AASHTO Journal, 23 October 2015
A new national poll commissioned by the American Trucking Associations found solid support for federal investment in highway infrastructure, and a majority saying taxes will need to rise to pay for more spending on roads and bridges.
The ATA presented the poll results Oct. 20 to its board of directors at the association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia.
The presentation came as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee was preparing for an Oct. markup of a long-term highway and transit bill that provides only inflation-linked increases in federal program spending.
The Senate earlier passed a surface transportation bill with somewhat greater annual increases, though both fall below levels that project investment advocates say is needed to keep pace with demand.
“The results of this poll should be taken very seriously by members of Congress as they work to complete a long-term highway bill,” ATA President Bill Graves said. “This poll tells us the American people now believe what we’ve been saying for some time: Our roads and bridges are in need of repair and we need to raise revenue to do it.”
The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1, surveyed 800 registered voters on their attitudes about politics, the trucking industry and the state of infrastructure.
It found that the number of people who believe more money should be spent on infrastructure has risen 12 points to 60 percent this year from 48 percent in a similar 2014 poll.
That 60 percent favoring more infrastructure spending is second only to those who favor more spending on education and above the levels of those who prioritize spending on defense, the environment or health care, the results show.
A full 63 percent now say U.S. roads and bridges are not being properly maintained, the association reported. The poll found 53 percent “believe it will be necessary to raise taxes to properly maintain roads and bridges,” with a plurality across party lines supporting that view.
A majority of respondents said paying for road and bridge improvements should mainly be a state rather than federal responsibility. However, 40 percent also listed it as a top federal priority, ahead of federal spending on diseases research and affordable housing.
While the public rejected various individual revenue-raising options – including a hike in motor fuel taxes or income taxes, tolling interstate highways and doubling vehicle registration fees to pay for maintenance – their views changed when comparing options. Forced to choose among the four options above, more people favored hiking fuel fees than any of the three other choices.
Pat Thomas, senior vice president of state government affairs for United Parcel Service and the ATA chairman over the next year, said: “There is nothing more important to the trucking industry – and to the economy – than having good, safe roads and bridges. This poll should be yet another in a series of wake up calls for our elected leaders to take decisive action on a long-term, robustly funded highway bill.”