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As our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of victims in the recent bridge collapse in Minnesota, the tragedy is become a catalyst for raising public awareness of the deteriorating state of U.S. highways and bridges. It is unfortunate that it takes a disaster of this magnitude to focus attention on the problem.

The public is just beginning to hear some of the facts that are now being presented in news releases across the U.S. A recent Associated Press release suggests that one-quarter of U.S. bridges, including the one that collapsed in Minneapolis, have been classified as “functionally obsolete” or “structurally deficient.” The public is just beginning to hear also that one third of major roads in the U.S. have been judged as being in “poor” or “mediocre” condition.

Transportation professionals who followed the U.S. Highway Reauthorization Bill have been acutely aware of these facts for quite some time. There is no direct evidence that the bridge collapse is a result of federal underspending. However, there is general agreement that the collapse is a symptom of a national problem that needs to be addressed — and it’s not clear where the money is going to come from to address it.

The last U.S. highway bill, finally passed in 2005, was two years late and almost us$90 billion short of the us$375 billion needed to keep U.S. infrastructure from deteriorating further. Federal and state funding is failing to keep up with a rising demand for capacity and the need to invest in fixing the existing infrastructure. The cash shortfall is only going to get worse, with the Federal Highway Trust Fund — supported by a gasoline tax that hasn’t changed since 1993 — projected to come up short by us$1.7 billion by 2009. A key issue related to the funding is what the collected taxes are actually used for: We need to ensure that the funds collected are used to improve highway infrastructure. Today those funds are being diverted to uses other than infrastructure needs.

It is important to note that our neighbors in Canada have done a much better job at preserving and protecting their infrastructure. Infrastructure Canada coordinates federal government efforts focused on cities and communities, and supports infrastructure initiatives across the country. The department forms part of a larger Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TIC) portfolio. The TIC portfolio gathers various policy and program instruments in addressing common issues. TIC works through partnerships with all levels of government. The Canadian Budget 2007 makes a historic investment of more than ca$16 billion over seven years in infrastructure — bringing federal support under a new long-term plan for infrastructure to a total of ca$33 billion.

Since public funds in the U.S. are drying up, some states have turned to private investors to maintain existing highways or build new ones. Two years ago, the city of Chicago signed a us$1.83 billion lease to privatize its Skyway commuter bridge. Since then, lawmakers in other states — including Pennsylvania and New Jersey — have debated or considered privatization proposals. Critics of highway privatization say that these deals are overly generous to the for- profit companies involved and argue that privatization is not the answer for funding a national highway network that connects California to New York.

NASSTRAC is the first shipper organization to join a new group formed by the American Trucking Associations, called Americans for a Strong National Highway Network. This is a true collaboration with carriers to call attention to the need for adequate construction and maintenance of highways. NASSTRAC and ATA are concerned about tolling, privatization, and other types of unconventional funding. As freight volumes are projected to grow faster than investment in highway and carrier capacity, adequate growth in the nation’s transportation infrastructure as a whole must be supported. We look forward to working with ATA on this critical issue.