Restarting America’s Most Essential Operating System: Connecting Communities

Highways across rural states also serve as a “bridge” for traffic between population centers for people and freight.

Yet in policy discussions, the need to improve connectivity outside metropolitan areas is too often overlooked.

What is needed:

• Federal funding to help rural states maintain their portions of the Interstates and National Highway System that serve as a “bridge” across America.
• A doubling of Federal funding for rural transit during the next six years to meet rising demand.
• Expanded capacity of existing Interstates;
• Upgraded rural routes to Interstate standards; and
• Better connections to newly urbanized areas from the Interstate system.

More capacity is needed to:

• Connect rural and urban America;
• Enhance and expand rural transit opportunities;
• Improve access for the travel, recreation, and tourism industries;
• Provide connections to new and emerging centers of population and commerce; and
• Ensure reliable access to defense installations and critical industries.

“The people who live in rural areas rely on commercial trucks, cell phones, and the Internet just as much as any city dweller. Yet many of our highways that serve rural areas were built back in the 1960s. Why do we expect our modern society to run on an archaic transportation system? We need a transportation system that works for the entire country of today – not one that struggles just to keep up with yesterday.” – AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley

For more information visit: Transportation Reboot: Restarting America’s Most Essential Operating System (Part 3 - Connecting Communities)