TTD – How We Invest in Our Infrastructure Matters

The President of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of which TCU is a member wrote recently:

Strong infrastructure and a well-functioning transportation system are vital to the health of our economy, but for too long we’ve treated our infrastructure as though it doesn’t matter. And for too long, working people have paid the price.

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates it will take $4 trillion over the next eight years to repair the damage to our roads, bridges, transit and rail systems, seaports, and airports caused by decades of neglect. With strong public and bipartisan support — and a dire need — for robust investment into our nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure, the question now is how to pay for such a massive price tag.

Contrary to what Wall Street and some Trump administration officials are peddling, the answer cannot solely lie with upfront investments from private companies. Meeting our massive infrastructure needs will take a multipronged financial approach. Private financing can and does have a role in rebuilding our transportation system, but relying on it and using it as a substitute for robust federal investment will not meet our needs. That’s because private financing is costlier than traditional public funding and is not suitable for the vast majority of our infrastructure needs.

Those who support an over-reliance on private financing push the argument that public capital is scarce, and that massive amounts of private capital are sitting idly by, ready and waiting to be invested into infrastructure projects. This is simply not true.

Click here to read the full article on inside sources website.

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