As D.C. Traffic Worsens, Crisis Looms Nationwide

A FEW TIMES A YEAR, various transportation studies are released from number-crunching teams that generally come to the same conclusion: traffic in and around Washington is really bad and it is/will soon be the worst in the country. The most recent one came this week from U.S. News and World Report, which details how commuters in suburban counties are stuck in the worst traffic in the nation.

Since dwelling on the area's traffic woes is repetitive as well as depressing, it's likely more worth your time to take a look at a study that might put our local traffic mess in a larger national perspective.

The D.C.-based Urban Land Institute and the accounting firm of Ernst & Young released the report "Infrastructure 2007: A Global Perspective," which says that the United States' lack of investment in infrastructure will become a serious crisis by 2030. Says the report:

In America, a "yawning" budget gap swallows initiatives to fund maintenance. Prevalent sprawl, poor planning and car dependence pose ever-greater challenges in meeting future needs. Retrofits and changing public behavior are "wrenchingly" difficult.

Some might argue that conditions are already at crisis proportions. And in terms of infrastructure, the root problem digs much deeper than inadequate roads and rail systems.

As Thaddeus Herrick wrote in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal:

The report underscores the broader disrepair of transit, power and water systems in the U.S. In 2005, the American Society of Civil Engineers graded as "poor" the condition of the nation's transit infrastructure as well as power grids, dams and system for drinking water and wastewater. The U.S. faces a $1.6 trillion deficit in needed infrastructure spending through 2010 for repairs and maintenance ...

While the condition of Chicago's crumbling transit network may not be of much worry to someone stuck in traffic on I-66 trying to score a precious parking space at the Vienna Metrorail station, it shows that many urban areas are stuck in the same leaking boat. If that boat starts to sink, is that when lawmakers on Capitol Hill might listen?

The report says that the nation as a whole has not been building its infrastructure for future generations. For Metrorail riders, who are facing a capacity crunch in the coming decades (or are currently dealing with one), that might mean starting to seriously think about a new Potomac crossing and a crosstown M Street subway. As any Orange Line rider can tell you, the congested Rosslyn tunnel can't take much more train traffic.

» "Area Ranked Among the Worst for Commutes" [WTOP]
» "Urban Infrastructure - Invest or Ignore? Infrastructure 2007: A Global Perspective Shows U.S. Lags Behind Asia, Much of Europe" [ULI/E&Y via PR Newswire]
» "U.S. Infrastructure Found to Be in Disrepair" [WSJ]
» "RTA: System 'Doomsday' Looms July 1" [WBBM]
» "Unclogging I-66: Va. Has Possibilities Aplenty" [Free Ride/Express]

Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post

Posted By Michael Grass at 11:30 PM on May 9, 2007 Tagged in Free Ride , Maryland , News , The District , Transit , Virginia

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