Cities deem Transportation Infrastructure a "Top Priority"

A recent U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) report found transportation infrastructure is one of the top priorities for cities and counties in planning for and managing growth. The report, which surveyed 2000 city and county government officials, says "funding for highways and bridges and water sewer infrastructure ranked above most funding categories in helpfulness."

The report also says, funding for building, expanding and maintaining highways and bridges was chosen more frequently than other categories as funded at levels lower than needed and whose funding hinders the ability to plan for and manage growth. In response to the GAO report, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) said, "These findings point to the absolute importance of infrastructure as tools that provide environments that incubate healthy economies, and that create communities that are livable, comfortable, and safe for all Americans."

Elements of this story were taken, with permission, from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. Founded in 1902, ARTBA exclusively represents the collective interests of the U.S. transportation construction industry in the Nation's Capital. Information about ARTBA can be accessed online at www.artba.org.