The collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in the state of Washington has revived the debate on transportation funding in the US. This article investigates the current state of funding for transportation infrastructure and finds that the level of funding has been in sharp decline since about 2008. The primary reason for this is that states have had to severely cut their transportation budgets during the recession. For example, California reduced transportation spending by 31 percent between 2007 and 2009. The US Congress has also been unable to fill in these shortfalls and the most recent highway bill kept federal spending at current levels rather than increasing it. Article suggests that now is the time for the US to invest in its transportation infrastructure, before incidents like the Skagit River Bridge become more common.
