An ongoing compilation of facts and figures illustrating the infrastructure needs of California and the nation.

Categories:

The Price Tag	Economic and Safety Benefits of Heavy Construction
Public Works and Highway Funding	Highway Safety
Road and Bridge Conditions	Population Growth
Road Use and Congestion	Water and Wastewater
Tax Fairness	Airports
Construction and Maintenance Costs	Ports
Public Transit Use and Costs	Power
Congestion and Air Quality

THE PRICE TAG

• The cost of fixing the nation's infrastructure: $1.3 trillion. Source: American Society of Civil Engineers, 1998.
  
• If the trend of underfunding public works continues, our children and grandchildren will be left with an infrastructure deficit price tag of at least $853 billion. Source: ReBuild America Coalition, May, 1998.
  
• Over the next 10 years, California faces an $82 billion to $90 billion shortfall in its infrastructure investment. Sources: State Dept. of Finance, California Business Roundtable, 1999.
  
• The cost of the unfunded transportation projects needed to meet the state's growing needs is $117 billion. Source: California Legislative Analyst's Office, May, 2000.
  
  
  PUBLIC WORKS and HIGHWAY FUNDING
  
  
• In the last 30 years, highway travel has increased 116 percent while highway lane capacity has increased only 8 percent. Source. State Sen. Tom McClintock's office, March 20, 2001.
  
• Most of the state's highway network has exceeded its design life by more than a decade and is in need of upgrade and rehabilitation to bring it up to code; yet, the state has $115 billion in unfunded transportation needs: Source: California Transportation Commission, as of 2001.
  
• Between 1968 and 1993, the amount California spent on capital improvements fell from 20 cents on the dollar to a nickel on the dollar. Source: California Council For Environmental and Economic Balance, 1993.
  
• California ranks dead last among states in per capita highway investment from state funds ($77.57 per person, 42 percent below the national average of $134.17). Source: TRIP, April 2000.
  
• California ranks 46th among all states in capital investment per capita at all levels of government ($139.16 per person, 26 percent below the national average of $189.24 per person). Source: TRIP, April, 2000.
  
• The backlog of unfunded county road repair and improvements In California totals nearly $4 billion, a sum 11 times larger than the combined annual road and bridge repair budget. Source: TRIP, 1998.
  
• Counties can pay for only 12 percent of their needed road resurfacing and only 4 percent of needed construction. Source: California State Association of Counties, 1998.
  
• In all, the Bay Area needs an extra $33 billion in the next 20 years to meet its transportation needs. Source: Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 2000.
  
• In the next 20 years, the Bay Area will fall $2.8 billion short of what it needs just to to repair existing local streets and roads. Source: Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission Regional Transportation Plan, 2001.
  
  
  ROAD and BRIDGE CONDITIONS
  
  
• California has worst road and highway pavement conditions in the nation. Source: The Road Information Program, December, 2001.
  
• Less than half the nation's major roads and highways are in good condition, 22 percent is in fair condition, and 32 percent needs "significant improvement." TRIP, 2001
  
• Urban roads in Los Angeles are the third-worst inthe nation, with 33 percent rated in "poor" condition. San Jose's rank fifth-worst with 30 percent rated "poor." San Francisco-Oakland's rank sixth-worst with 29 percent in "poor"condition. Source: TRIP.
  
• 37 percent of major roads and highways in California are rated in poor condition, meaning they have potholes, cracking, and/or rutting. Resurfacing is necessary to repair the problem. Source: TRIP 2001.
  
• Another 35 percent of California roads and highways is rated in mediocre condition -- this means 72 percent is either poor or mediocre. Source: TRIP, 2001.
  
• Three out of 10 overpasses and bridges in California are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete by today's standards and in need of significant repair or replacement There are 2,636 structurally deficient bridges and 4,204 functionally obsolete bridges. Source: TRIP, 2001.
  
• California spends less money per capita on highways than any other state: $82 in 2000, just 56 percent of the national average of $147. Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio round out the bottom of the list -- but all spend more per capita than California. Source: TRIP, 2001.
  
• Driving on roads in need of repair costs California's motorists $12 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs. Or $558 per motorist. Source: TRIP 2001.
  
• Nearly two-thirds of the state's 23,770 bridges and overpasses are at least 30 years old, which is the design life of a typical bridge. Source: TRIP, 1999.
  
  
  ROAD USE and CONGESTION
  
  
• Regions that pursued aggressive highway expansion experienced congestion increases 40 percent less than areas that engaged in lesser expansion. Source: Transportation California, Nov. 1999.
  
• 49 percent of California's urban freeways are congested, up 27 percent from 1988. Source: TRIP, 1999.
  
• From 1988 to 1998, California's population increased 18 percent while vehicle miles traveled grew by 21 percent overall and 30 percent in urban areas. Source: California Legislative Analyst's Office, May, 2000.
  
• Between 1990 and 2000, California freeway miles have increased only 1 percent. Source: LAO, May 2000.
  
• In California, highway travel on urban roads increased 34 percent from 1986 to 1996, while lane mileage on the state's major urban roads increased only 3.2 percent. Source: TRIP
  
• In all, California highway lane miles have increased only 8 percent in the last 25 years while demand has increased 116 percent.. Source: Assemblyman Tom McClintock's office, January, 2000.
  
• In 1999 Californians spent 836,000 hours each day in traffic jams. Source: L.A. Times, April, 2000.
  
• Vehicle hours of delay on California's urban freeways have more than doubled to 418,000 hours per day in 1998. Source: LAO, May 2000.
  
• At current rates of travel growth, the annual number of vehicle miles of travel is predicted to reach 392 billion by the year 2010, more than 40 percent higher than today. Source: California Chamber of Commerce. March 5, 1999.
  
• In 1998, the number of registered vehicles statewide increased by more than 1.7 million -- or 6.8 percent -- for a total of 27.5 million. Source: California DMV, March, 1999.
  
• There are nearly 27 million licensed drivers in the state. Source: San Jose Mercury News, March 6, 1998.
  
• The number of registered vehicles has grown 28 percent in the last decade. Source: California Chamber of Commerce, March 5, 1999.
  
• The average California household owns 1.78 vehicles, only fractionally higher than the national avarage. Source: U.S. Census, Aug. 2001.
  
• Congestion on urban highways costs Californians $7.8 million a day. Source: LAO, May, 2000.
  
• Since 1985, the Bay Area's population has grown roughly 30 percent while highway capacity has increased only 8 percent. Source: Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Alameda County Congestion Management Agency, Nov. 1999.
  
• By the year 2020, another 1.1 million vehicles will be using Bay Area roads and highways. Source: Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 1998.
  
• Congestion in the San Francisco-Oakland area is second-worst in the nation, behind Los Angeles. San Jose ranks 10th. Source: Texas Transportation Institute. Sept. 2004.
  
• The number of congested directional miles throughout the Bay Area now totals 284, a 49 percent increase since 1994. Source: Bay Area Council, 1998.
  
• The average driver spends 63 hours a year in congestion in the Bay Area and 93 hours a year in Los Angeles. Source: Texas Transportation Institute, Sept. 2004.
  
• The amount of time people waste in Bay Area traffic is expected to increase 250 percent by 2020. Source: Metropolitan Transportation Commission, July 23, 1998.
  
• The number of vehicle miles of travel in the Bay Area has increased 400 percent since 1970. Source: Governor's Commission on Transportation Improvements, 1998.
  
• Since 1960, the Bay Area has added 1.3 million more residents, a 108 percent increase. Meanwhile, vehicle ownership jumped 3.4 million, a 227 percent increase. Source: San Jose Mercury News, 1998.
  
• Some 71.4 percent of Bay Area residents now drive to work alone. Source: RIDES for Bay Area Commuters.
  
• Traffic congestion costs the Bay Area economy $210 million a year. Source: Caltrans 1999.
  
• Companies like Safeway pay 17 cents per mile more in transportation costs in the Bay Area because of congestion. Source: Bay Area Council, 1998.
  
• "Businesses are shutting down production lines because parts can't be transported to their plants on time. Inventories are held at inefficiently high levels with finished products staying on premises longer than optimal because companies have to orient their shipping times around traffic. Protracted commutes make it difficult to attract and retain employees, causing other regions to become more attractive to executives making relocation decisions." Source: Bay Area Council, 1998.
  
  
  TAX FAIRNESS and the HIGHWAY TRUST FUND
  
  
• Californians pay 18.4 cents per gallon in federal gas tax and another 18 cents in state gas tax, plus 7.5 cents uniform state and local sales tax, plus any optional local sales taxes for transportation. Source: Caltrans, March 1, 2000.
  
• Only a small portion of gas and diesel sales tax go to transportation. Of the total sales tax revenues ($1.7 billion) from these products in the fiscal year 2000-01, about 82 percent ($1.4 billion) will go to local and general fund purposes and not transportation. Source: LAO, May, 2000.
  
• While Californians now pay the seventh-highest gas tax nationwide, the state ranks next to last in transportation spending. California's $7.9 billion transportation budget comes out to only $251 per person. Only South Carolina pays less at $223 per person. Source: San Jose Mercury-News, March 6, 1998
  
• Californians pay the third-highest taxes per vehicle in the country, yet they rank 50th in per capita highway spending. Source: State Sen. John Burton's office. May, 1999.
  
• As much as $1.5 billion in annual transportation revenue may be lost over the next decade as half-cent sales taxes expire in California's most urban counties. Source: San Jose Mercury-News, March 6, 1998.
  
• Approximately three-quarters of the state's road miles are local. They carry about half of all travel in the state, but these roads receive only a third of the total road funding in California. Source: Transportation California, August, 1999.
  
  
  CONSTRUCTION and MAINTENANCE COSTS
  
  
• Most highway construction exceeds $1 million per mile for a single lane. Source: Contra Costa Times, March 25, 1998.
  
• BART extensions can top $100 million per mile. Source: Contra Costa Times, March 25, 1998.
  
• Repairing roads in poor condition has been found to be as much as four times as costly as repairing roads in fair condition. Source: TRIP, April 1998.
  
• It costs five times as much to reconstruct a city street as it does to maintain it. Source: Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.
  
• The cost of trucking goods rises 6.3 cents per mile when road conditions decline from good to fair. Source: The Rebuild America Coalition, 1995.
  
• To maintain today's pavement quality, 100,000 miles of highway must be renewed every year across the country. Source: Rebuild America Coalition.
  
• It costs 8 cents per square foot for routine maintenance, compared to 80 cents to rehabilitate pavement that's deteriorated to the point of failure. Source: Sacramento Bee editorial, Dec. 6, 1998.
  
  
  PUBLIC TRANSIT USE AND COSTS
  
  
• The percentage of Californians who used public transportation fose from 4.9 percent in 1990 to 5.4 percent in 2000, an increase of only half a percent in 10 years. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Aug. 2001.
  
• Since 1991, total bus and rail ridership has remained relatively constant in California, with bus riders decreasing and rail passengers increasing. Source: state Legislative Analyst's Office, May, 2000.
  
• Some 36 million fewer people rode Bay Area mass transit in 1996-97 than in 1982-1983. Source: EPA.
  
• BART pays 60 percent of its operating costs with fares. Buses only get 15 to 30 percent of their operating costs with fares. Source: BART Director Dan Richard. April, 2000.
  
  
  CONGESTION AND AIR QUALITY
  
  
• Gridlocked vehicles create between two and six times the pollutants per mile as those operating at peak efficiency. Source: Caltrux Magazine, Feb. 1998.
  
• Vehicles moving at under 20 miles an hour over congested freeways spew 32 percent more pollutants than if traffic were moving at 55 miles per hour. Source: TRIP.
  
• Bay Area pollution levels are roughly the same as they were 20 years ago despite a nearly 40 percent increase in vehicles on the road. Source: Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 1999.
  
  
  ECONOMIC and SAFETY BENEFITS of HEAVY CONSTRUCTION
  
  
• Transportation construction is a $160 billion-a-year industry in the U.S. It employs more than 1.6 million people. Source: The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)
  
• More than $4.4 trillion worth of products -- 72 percent of the total value of commodities shipped annually in the U.S. -- are transported on the nation's highways. Source: TRIP.
  
• More than $6 trillion worth of freight moves on America's transporation network every year. Source: ARTBA
  
• Every $1 billion in highway construction creates 42,000 jobs. Source: Federal Highway Administration, 1998.
  
• Of those 42,100 jobs, 19,750 are workers supplying highway construction materials and equipment, 14,500 are workers in businesses where construction dollars are spent and 7,900 are workers at construction sites. Source: Federal Highway Administration, 1998.
  
• Every dollar invested in the highway system yields $5.60 in economic benefits to the nation. Source: TRIP.
  
• Since 1956, 18 percent of our nation's economic growth has come about because of our National Highway System. Source: Keep American Moving, 1998.
  
• America's federal highway program provided funding for approximately 760,000 jobs in 1997. Source: TRIP.
  
• The $7.3 billion in heavy construction work for all of 1988 generated more than 500,000 permanent and temporary jobs. Source: Construction Industry Research Board.
  
• America's transportation infrastructure employs 12 million people, consuming one of every five dollars of household spending, and accounting for 11 percent of the nation's economic activity. Source: The Rebuild America Coalition, 1995.
  
• Roads and highways are America's freight lifelines. 78.2 percent of the dollar value of all U.S. freight is moved by truck. Source: U.S. Dept. of Transportation.
  
• Private vehicles in the U.S. provide $1.5 trillion in economic benefits annually in time saved. Source: TRIP, 1999.
  
• The federal highway program, including state matching funds, supports approximately 81,791 jobs in California. Each $1 billion in new federal highway investment nationwide generates an estimated additional 4,531 jobs in California. Source: TRIP.
  
• One out of every seven new jobs in the state is in the construction industry. Source: California Constructor Magazine, January, 1998.
  
• $639 billion worth of goods are delivered annualy from sites in California to locations nationwide via the transportation infrastructure. Source: TRIP, Sept. 1998.
  
• In all, 67 percent of the total value of commodities delivered from sites in California are transported on the state's highways. Source: TRIP, Sept. 1998.
  
• Thirty million households use hydroelectric power provided by dams and power plants. Source: U.S. Committee on Large Dams (USCOLD).
  
• Hydropower from dams contributes more than 90 percent of all renewable electric energy produced in the United States. Source: USCOLD.
  
• The efficiency of a modern hydropower plant exceeeds 90 percent, which is more than twice the efficiney of a thermal plant. Source: USCOLD.
  
• Public investment in the 44,000-mile Interstate Highway System and other highway improvements over the past 40 years have helped save an estimated 2 million lives, or roughly the population of Miami. Source: ARTBA.
  
• More than 90 percent of the nation's top 50 ports require regular maintenance dredging. Those 50 ports move nearly 93 percent of all U.S. waterborne commerce in a given year. Source: American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).
  
• Deep-draft ports dredged by heavy construction workers allow ports to accommodate ocean-going vessels, which move more than 95 percent of U.S. overseas trade by weight and 75 percent by value.Source: AAPA.
  
• For every $1 billion invested in airports, approximately 40,000 to 50,000 jobs are created and sustained. Source: Airports International Council, North America, Jan. 2000.
  
• Since 1950, every $1 billion invested in government-financed road improvements has helped prevent 1,400 premature deaths, 50,000 injuries and saved American society more than $2 billion in health care, insurance, lost wages and productivity costs. Source: ARTBA.
  
• Every $100 million invested in highway safety improvements will result in approximately 145 fewer traffic fatalities over a 10-year-period. Source: TRIP.
  
• Widening a lane by one foot can reduce traffic accidents by 12 percent. Widening two feet reduces accidents by 23 percent. Widening a shoulder has been found to reduce fatal accidents by 21 percent. Medians for traffic separation can reduce fatalities by 71 percent. Source: TRIP.
  
• Constructing a new bridge can reduce fatalities 86 percent. Source: Federal Highway Administration.
  
  
  HIGHWAY SAFETY
  
  
• Each month, 1,000 people die in American highway accidents in which the poor condition or poor design of the road or bridge they were on was a factor in the accident that killed them. Source: Highway Users Alliance, 1998.
  
• Highway investments over the last 40 years have produced a 2-for-1 health return by preventing 1,400 deaths and 50,000 injuries for every $1 billion invested. Source: American Road and Transportation Builders Association.
  
• Two-lane roads account for 77 percent of all fatal crashes and half of vehicle miles traveled. Only 14 percent of fatal crashes occur on roads with four or more lanes. In California, 53 percent of the roads on the National Highway System, excluding the Interstate system, are two lanes. Source: TRIP.
  
• The nation's highway death toll in 1996 was 42,000 fatalities. Poor road design and poor road conditions contributed to 30 percent, or 12,000, of those deaths. Highway improvements such as wider lanes and shoulders, adding or improving medians and upgrading roads from two lanes to four lanes can reduce traffic fatalities and accidents. Source: TRIP.
  
• Vehicle crashes are the number one cause of on-the-job deaths and cost employers $54.7 billion a year. Source: U.S. Dept. of Transportation.
  
• Motor vehicle crashes cost California citizens $15.6 billion per year, or $497 for every resident to the state, for emergency services, medical costs, property damage and lost market productivity. Source: TRIP.
  
• Fatality rates on the state's non-interstate major roads are approximately 50 percent higher than on California's interstates. Source: TRIP.
  
  
  POPULATION GROWTH
  
  
• California's population increased by 571,000 people in 1999, bringing the total population to 34.3 million. It was third year in a row that the state's population grew by more than half a million people. Source: State Dept. of Finance, May 2000.
  
• During the 1980s, California's population expanded from 24 million to 30 million, the equivalent of adding a Massachusetts or a Virginia in 10 years. Source: Sacramento Bee, May 10, 1998.
  
• California's population will increase 50 percent in the next 25 years, the equivalent of adding the population of New York state. Source: State Dept. of Resources, 1998.
  
• The state's population will grow to nearly 60 million by the year 2040, according to demographic forecasts. Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 18, 1999.
  
• Statewide, California added almost 600,000 residents last year, putting the total population over 33 million for the first time. Contra Costa Times, May 7, 1998.
  
• Population in the nine Bay Area counties will exceed 6.8 million by the turn of the century, a nearly 50 percent increase since 1970. Source: Bay Area Council.
  
• Every Bay Area county but San Francisco is expected to see double-digit population growth over the next 20 years. Source: Association of Bay Area Governments, July, 1999
  
• By 2010, the number of people in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties vying for space on East Bay roads is expected to grow by 21 percent. Source: San Francisco Examiner, July 20, 1997.
  
  
  WATER and WASTEWATER
  
  
• More than a quarter of the nation's dams are more than 50 years old, which puts them beyond their life expectancy. By the year 2020, 85 percent of our dams will be past their life expectancy. Source: Association of State Dam Officials, 1998.
  
• More than $76 billion is needed for immediate infrastructure improvements to maintain drinking water quality and protect public health. Nearly $140 billion will have to be spent over the next 20 years. Source: Environmental Protection Agency, 1998.
  
• Our nation's wastewater systems alone need a $139 billion investment over the next 30 years to meet growing demands. Source: EPA, 1998.
  
• Many of our cities have water pipes that are more than 100 years old. Because of leaks, those pipes can easily lose 30 percent of the drinking water they carry. Source: Rebuild America Coalition.
  
• State water needs are increasing from 78.7 million to 80.5 million acre-feet annually. Source: State Dept of Water Resources, 1998.
  
• With no further storage and supply construction, experts predict a dry year shortage of 7 million acre feet of water by the year 2020. That is as much as 14 million families use in a year. Even in an average rainfall season, the shortage amounts to as much water as used by 3.8 million families. Source: State Department of Water Resources.
  
• A severe drought would leave the Bay Area 376,000 acre feet short by 2020 if no action is taken. That's more than three times as much as all 400,000 people in the Contra Costa Water District use in a year. Source: State Department of Water Resources.
  
  
  AIRPORTS
  
  
• Our nation's airports need an investment of up to $60 billion in the next five years to prevent increases in flight delays. Source: Federal Aviation Administration, 1998.
  
  
  PORTS
  
  
• The amount of import cargo moving through U.S. ports is expected to triple by the year 2020. Source: U.S. Dept of Transportation.
  
• Port improvements and expansions on the land and waterside put overall needs at an estimated $2.3 billion a year. Source: U.S. DOT.
  
  
  POWER
  
  
• California ranks dead last in power production per capita. Source: State Sen. Tom McClintock's office, March 2001.
  
• Twelve to 15 new power plants are needed now in California to assure power reliability and accommodate growth. Source: California Energy Commission, 2000.
  
• Power demand in the Bay Area is growing up to 5 percent a year. Source: Independent Service Operator, 2000.
  
• Each summer California has to import the equivalent power output of a dozen medium-sized power plants. Source: Calpine, 2000.
  
• Starting from essentially zero in 1993, the Internet has grown to consume 8 percent of all power produced in the United States. Computers as a whole are taking up 13 percent. Source: Calpine, 2000.
  
• The digital-Internet economy will require up to half the nation's electric supply in the next 10 to 20 years. Source: Calpine, 2000.
  
• Silicon Valley high-tech companies can expect to lose between $75 and $100 million a day if there isn't enough electricity to keep industry on line. Source: Reuters, 2000.
  
• Under the right conditions, high-tech companies can lose $1 million a minute during rolling blackouts. Source: Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, July, 2000.