Surveys rarely surprise, and for the most part, that’s good; a confirmed consensus can help consolidate a community, foment activism, and influence our leaders to make change. That’s why we have elections, I hope.

In a September 2009 Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure survey taken by nearly 150 professionals working at DOTs in 30 states (most of whom were engineers with at least 20 years experience), we covered topics including:

• our elected officials;
• the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA); and
• transportation infrastructure projects, products, and new technologies.

Stepping back and looking at the results, it is clear that we reaffirmed a lot about what this transportation community believes and has experienced during 2009. As expected, the majority of respondents (61 percent) agreed that the greatest challenge their DOT faced in 2009 was dealing with budget cuts. Meeting the ARRA deadline requirements (12 percent), and addressing staffing issues (12 percent), were also considered challenges.

A strong majority of respondents (73 percent) said they do not trust that their state-level leaders will do what needs to be done to address transportation infrastructure issues. Considering how frustrated this group is with their state-level leaders, it was somewhat surprising how undecided they were about President Obama, Rep. Oberstar (D-Minn.), and Transportation Secretary Lahood (see Figure 1), even though these prominent officals failed to unite and advance our surface transportation policy on schedule.

Figure 1: Do you trust that politicians will do what needs to be done to address the nation’s infrastructure needs?

One conclusion that could be drawn from these responses is that DOT professionals have higher expectations of their local leaders. But even though local leaders are more within reach, they still represent a much larger constituency (the American public) and unless this mercurial group unites and demands reform, it is illogical to expect local leaders to influence the national legislative agenda. Put another way: There is no mandate to rebuild America’s infrastructure. Some say the public is apathetic, and can’t mobilize until it gets really painful. But apathy can be combated with education, something 80 percent of respondents agreed the public lacks when it comes to our transportation infrastructure.

Figure 2: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
At our recent Best Firms To Work For Summit, I discussed the ARRA with a president of a highly successful private civil engineering firm headquartered in the Pacific Northwest. “It would have been great if I owned a repaving truck,” remarked the firm leader, admitting that the stimulus package has failed to live up to his firm’s expectations. It remains to be seen whether the stimulus package will live up to the Obama Administration’s expectations — job creation and a stimulated economy — either. As you’ll see in Figure 2, state DOTs have hustled to get “shovel-ready” projects off the shelf (whether worthy of priority, or not) and on the ground; and according to a recent report by ProPublica.com, a group which has followed the stimulus package closely, only $3.4 billion of the transportation stimulus funds were paid out as of Oct. 2, which was “about a third less than forecast.” Though the majority of respondents (66 percent) agreed that the ARRA has resulted in more projects, only 11 percent of respondents agreed without equivocation that these projects were of consequence.

Figure 3: On the “shelf”

As shown in Figure 3, the types of projects that often exemplify progressive transportation infrastructure are often the least common types on a DOT’s shelf. Most of these projects couldn’t meet the stiff requirements of the “shovel-ready” stipulation, which was a political success because it implied that the federal government was being proactive in addressing both the foundering economy and the nation’s infrastructure, though the latter got short shrift.

Figure 4: Which technology do you think will have the biggest impact on transportation projects in your state in the next 5 to 10 years?

Beyond stimulus
The deadline for the next round of ARRA obligations is March 2010. Earlier this summer, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Department of Transportation said the department expects more significant projects in the next round of obligations. We’ll see. Looking past 2010, and based on the technological trends that respondents agreed would impact the industry (see Figure 4), it seems that DOTs are gearing up for such projects, whether fully funded by the government or not.