With the frequency of short-term funding and authorization patches for the Highway Trust Fund lately, it may seem that a long-term outlook for our transportation system is not top-of-mind. However, the U.S. Department of Transportation yesterday started a conversation to get Americans talking about where our transportation network should go in the next 30 years.
The Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, joined Google’s Eric Schmidt for a Google Talk to discuss these challenges and opportunities. Watch the full conversation, which includes questions ranging from pedestrian safety to high-speed rail.
Sec. Foxx also introduced the draft of Beyond Traffic: A Blue Paper, which is now available for review and open for comments. During the drafting process, ASCE members shared their ideas during visioning workshops.
The blue paper identifies three strategies to decrease traffic and enhance our transportation system. Sec. Foxx shares them in his letter to the reader (p.iii-vi):
- Take better care of America’s legacy transportation systems
- Build what is new and necessary, while considering how it can adapt in the future
- Use technologies and better design approaches that will maximize our old and new transportation assets
These key strategies will require a greater investment in transportation infrastructure and more adaptive policymaking by all levels of government.
The paper assesses transportation trends for how we move people and goods and fund transportation projects, looks at the implications for seven transportation systems in the U.S., and offers suggestions for shaping the future of transportation.
Take the opportunity to learn about where the U.S. DOT envisions transportation will go and contribute your own thoughts, expertise and experiences to the process.