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INFRASTRUCTURES * WORLDWIDE
* USA - Infrastructure Health Essential to the Economy
Washington,DC,USA -The Roll Call, by Bill Graves (Former governor of Kansas, is president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations) -July 13, 2009: -- As Congress takes up the surface transportation reauthorization bill, it’s important to consider the vital role that highway infrastructure plays in our economy... The National Highway System carries 40 percent of all U.S. traffic and 75 percent of truck traffic. Its strength is essential to our freedom and the quality of life that we enjoy in the U.S.... Highways are the lifeline for the 80 percent of U.S. communities that are served solely by truck for freight transportation... Over the past 25 years, the number of registered vehicles has increased more than 50 percent, yet new road miles have grown by less than 5 percent and lane capacity has increased by just 6 percent. Because of this, traffic congestion has become a major threat to our nation’s productivity... According to the Texas Transportation Institute, congestion annually costs the U.S. economy $87.2 billion in the form of 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.8 billion gallons of wasted fuel. The American Trucking Associations supports the establishment of a dedicated freight program, paid for by freight users, to address the congestion caused by highway bottlenecks and to fund corridor expansion or network routes designed to address long-term needs... (Photo from: realestatetimes: Roads and highways)
* India - Moving disaster on the roads
The problem of overloading is rampant throughout the country. It is time the Centre came up with a suitable road transport policy
New Delhi,India -The Hindu Business Line, by Chittaranjan Dass -13 July 2009: -- Transportation of goods and passengers by road has been growing steadily for the past half a century or so, largely due to consumer preference. But then road transportation of goods has its own problems, the most important being that of overloading... First it must be noted that in the matter of road transport services, the interests of the State and Central governments are often at cross purposes, and the most contentious of all is the issue of loading of goods carriages in excess... Till 1988, State governments were free to assign Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) for trucks and, based on it, to collect the tax revenue from the vehicles registered in the State concerned. As a result, they turned a blind eye to other aspects of road transportation such as damage to roads, accidents or environmental issue, caused particularly by overloading. As long as the State governments, and corrupt officials posted on the highways, succeeded in milching the vehicle operators and making money, they were happy... (Photo from cycleindia: Indian roads)
Labels: infrastructures discussions
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