Report: Poor transport investment costs U.S. 900,000 jobs

Duke University’s Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness released a report on infrastructure under-investment.    Washington is doing very little to reduce the negative impact the United States’ transportation infrastructure is having on its economy, Duke University’s Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness found in a new report.
   Underinvestment in the U.S. transportation infrastructure costs the United States more than 900,000 jobs, including more than 97,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the report, “Infrastructure Creates American Jobs.”
   The CGGC found that every dollar invested in transportation infrastructure has a $3.54 return in economic impact; a long-term transportation bill of $114 billion annually, it said, would support upward of 2.48 million American jobs and rebuild the country’s under-performing infrastructure.
   “Infrastructure capacity constraints lead to delays, congestion, and disruptions that affect everyone: citizens, consumers, manufacturers, buyers, sellers, importers and exporters,” Lukas Brun, senior research analyst at the CGGC, said. “Rebuilding world-class transportation infrastructure in the United States increases the efficiency of domestic commerce and international trade. And it creates American jobs.”
   The CGGC found that there are currently 156,000 deficient bridges across the U.S. and an investment backlog of $85.9 billion for U.S. roads. It reported that $200 billion of economic activity is lost annually due to inefficient rail transportation.