Matthew Yglesias writes in Bloomberg about why it takes so long to build infrastructure in the U.S.
- Inefficient environmental reviews and litigation delay timely construction of highways in the U.S.
- Elected officials have tried to introduce congestion pricing mechanisms, such as tolls, to reduce congestion and speed up construction, only for these efforts to be thwarted by other politicians.
- As we have seen with I-95 rebuild in Philadelphia, streamlining the process to build highways can be done in way the benefits the environment and commuters.
“To put it bluntly: Bringing in a new guy — whether it’s an ‘art of the deal’ president or a US transportation secretary from McKinsey — won’t necessarily speed things up. Because the delay comes not from government incompetence but from the great mass of citizens who demand more voice, more procedure, more consultation and more review.”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
