The History of United States Transportation Infrastructure Mr. Eric M. OddoStanford National Forensic InstituteJuly 15, 2012

Learning Targets/Essential Question I can explain previous large scale infrastructure

projects in the U.S. I can explain the incentives given to local governments

for developing large scale infrastructure projects I can identify the political, sociological and economic

motivations behind large scale infrastructure projects in the U.S.

I can describe current large scale infrastructure projects in the U.S.

Essential Question: What is transportation infrastructure and why is it important to economic and societal development?

What is transportation infrastructure? Highways, Roads, Bridges Rail Aviation Mass Transit (Light rail, busses, trams,

etc.) Water Transit (Barges, ferries, etc.) Bicycles, Mopeds (bike lanes, moped

lanes?, etc.)

What is transportation infrastructure? Potentially topical areas (more to come

on this in subsequent lectures) Keystone Pipeline (it facilitates the

movement of a good) Broadband Development Electric Grids

Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that travels about 363 miles (584 km) from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of approximately 565 ft. (169 m).

1817 - 1825

Erie Canal

It was the first transportation system between the eastern seaboard (New York City) and the western interior (Great Lakes) of the United States that did not require portage, was faster than carts pulled by draft animals, and cut transport costs by about 95%. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York State, opened regions farther west to settlement, and helped New York City become the chief U.S. port. It was enlarged between 1834 and 1862. In 1918, the enlarged canal was replaced by the larger New York State Barge Canal.

1817 - 1825

Transcontinental Railroad 1863 - 1869 The First Transcontinental Railroad (known

originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route") was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska[1][2] (via Ogden, Utah, and Sacramento, California) with the Pacific Ocean at Oakland, California on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay opposite San Francisco

Transcontinental Railroad 1863 - 1869

Interstate Highway System 1956 - 1991 Idea championed by Dwight D. Eisenhower Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 Estimated cost: 425 billion-the largest

public works program since the Pyramids according to Richard F. Weingroff

Speed limits determined by each state Post WW2 reconstruction of the United

States

Interstate Highway System 1956 - 1991

The Big Dig (2000 – 2007)

The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T), known unofficially as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery (Interstate 93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into a 3.5-mile (5.6-km) tunnel. The project also included the construction of the Ted Williams Tunnel (extending Interstate 90 to Logan International Airport), the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge over the Charles River, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the space vacated by the previous I-93 elevated roadway. Initially, the plan was also to include a rail connection between Boston's two major train terminals.

The Big Dig (2000 – 2007) Budget problems Division of local, state and federal

money Environmental impact

Incentives for infrastructure development Grants-gives money out if certain requirements are

met, do not need to pay it back Credit Subsidies-gives money out, but money needs

to be repaid Secure direct loans Loan guarantees Standby lines of credit

Tax Subsidies User Fees States Compact: Agreement of cooperation between

states when a project crosses state boundaries

Sociological, Political and Economic factors behind infrastructure development

New York Subway Chiago El Republican v. Democrats Mass transit as a source of activism

Freedom riders Bus boycott

Where are we now? Highway Bill of 2012 (MAP 21) Green movement in certain states

Where are we now? High Speed Rail (HSR) Developments

California 220 mph San Francisco to Los Angeles Further development of CalTrain and

Metrolink Stimulus money used to develop HSR

Northeast Corridor Chicago – St. Louis

Where are we now? Train to nowhere? California is broke

Partisan gridlock, environmental lawsuits

Where are we now? The Bering Strait crossing is a

hypothetical bridge or tunnel spanning the relatively narrow and shallow Bering Strait between the Chukotka Peninsula in Russia and the Seward Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. In principle, the bridge or tunnel would provide an overland connection linking Asia with North America, although there is little infrastructure in the nearby parts of Alaska and Russia.

Where are we now?

Learning Targets/Essential Question I can explain previous large scale infrastructure

projects in the U.S. I can explain the incentives given to local governments

for developing large scale infrastructure projects I can identify the political, sociological and economic

motivations behind large scale infrastructure projects in the U.S.

I can describe current large scale infrastructure projects in the U.S.

Essential Question: What is transportation infrastructure and why is it important to economic and societal development?

Questions? How does this relate to the topic? What is topical and what is not topical? Understanding the framework of how

plan passes (still important even in a world of fiat)

Additional questions or comments?