AN EXCHANGE ON BUILDING U.S. ROAD CAPACITY: METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION POLITICS. IN: MOVING PEOPLE, GOODS, AND INFORMATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE CUTTING-EDGE INFRASTRUCTURES OF NETWORKED CITIES

This chapter on building U.S. road capacity and metropolitan transportation politics is from a book on moving people, goods, and information in the 21st century. The author first briefly reviews the argument put forth by Robert Atkinson in a previous chapter, then proposes an alternative approach to building U.S. road capacity. Atkinson called for giving much authority to states along with much of the funding stream from the gas tax. Burwell contends that this approach is long on politics and short on policy and goes on to make the case for strong regional governance for surface transportation. Other issues discussed include the changing federal interest in transportation, making the transportation and land-use connection, investing in regional mobility, and relevant legislation. The author concludes that now is not the time to pit cities against suburbs in the national transportation debate. Rather, it is time for a renewed commitment to partnership: urban-suburban, highway-transit, rail-air, environment-economic, social-technological. This requires an approach that sees communities as assets to be tapped, not barriers to be surmounted, that defines competitive regions as regions with amenities as well as economic value, and which places high value on accountability, transparency, performance, and equity in the delivery of transportation.