There was an article about America's infrastracture posted on The Economist. The main idea of it was the need of a change in US transport policies and fundings, but the main message sent was no matter how the transport system struggles and how overloaded and outdated the infrastructure is in general, the main concernment for the politic makers is to win next the elections and be loved by the electorate.
An early Obama administration flirtation with a tax on miles driven attracted little support, but some cities have run, or are thinking of running, pilot schemes. Congestion charges present another possibility. State governments have increasingly turned to tolls to fund individual projects, but tolling inevitably meets stiff public resistance. Meanwhile, Manhattan’s attempt to duplicate the congestion charges of London and Stockholm failed to win the necessary political support, despite the offer of a generous federal subsidy in return for trying the experiment. An earlier attempt to auction scarce landing and departure slots at New York’s three large airports faced stiff resistance from airlines and was ultimately killed.
In this case, there is no matter of long term economic or whatever growth, their world turns around the elections.
So, probably, the biggest problem of US transport system is not the wrong politics or superiority of a private car, but their political order or lack of sustainable thinking among the nation, and a courage to make unpopular decisions?
full article: The Economist
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