ATA Initiative Highlights the Costs of Crumbling Infrastructure
The American Trucking Associations has launched a new initiative that highlights the nation’s infrastructure needs by demonstrating the extreme costs of traffic congestion and road disrepair.
by Staff
February 22, 2018
Deteriorating roads and bridges exact a heavy price on the motoring public and ATA is highlighting them in a new campaign.
2 min to read
Deteriorating roads and bridges exact a heavy price on the motoring public and ATA is highlighting them in a new campaign.
The American Trucking Associations has launched a new initiative, dubbed Road to a Better Future, that highlights the nation’s infrastructure needs by demonstrating the extreme costs of traffic congestion and road disrepair.
“Our goal is to educate decision makers and the public about the hidden costs of the status quo,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “If we’re to secure a better future for our country and this economy, then we can no longer put off necessary improvements to our national network of roads and bridges.”
“Opponents of a fuel user fee fail to mention a simple fact: deteriorating roads and bridges exact a heavy price on the motoring public – and that cost hits low- and middle-income drivers the hardest,” said Spear. “A fuel user fee is completely paid for by users and does not add a penny to the deficit. There’s a reason why Ronald Reagan was such a strong supporter of this policy throughout his presidency”
ATA’s Road to a Better Future initiative is being rolled out with a new website that features an educational video and call to action, urging the public to contact their lawmakers to ask them to support infrastructure investment.
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“What seems to get lost in the debate about highway funding is that there is a cost to doing nothing, too,” said David Congdon, CEO of Old Dominion Freight Line and co-chair of ATA’s Infrastructure Task Force. “The irony here is that the cost of doing nothing is actually much higher than what is actually required to fix our roads and bridges.”
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