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A transportation expert makes a provocative case for changing the nation’s approach to highways, offering “bold, innovative thinking on infrastructure” (Rick Geddes, Cornell University). Americans spend hours every day sitting in traffic. And the roads they idle on are often rough and potholed, with exits, tunnels, guardrails, and bridges in terrible disrepair. According to transportation expert Robert Poole, this congestion and deterioration are outcomes of the way America manages its highways. Our twentieth-century model overly politicizes highway investment decisions, short-changing maintenance and often investing in projects whose costs exceed their benefits. In Rethinking America’s Highways, Poole examines how our current model of state-owned highways came about and why it is failing to satisfy its customers. He argues for a new model that treats highways themselves as public utilities—like electricity, telephones, and water supply. If highways were provided commercially, Poole argues, people would pay for highways based on how much they used, and the companies would issue revenue bonds to invest in facilities people were willing to pay for. Arguing for highway investments to be motivated by economic rather than political factors, this book makes a carefully-reasoned and well-documented case for a new approach to highways.
"In The Road to Renewal: Private Investment in U.S. Transportation Infrastructure, R. Richard Geddes surveys the current state of the American transportation system and finds that, like the roads themselves, the existing policy approach is in desperate need of repair. Drawing on the basic economic principles behind supply, demand, competition, and incentives, Geddes argues that a shift toward increased use of public-private partnerships (PPPs)--contractual agreements between public agencies and private parties that allow private participation in the design, construction, operation, and delivery of transportation facilities--could significantly improve the quality of America's transportation infrastructure. By learning to see themselves as customers and investors--rather than mere users--of roads and highways, Americans should expect to receive a reasonable return on their investment: thorough, effective maintenance of America's transportation infrastructure. The Road to Renewal shows how incorporating increased private participation can halt the deterioration of America's transportation system and become the foundation for a safer, more efficient transportation future."--P. [4] of cover.
This document updates and expands the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) User Benefit Analysis for Highways, also known as the Red Book. This AASHTO publication helps state and local transportation planning authorities evaluate the economic benefits of highway improvements. This update incorporates improvements in user-benefit calculation methods and, for the first time, provides guidance for evaluating important non-user impacts of highways. Previous editions of the Red Book provided guidance regarding user benefit measurement only. This update provides a framework for project evaluations that accurately account for both user and non-user benefits. The manual and accompanying CD-ROM provide a valuable resource for people who analyze the benefits and costs of highway projects.
Dixie Highway: Road Building and the Making of the Modern South, 1900-1930
The steep rise in road mobility that has taken place during the last decades has resulted in some negative effects that are relevant from a social and economic point of view, such as accidents, congestion, and air pollution. Solutions to mitigate these effects have resulted in improvements in vehicles, infrastructure, and planning. Among these improvements are Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), or digital road maps, which are based on electronics, control and telecommunications. This book discusses highway construction financing; the balanced vehicular traffic model that describes traffic flow on highways; non-drivers as road users; road engineering and public-private partnerships in highway and transit infrastructure building.
Without a first class system of interstate highways, life in America would be far different -- it would be more risky, less prosperous, & lacking in the efficiency & comfort that Americans now enjoy & take for granted. The Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate & Defense Highways, in place & celebrating its 40th anniversary, must surely be the best investment a nation ever made. Consider this: it has saved the lives of at least 187,000 people; it has prevented injuries to nearly 12 million people; it has returned more that $6 in economic productivity for each $1 it cost, & much more. Photos. Charts & tables.