untold intricacies that converge so we can get to work, take
children to their activities or enjoy a cross country trip. There is the hardscape—the roads, runways, and railways. There are the
vehicles in which we move. There are the vehicle operators and fellow travelers with whom we share the highway, the sky or the
railroad tracks. There are the maps we use to chart our course. If any one of these elements fail, we may reach our destination but only after many hours have been lost. We may not get there at all. Beyond throughput, transportation is and perhaps always has been an organizing element of our society. Many road networks have been built upon foot worn paths of our forbearers. Along these paths grew towns, and some of those towns grew into cities. As new forms of transportation grew —from the horse and buggy, to the bicycle, to the locomotive, to the automobile—it became necessary to smooth those paths and, more recently, pave them or lay rails upon them. Transportation has both gotten us places and made places.
As we have evolved and understood more about our transportation system, we know it to be an interdependent system of systems that shapes and is shaped by all it touches. Clogged highways are not per se the product of poor design. Sometimes they choke with unanticipated traffic flows brought about by unforeseen zoning and land use decisions, regional population growth or deferred maintenance caused by inadequate budgets or perhaps misplaced priorities. Congestion is not limited to roads. A Midwestern farmer may have harvested several tons of grain to ship by rail only to find limited space on freight trains due to growing competition from commodities such as energy products. Even our commercial airspace is experiencing congestion around major hub airports. As we grow, and as our economy grows, the challenge of moving will become even more complicated. If we could anticipate today what will likely slow or stop our national progress, we could plan an effective response, engage in robust debate and settle on a course of action. Unfortunately, we have too often misstated the problem as simply one of funding when it may be one of both resources and design.
Can we imagine a future in which traffic jams decline? Yes. How do we get beyond traffic? Essentially, three strategies need to be employed—all of which demand increased funding and new, more adaptive policymaking at the federal, state and local levels. First, we have to take better care of our legacy transportation systems. We cannot cross bridges that have fallen apart or connect commerce to ports in disrepair. Second, we must build what is new and necessary, taking into account changes in living patterns and where products will move to and from. Third, we must use technologies and better design approaches that will allow us to maximize the use of our old and new transportation assets. Doing so may involve adapting new innovations in vehicle safety and automation, improving federal, state, and local coordination, and adopting best practices in road design.
These strategies are at variance with our current posture. The U.S. transportation system is still proceeding under a 20th century model in which our policies, practices, and programs are presumed to be sufficient, as are the resources devoted to them.
children to their activities or enjoy a cross country trip. There is the hardscape—the roads, runways, and railways. There are the
vehicles in which we move. There are the vehicle operators and fellow travelers with whom we share the highway, the sky or the
railroad tracks. There are the maps we use to chart our course. If any one of these elements fail, we may reach our destination but only after many hours have been lost. We may not get there at all. Beyond throughput, transportation is and perhaps always has been an organizing element of our society. Many road networks have been built upon foot worn paths of our forbearers. Along these paths grew towns, and some of those towns grew into cities. As new forms of transportation grew —from the horse and buggy, to the bicycle, to the locomotive, to the automobile—it became necessary to smooth those paths and, more recently, pave them or lay rails upon them. Transportation has both gotten us places and made places.
As we have evolved and understood more about our transportation system, we know it to be an interdependent system of systems that shapes and is shaped by all it touches. Clogged highways are not per se the product of poor design. Sometimes they choke with unanticipated traffic flows brought about by unforeseen zoning and land use decisions, regional population growth or deferred maintenance caused by inadequate budgets or perhaps misplaced priorities. Congestion is not limited to roads. A Midwestern farmer may have harvested several tons of grain to ship by rail only to find limited space on freight trains due to growing competition from commodities such as energy products. Even our commercial airspace is experiencing congestion around major hub airports. As we grow, and as our economy grows, the challenge of moving will become even more complicated. If we could anticipate today what will likely slow or stop our national progress, we could plan an effective response, engage in robust debate and settle on a course of action. Unfortunately, we have too often misstated the problem as simply one of funding when it may be one of both resources and design.
Can we imagine a future in which traffic jams decline? Yes. How do we get beyond traffic? Essentially, three strategies need to be employed—all of which demand increased funding and new, more adaptive policymaking at the federal, state and local levels. First, we have to take better care of our legacy transportation systems. We cannot cross bridges that have fallen apart or connect commerce to ports in disrepair. Second, we must build what is new and necessary, taking into account changes in living patterns and where products will move to and from. Third, we must use technologies and better design approaches that will allow us to maximize the use of our old and new transportation assets. Doing so may involve adapting new innovations in vehicle safety and automation, improving federal, state, and local coordination, and adopting best practices in road design.
These strategies are at variance with our current posture. The U.S. transportation system is still proceeding under a 20th century model in which our policies, practices, and programs are presumed to be sufficient, as are the resources devoted to them.
