VP report highlights Recovery Act’s transport infrastructure benefits

Outgoing Vice President Joseph Biden released a report Tuesday outlining the benefits of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on improving the nation’s transportation infrastructure.    Outgoing Vice President Joseph Biden released a report Tuesday outlining the benefits of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on improving the nation’s transportation infrastructure.
   The Recovery Act made available $48.1 billion in transportation investments, considered the biggest single stimulus project in U.S. history and the largest public works project since the Eisenhower Interstate System of the 1950s.
   “Our short-term objective was to rescue the economy, but the long-term goal was to build a 21st century economy and transportation system,” Biden wrote in the report, Shovel Worthy: What the Recovery Act Taught Us About Investing in Our Nation’s Infrastructure. “With $48.1 billion in job-creating investments in transportation infrastructure, American were put back to work and our transportation system—from roads and bridges to high-speed rail—received a significant down payment in every state of the country.”
   The 31-page report notes that within six months of the Recovery Act’s passage by Congress, the Department of Transportation announced funding for about 2,000 transportation projects. More than 13,000 roads and bridges have resulted in over 42,000 miles of improved roads and nearly 2,700 rebuilt or strengthened bridges. 
   The Recovery Act is also credited with creating the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. 
   “The initial $1.5 billion TIGER grant program kicked off this successful program with over 60 competitively selected projects across the country,” the reported stated. “Throughout its eight-year history, TIGER has not only renewed federal investment in critical infrastructure—putting $5.1 billion into 421 projects—it has reenergized communities across the country by sparking local and private investments in our transportation network.”
   In addition, Biden noted that the Recovery Act required DOT to implement “internal controls best practices in transparency, and accountability to protect taxpayers’ dollars.”
   “Using modern technology and tracking tools that focused on transparency and accountability of taxpayer dollars, the majority of Recovery Act funds were structured to immediately prioritize ‘shovel ready’ projects such as fixing roads and bridges, which helped to clear a long backlog of unfinished projects,” said Shoshana M. Lew, DOT’s chief financial officer and assistant secretary for budget and programs. “Beyond these measurable and lasting benefits, the Recovery Act is a model that will continue to inform and influence future investments in our transportation system.”