The bottom line.

An annual investment of $92 billion for highways and bridges, between 2004 and 2009, is necessary to maintain the physical condition and performance characteristics of the system. An annual investment of $125.6 billion for highways and bridges is necessary to improve the physical condition and performance characteristics of the system over 20 years. An annual capital investment of $19 billion is required, between 2004 and 2009, to maintain the physical condition and service performance of the nation's transit systems, if ridership only grows modestly at 1.6 percent per year. An annual capital investment of $44 billion is required to improve the physical condition and service performance of the nation's transit systems, if ridership continues to grow at 3.5 percent per year. In 2000, transit investment from all levels of government totaled $33.8 billion, with $9.5 billion going to capital investment. The 1999 FHWA Conditions and Performance Report placed the repair backlog at $167 billion for highways and $87 billion for bridges. In 2000, highway expenditures by all levels of government totaled $127.5 billion, with $64.6 billion going to capital investment. Highway vehicle miles traveled (VMT) increased 600 billion miles over the past decade from 2.15 to 2.75 trillion miles. VMT is expected to grow by another 600 billion over the next 10 years, an annual VMT growth rate of 2.2 percent. At least $18 billion for highway infrastructure capital costs over six years, and an additional $1 billion per year for operating costs, will be needed to implement AASHTO's Strategic Highway Safety Plan, which has a goal of saving 5,000 to 7,000 lives each year. At least $12 billion in capital investment and $1 billion in annual operating assistance will be needed for highway and transit security over the next six years. Every billion dollars of federal highway investment generates 47,500 jobs; for every billion dollars in transit investment, job generation is virtually the same. 11.3 million Americans — one in 11 — are employed in transportation occupations. International trade equivalent to a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product increased from 13.4 percent in 1990 to 24.1 percent in 2000. The federal-aid highway program creates 2.5 acres of wetlands for every acre it takes for road construction. Since 1970, states have built more than 1,600 miles of noise barriers at a cost of more than $1.9 billion. Over the past 11 years, $4.9 billion in enhancement projects — such as …