Transit News

Compared to Other States, California Missed Opportunities to Create More Jobs By Sticking to Road Maintenance, Public Transportation Needs

San Francisco, CA -- A new report released today by Smart Growth America and CALPIRG Education Fund, based on official data of the states’ American Reinvestment and Recovery Act
transportation funding decisions thus far, found that most other states are investing a greater percentage of the funds in public transportation and road repair than California.

“California is spending the transportation funds quickly, but we've invested a high percentage of funds in new road capacity,” said Emily Rusch, State Director of CALPIRG. “We could have created more jobs and cut more pollution by investing in road repair and public transportation instead.”

Despite Road Repair Needs, 42 Percent Spent on New Capacity

With 82 percent of our roads not in “good” condition, California ranks 47th in the nation for percentage of roads in good repair. Poorly maintained roads cost drivers an additional $590 a year in California. Despite our backlog of road repair needs, 41 other states decided to spend a higher percentage of the stimulus dollars on road repair and maintenance. 11 states – including Alaska, South Dakota, and New Jersey - didn't invest stimulus dollars in any new road capacity. California has immediately invested 42 percent of surface transportation funds in new road capacity.

“We cannot afford to maintain the roads we have today, and yet we are building new lanes with this one-time influx of money,” said Rusch. “New lanes encourage more driving and more congestion, and will only increase maintenance costs down the road.”

Research cited in the report shows that road and bridge repair generates 16 percent more jobs than new bridge and road construction. As a result, if California had invested 100 percent of the transportation funds in road repair, we could have created an additional 1,904 jobs. And because repair work can generally be started faster, these jobs would come on-line faster.

The ARRA provided $26.6 billion in flexible transportation funding—half of it required to be obligated within the first 120 days, by Monday, June 29—through the federal Surface Transportation Program (STP). STP funds can be used by state and Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) officials for a wide range of transportation infrastructure projects, including: public transportation capacity, sidewalks, repair and preventive maintenance of bridges and roads, and new and widened roads and highways.

The report, The States and the Stimulus: How California and Other States Spent Surface Transportation Funds in the First 120 Days, compares California’s choices to state choices nationwide:

Even accounting for the $310 million the state loaned to Prop 1B road capacity projects in need of financing, funds that are by law to go to road repair and maintenance when they are repaid, California spent 27 percent of the surface transportation funds on new capacity.

Public Transportation Overlooked

California also failed to flex over any meaningful percentage of surface transportation funds to invest in public transportation.  Sate legislation did prioritize bike and pedestrian projects for “transportation enhancement” funding, but did not flex over any additional funds to that limited pot of money.

“To cut congestion and pollution, we have to get more Californians out of their cars, but we can't expect travelers to use public transportation if they do not have good options. So it's disappointing that California's transportation planning agencies didn't use this opportunity to invest in more public transportation projects,” said Rusch.

When asked in a poll by the National Association of Realtors how they would spend the recovery money, a very strong majority of Americans (80%) said they prefer that stimulus transportation funding be used for repairing roadways and bridges and for public transportation. The public wants a balanced transportation system, as evidenced by local ballot measures like Measure R in Los Angeles to build more public transportation, and the statewide high-speed rail ballot measure passed last fall.

National findings

Smart Growth America found that some states, like Massachusetts and Iowa, used the stimulus money to make progress on the kind of transportation system that their communities need for strong economic growth. Other states missed an opportunity to make progress in filling the nation’s urgent transportation needs and creating more jobs, as quickly as possible. These states built new roads rather than repairing existing ones, and missed the chance to invest in the new options their residents really want like safe bus routes and bike paths.

The states had opportunities to create more jobs, faster: shifting more spending towards repair would create more jobs. Shifting $2 billion more to repair would have produced an average of 4,300 more jobs nationally. And because repair work can generally be started faster, these jobs would come on-line faster.

The stimulus was particularly a repair opportunity given the nation’s enormous bridge and roadway repair backlog and the inadequacy of its public transportation system. The report documents these with recent findings by the American Society of Civil Engineers and American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), including the cost of roads in “poor” condition ($355 per person, nationally) and number of “structurally deficient” bridges (18,722).

“That nationally nearly two-thirds of STP funding has gone to repairing existing roads and bridges is encouraging,” said Geoff Anderson, president of Smart Growth America, “But given our huge road and bridge repair backlog and inadequate public transportation system, $6.6 billion for new highway capacity just doesn’t make sense. It’s like adding a new wing to your house when the roof is falling in.”

“In aggregate the states spent virtually none of their flexible money on these choices, losing the opportunity to shield Americans from future gas price spikes and limiting their freedom to choose how they get around. In fact we're seeing the effects of cuts in public transportation right now and it's often hurting low income and minority populations – the people who most rely on this transportation to get to work, be self-sufficient, and participate in the economy.”

The ARRA provided golden opportunities for states and MPOs to make game-changing plays and invest in the transportation options, like expanded public transportation, that the overwhelming majority of Americans need and support,” stated Anderson. “Unfortunately, most of them are striking out.” Balanced investments are especially important for low-income communities and the elderly to ensure that they can participate in the economic and social mainstream of our society: a transportation system that works for everyone.

“Selection of stimulus transportation projects so far shows how badly we need to change the way states make decisions that affect our commutes, our pocketbooks, and our lives, Anderson concluded. “To make that happen, future federal transportation funding must include clear goals and accountability for reaching those goals."

The-States-and-the-Stimulus-California-Version.pdf