Transportation Market Is Strong, But Funding Shortfalls Remain
When much of the nation turned on the news on Aug. 1 to discover that a bridge had collapsed in downtown Minneapolis, something that had been common knowledge in the transportation industry suddenly was highlighted for the entire nation: bridges and other U.S. infrastructure were crumbling because of inadequate funding for projects. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently reported that the funding shortfall will reach $1 trillion by 2015.
Some states are using tolls and private-sector concessions to find additional funds to rebuild and expand transportation infrastructure, but there has been a backlash. In Texas, for example, the state legislature passed a moratorium prohibiting the state from tapping private equity for two years.