# Presentation: 341668

## INFORMATIONAL BRIEFING-

**1999 STATUS OF THE NATION’S HIGHWAYS, BRIDGES, AND TRANSIT:**
**CONDITIONS AND PERFORMANCE**
**REPORT TO CONGRESS (C&P REPORT)**
**HIGHWAY, BRIDGE AND TRANSIT SECTIONS**

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## BackgroundReport Purpose

- To provide Congress and other decision makers with an objective appraisal of highway, bridge and transit conditions, performance, finance and future investment requirements.
***Retrospective***
- Summarize current information on the national transportation system
- Analyze historic trends
***Prospective***
- Identify resources required to attain performance objectives
- Identify potential impacts on system and users under different scenarios

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## MethodologyReport Organization

- Introduction and Highlights
- Executive Summary (one page summaries)
- 11 Multimodal Chapters
- 9 Appendices covering topics unique to highways or transit
- Mostly in narrative format (unlike 1997 C&P report)
- 314 Exhibits
- 73 Q&A boxes

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## MethodologyNew Topics in the 1999 Edition

- Interstate Needs Study
- New section on Personal Mobility
- Expanded analysis of Safety issues
- Expanded analysis of the National Highway System
- Preview of the NHS Freight Intermodal Connectors Study
- Update on Asset Management and Investment Strategies
- New section on the Condition and Performance of the Transportation System Serving Federal and Indian Lands
- New section on Federal Highway Safety Programs
- Expanded discussion of changes in Investment Requirement Methodology
- New section on the Costs and Benefits of Transit

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Highway/Bridge Findings:  SummaryKey Findings

- Conditions and Performance
- Pavement condition overall is improving
- The percentage of bridges considered to be “deficient” has been steadily declining.
- Travel Density (DVMT per Lane Mile) is Increasing
- Other Congestion Measures Show Mixed Results
- Spending and Future Capital Investment Requirements
- The “gap” between current spending and projected future capital investment requirements has declined
- The “gap” is expected to close further during TEA-21
- 5.7% gap to Cost to Maintain _conditions_ level
- Additional funding required to maintain _performance_

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Transit Findings:  SummaryKey Findings

- Conditions and Performance
- Average bus condition is holding steady at “adequate”; average rail vehicle condition is declining slightly over time
- PMT growing strongly, exceeding VRM growth
- Overall route mileage is relatively flat; new rail route miles added
- Spending and Future Capital Investment Requirements
- The “gap” between current spending and projected future capital investment requirements remains high, at 41% in 1997
- The “gap” is expected to close considerably during TEA-21
- 12.9% gap at Maintain Conditions and Performance level
- Annual gap projected to be eliminated in 2003

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Highway/Bridge MethodologyData Sources and Analytical Tools

- Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) and National Bridge Inventory (NBI) are used for analyses of system characteristics, physical conditions, and operational performance.   Separate State-supplied financial reports are used to develop financial analyses.
- Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS) is used for highway investment requirement analysis, based on economic analysis, not merely engineering measures.
- Bridge Needs and Investment Process (BNIP) used for bridge investment requirement analysis.  Intend to phase out and replace with National Bridge Investment Analysis System (BIAS).
- Other data sources such as the National Personal Transportation Study (NPTS) and the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) are used for special analyses included in the report.

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Transit MethodologyData Sources and Analytical Tools

- Transit system operational and financial data from the 1997 National Transit Database (NTD)
- Data on the characteristics of individual transit trips from the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS)
- Forecasts of future transit passenger mile growth obtained by surveying MPOs
- Investment requirements calculated using the Transit Economic Requirements Model (TERM)
- Aggregate conditions calculated by TERM using inputs from NTD

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Highway/Bridge Findings:  Chapter 3 (ES-4)System Conditions

- 	Pavement condition overall is improving
- Percentage of pavement in “poor” condition has declined from 8.6% to 6.6% since 1993
- The percentage of Interstate pavement with acceptable ride quality improved from 91.2% to 92.4% from 1993 to 1997
- Rural interstate improved from 93.1% to 96.2% acceptable
- Urban Interstate improved from 90.5% to 90.8% acceptable
- Pavement conditions in rural areas continue to be slightly better than in urban areas, for all functional systems.

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## More Highway/Bridge Findings:  Chapter 3 (ES-4)System Conditions

- The percentage of bridges considered to be “deficient” has been steadily declining.
- Percent of deficient bridges declined from 34.6% to 29.6% since 1992
- Structurally Deficient reduced from 20.6% to 16.0%
- Functionally Obsolete reduced from 14.0% to 13.6%
- Percent of deficient Interstate bridges declined from 25.3% to 21.6% since 1992
- Structurally Deficient reduced from 6.8% to 5.4%
- Functionally Obsolete reduced from 18.5% to 16.2%

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Highway/Bridge Findings: Chapter 4 (ES-6)Operational Performance

-     Travel Density (DVMT per Lane Mile) is Increasing
-   VMT is growing faster than lane miles, particularly in rural areas.
***Annual Rate of change from 1987 to 1997***
-               Miles            Lane Miles                Travel
- Rural*	  -0.1%	             -0.1%		2.6%
- Urban	   1.7%		2.1%		3.2%
- Total	   0.2%		0.3%		2.9%
- *Rural mileage decline due to reclassification of rural miles as urban areas expand.
-   Travel Density is increasing, especially on the higher functional systems.
- Urban Interstate travel density has increased 2.0% annually since 1987.
- Rural Interstate travel density has increased 3.4% annually since 1987.** **

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## More Highway/Bridge Findings: Chapter 4 (ES-6)Operational Performance

- 	Other Congestion Measures Show Mixed Results
**Volume/Capacity:  A calculated measure of peak-hour congestion (rather than observed).  Measures only the severity of congestion, not its extent or duration.  **
- Urban Interstate:  Percent congested up from 52.6% to 53.3% since 1993.
- All Urban Principal Arterial: Down from 42.4% to 40.2% since 1993.
**Delay:  A calculated measure of congestion (rather than observed)**
- Delay has increased from 8.3 to 9.0 hours per 1000 VMT since 1993.
- The greatest delay is on urban arterials (16.1 hours per 1000 VMT).
- Many urban highways experienced less delay in 1997 than in 1995.
**TTI findings:  Congestion is increasing**
**Research continues on new and better measures.  **

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Transit Findings:  Chapter 3 (ES-5)System Conditions

- Vehicle Conditions
- Condition now assessed on a 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) scale
- Average Fleet Condition_	__	__ 1987__	__	__1997 __	_
- Bus Vehicles			 3.0		  3.1
- Rail Vehicles			 *4.6*		  *4.0*
- Bus Maintenance Facility Conditions (1997)
- 19.7% Good/Excellent
- 56.6% Adequate
- 23.7% Substandard/Poor

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Transit Findings: Chapter 4 (ES-7)Operational Performance

**Transit travel shows strong increases from 1995 to 1997**
- Route miles decreased 0.5% to 167,000
- Vehicle revenue miles increased 6.7% to 3.44 billion
- Passenger miles increased 10.9% to 40.2 billion
**Average operating speeds** **have remained essentially unchanged since 1991****	**
- 		Rail			26.1 mph in 1997
- 		Non-Rail			13.8
- 		Total			20.1
**Vehicle utilization rates remain much higher for rail modes than for non-rail modes**
- Light rail utilization rates nearly doubled from 1987 to 1997 as several new systems opened and ramped-up service

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Highway/Bridge Findings: Chapter 6 (ES-9)Finance

- Highway capital spending is growing; Federal share has fallen
- Total Highway Spending in 1997:  $101.3 billion
- Capital Outlay $48.7 billion
- Federal Government $20.0 billion (41.1%, down from 44.5% in 1995)
- Federal share expected to rebound under TEA-21
- Maintenance & Services $26.3 billion
- Percent of capital outlay used for new roads and bridges has fallen
- Capital Spending ($48.7 billion) 	_1993_	_1995_	_1997__	__1997 $_
- System Preservation:		44.7%	50.0%	47.6%	$23.2 billion
- New Roads and Bridges	22.8%	15.2%	15.6% 	$  7.6 billion
- Other System Expansion	26.5%	25.6%	28.8% 	$14.0 billion
- System Enhancement:	  6.0%	  9.2%	  8.0% 	$  3.9 billion

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Highway/Bridge MethodologyChanges in Capital Investment Requirements Analysis

- Scope of the investment requirements expanded to cover all types of highway capital outlay.
- Increases investment requirements 13.1 percent (1995 data, Appendix G)
- Has no impact on the “gap” between spending and the investment requirements
- Investment Requirements Analysis Expanded
- Two main investment requirement scenarios are retained, but the potential impacts of other investment levels are also explored.
- Comparison of Investment Requirements and Current Spending extended to show impacts of TEA-21.
- Sensitivity analysis included to show effects that changing  key assumptions would have on results.

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Highway/Bridge Findings:  Chapter 7 (ES-11)Future Capital Investment Requirements

**Cost to Improve Highways and Bridges $94.0 billion**
**	****“****Investment Ceiling”:  Can not justify spending more than this, even if funding were available.  **
- Highway Maximum Economic Investment scenario ($83.4 billion)
- Corrects all deficiencies when economically justified
- Bridge Eliminate Deficiencies scenario ($10.6 billion)
- Addresses existing backlog, and corrects new deficiencies as they develop
- System Preservation (existing lanes/bridges):  $48.1 billion (51.2%)
- System Expansion (new lanes/roads/bridges): $38.3 billion (40.8%)
- System Enhancement:		      $  7.5 billion ( 8.0%)
**Backlog: Highway $166.7 billion, Bridge $87.3 billion.**

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## More Highway/Bridge Findings:  Chapter 7(ES-11)Future Capital Investment Requirements

**Cost to Maintain Highways and Bridges $56.6 billion**
**	****“****Preservation Plus” - Goal is to maintain physical conditions only, but doesn’t ignore expansion and enhancements entirely.   **
- Highway Maintain Conditions scenario ($50.8 billion)
**Maintains pavement condition but operational performance would decline**.
- Bridge Maintain Backlog scenario ($5.8 billion)
- Includes $31.8 billion (56.1%) for system preservation(existing lanes/bridges)
**Maintain User Costs Benchmark (Highway only)**
- Additional $3.1 billion for highways ($53.9 billion) required to maintain user costs
**Maintain Travel Time Benchmark (Highway only)**
- Additional $17.1 billion for highways ($67.9 billion) required to maintain travel time

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Highway/Bridge Findings:  Chapter 8 (ES-13)Investment RequirementsCompared to Spending

**“****Gap” between average annual Cost to Maintain Highways & Bridges and..**
- 1997 Spending - 16.3 percent
- Projected 1998-2003 Spending - 5.7 percent
**“****Gap” between average annual Cost to Improve Highway & Bridges and...**
- 1997 Spending - 92.9 percent
- Projected 1998-2003 Spending - 75.3 percent
**HERS recommends shifting more resources towards system preservation.**
- Current		47.6%
- Cost to Maintain	56.1%
- Cost to Improve	51.2%

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Transit Findings: Chapter 6 (ES-10)Finance

- Total Revenues in 1997:  $26.0 billion
- Revenue Sources
- System Generated	32.7%
- Federal Government	18.3%
- State Government	18.0%
- Local Government	31.1%
- Primary Tax Sources:
- General Fund, Fuel Taxes, Sales Taxes
- Total Expenditures in 1997
- Capital     		        $7.6 billion
- Operating 		      $17.5 billion

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## More Transit Findings: Chapter 6 (ES-10)Finance

**Public Funding by Jurisdiction**

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Transit Findings:  Chapter 7 (ES-12)Future Capital Investment Requirements

**The average annual capital investment required to Maintain current transit system conditions and operational performance in 1997 dollars is $10.8 billion**
- Investment required to Maintain Conditions and Improve Performance is $14.4 billion
- Investment required to Improve Conditions and Maintain Performance is $11.1 billion
**Improving both conditions and performance would require an annual investment of $16.0 billion**

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

##  Transit Findings:  Chapter 8 (ES-14)Investment RequirementsCompared to Spending

**Gap between average annual cost to Maintain Conditions and Performance and:  **
- 1997 Spending: 41.0%
- Projected 1998-2003 Spending: 12.9%
- Annual gap is eliminated in 2003
**Gap between average annual cost to Improve Conditions and Performance and:  **
- 1997 Spending: 110.2%
- Projected 1998-2003 Spending: 68.3%

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit

## Interstate Needs Study Findings:  Appendix AKey Findings 

- Current Interstate spending patterns do a better job of addressing  rural needs than urban needs, and widening needs than preservation needs.
- Backlog of Urban Interstate Bridge deficiencies may climb sharply unless they receive a greater share of total investment.
- Interstate physical conditions can be maintained at projected funding levels, if resources are shifted towards pavement and bridge preservation, away from widening and new construction.
- Maintaining operational performance would require more funds.
- TEA-21 program funding levels (with State match) align with Interstate Cost to Maintain Scenario in most cases.
- Implementation of the Cost to Improve scenario for Interstates can be accomplished only at the expense of maintaining other roads.

- 1999 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit