This weeks #urbanist goodreads are falling apart

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America's infrastructure is crumbling under our feet. This is not really news. It has been true for a long time and will likely remain true for a long time, because, frankly, we just aren't willing to spend the money to do better. Even if we were we would likely invest it poorly. Part of the reason we've reached this state is because we embarked on an experiment in infrastructure spending that was de facto unsustainable. Now we're staring down the barrel of $3.6 trillion in repairs. How did we get to this point?

Highway Trust Fun is 'Broke,' Ex-Transportation Secretary LaHood Says - NPR

INSKEEP: Is there something changing in America or the way people drive or the condition of the roads that also makes that gas tax insufficient?LAHOOD: Two things - people are driving less and people are driving more fuel-efficient cars. And that's changed dramatically from the time that we began paving over America with our interstate system. So the idea that people are driving more hybrids, the idea that people - lots of people are using mass transit more than ever before means that the Highway Trust Fund is not getting the resources that it once did.

LAHOOD: Two things - people are driving less and people are driving more fuel-efficient cars. And that's changed dramatically from the time that we began paving over America with our interstate system. So the idea that people are driving more hybrids, the idea that people - lots of people are using mass transit more than ever before means that the Highway Trust Fund is not getting the resources that it once did.

The gas tax is supposed to be the mechanism we use to pay for highway spending, but as our habits and technology change it no longer generates enough revenue. That said, the gas tax never generated enough revenue to cover all of our highway infrastructure obligations.

Debunking the Myth That Only Drivers Pay for the Roads - CityLab

"In recent years, tens of billions of dollars in general taxpayer money has been used (barely legally) to keep the Highway Trust Fund afloat. The theme weaves through all tiers of government. Using 2012 as an example, the report breaks it down like this: general taxpayers paid $47 billion in highway funding at the local level, $15.6 billion at the state level, and $6 billion at the national level-a total of nearly $69 billion, or almost $600 per household. Whether they drove or not."

Because the gas tax is insufficient money for transportation infrastructure has to come from other places. The other big problem is that how we spend this money isn't particularly smart.

Bailing out the Highway Trust Fund Won't Fix America's Crumbling Infrastructure - The Daily Caller

"Part of the reason for the program's persistence is that politicians like to bring home transportation pork projects, appear at ribbon-cutting ceremonies for them, and issue press releases stating how they got the money for a local transportation project. If the fund is allowed to expire, the federal government loses the ability to influence state and local infrastructure initiatives, and members of the House and Senate lose opportunities to promote their own reelection. That is one of the primary drivers for its continued extension."

The trust fund gets raided to build new projects as existing infrastructure goes to seed. I'm not particularly bothered that a quarter of Highway Trust Fund money ends up being spent on things that aren't highways (including some money for public transit), the problem is that the money in the fund is there to do unsexy work, like fix potholes and repair bridges. Instead it gets used to fund new infrastructure spending that ends up adding to the funds long term obligations.

It's worth noting that in both the CityLab and Daily Caller pieces the idea that the Highway Trust Fund has run its course is the conclusion. Infrastructure liberal and conservatives both think that the Highway Trust Fund doesn't work.

This isn't a total explanation for why our infrastructure is in the state it's in. We're a rich country, you can't totally pin the blame on not having enough money.

The Plot Against Trains - The New Yorker

"Everyone knows that American infrastructure-what used to be called our public works, or just our bridges and railways, once the envy of the world-has now been stripped bare, and is being stripped ever barer.What is less apparent, perhaps, is that the will to abandon the public way is not some failure of understanding, or some nearsighted omission by shortsighted politicians. It is part of a coherent ideological project...Part of this, of course, is the ancient-and yet, for most Americans, oddly beclouded-reality that the constitutional system is rigged for rural interests over urban ones. The Senate was designed to make this happen, even before we had big cities, and no matter how many people they contain or what efficient engines of prosperity they are. Mass transit goes begging while farm subsidies flourish."

"Everyone knows that American infrastructure-what used to be called our public works, or just our bridges and railways, once the envy of the world-has now been stripped bare, and is being stripped ever barer.

What is less apparent, perhaps, is that the will to abandon the public way is not some failure of understanding, or some nearsighted omission by shortsighted politicians. It is part of a coherent ideological project...

Part of this, of course, is the ancient-and yet, for most Americans, oddly beclouded-reality that the constitutional system is rigged for rural interests over urban ones. The Senate was designed to make this happen, even before we had big cities, and no matter how many people they contain or what efficient engines of prosperity they are. Mass transit goes begging while farm subsidies flourish."

America is no longer a rural country, it is an urban and suburban one. We drive less, in more efficient cars. We take public transportation more often than we have for generations. We also have a funding mechanism for infrastructure that takes money out of cities and is based around standards that we know do not work. We make Amtrak behave like a for-profit company even as ridership swells, but fund new highway spending without batting an eye as the amount people drive falls. This is irrational.

Why Can't America Have Great Trains? - National Journal

"Compared with the high-speed trains of Western Europe and East Asia, American passenger rail is notoriously creaky, tardy, and slow. The Acela, currently the only "high-speed" train in America, runs at an average pace of 68 miles per hour between Washington and Boston; a high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona averages 154 miles per hour. Amtrak's most punctual trains arrive on schedule 75 percent of the time; judged by Amtrak's lax standards, Japan's bullet trains are late basically 0 percent of the time.And those stats don't figure to improve anytime soon. While Amtrak isn't currently in danger of being killed, it also isn't likely to do more than barely survive. Last month, the House of Representatives agreed to fund Amtrak for the next four years at a rate of $1.4 billion per year. Meanwhile, the Chinese government-fair comparison or not-will be spending $128 billion this year on rail."

And those stats don't figure to improve anytime soon. While Amtrak isn't currently in danger of being killed, it also isn't likely to do more than barely survive. Last month, the House of Representatives agreed to fund Amtrak for the next four years at a rate of $1.4 billion per year. Meanwhile, the Chinese government-fair comparison or not-will be spending $128 billion this year on rail."

What happens when you spend decades disinvesting in a system?

The Next Amtrak Catastrophe - The Daily Beast

"Rather incredibly, the House Appropriations committee stood firm on approving a $260 million cut (nearly 20 percent) to Amtrak from the previous year on Wednesday-literally the day after the tragedy, strictly along party lines. Amtrak asked for about $2 billion for next year. It may end up getting as little as $1.14 billion.So down the road, here's what's going to happen. Right now, there are two tunnels under the Hudson River that carry all the passenger train traffic back and forth between New York and New Jersey. They're a hundred years old. During Hurricane Sandy, they were flooded with salt water, which experts say sped up their deterioration. They might have to be taken out of service in seven to 10 years."

So down the road, here's what's going to happen. Right now, there are two tunnels under the Hudson River that carry all the passenger train traffic back and forth between New York and New Jersey. They're a hundred years old. During Hurricane Sandy, they were flooded with salt water, which experts say sped up their deterioration. They might have to be taken out of service in seven to 10 years."

Amtrak is required to continue providing unprofitable train routes across the nation at the expense of needed infrastructure upgrades to its most popular and lucrative routes.

So we don't invest in alternatives to highways, even when they make sense, and the way we raise and distribute money for infrastructure spending on a national level is nonsensical. What about at the local level?

Transportation Troubles - Strong Towns

"Different levels of government are responsible for different roadways. For example, you can pass a major Federal transportation bonding bill that will allocate money to highways, interstates and some lucky transit projects, yet none of that money will trickle to local streets or bridges. Projects are funded and signed off on by different agencies, except when they aren't. You can have local approval with Federal dollars, or Federal approval with local dollars, and a mix of about everything between. In many cases, multiple layers of government will have a say. For example; there's a street by my house that is funded partially by the State, with the help of a separate Federal grant, but managed by the County, but requires approval by the City. Everyone in this scenario has, or wants to have, a say in how the final product works."

There's a four lane bridge in Minneapolis that is falling apart. What should be done with it? The answer is going to depend on who pays, and it is probably not going to be the answer that actually makes the most sense.