Reading Economic Tea Leaves

The nation’s top highway official is optimistic Washington can make progress on a new funding plan for transportation infrastructure in 2020. Federal Highway Administrator Nicole Nason explains the Trump Administration’s view of the on-going federal funding debate and expresses optimism negotiators can beat a September deadline, in a Hard Facts exclusive season finale conversation.Link:Real Growth for 2020 Transportation Construction Market, ARTBA Chief Economist Says

Brandye Hendrickson, Deputy Director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, discusses the impact of the decision on infrastructure work, and her organization’s focus on highway safety concerns.Links:Presidential Candidates Will Talk Infrastructure at ForumPolitico: Presidential Candidates’ Tracker on Transportation IssuesCongress Repeals $7.6B Highway Funding Rescission

Washington may be focused with impeachment, but there's another "I" word that also warrants our attention. That's "I" for infrastructure. Are we on the road to nowhere, or is there hope for the future of surface transportation in America? Tanya Snyder, transportation reporter for Politico Pro stops by to discuss the policy challenges ahead for regulating rapidly evolving technologies.Links:https://www.politico.com/morningtransportation/https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mVFb1clnJM4ERAQ2hEhJW?

There are 90,000 dams in the U.S. across 44 states.  Just over 1,600 of them pose potential risks, according to a recent Associated Press investigation. Risk and water levels are only rising as we see more extreme rainfall amidst intense storms that challenge the strength of our nation’s dams and levees.On this episode, we talk to Mark Ogden, technical specialist and project manager for the Association of State Dam Safety Officials about the current state of America’s aquatic infrastructure.Links:http://damsafety.orghttp://damfailures.org

It is no secret that America’s worn out interstate highway infrastructure has surpassed its intended shelf life. Our current highway system can’t keep up with increasing severe weather events and rising levels of congestion. Infrastructure investment is necessary, yet Congress still struggles to find a sustainable funding mechanism despite the astronomical cost to the economy in the event of system failure.On this episode, Neil Pedersen, Executive Director of the Transportation Research Board, shares the details of TRB’s The Future Interstate Report: 10 Big Ideas for the 21st Century.Links:interstate.trb.org

Interest rates. Public sector investment. Jobs. Tariffs. Consumer confidence. These and other factors weigh on the minds of economists sorting through the tea leaves that are leading indicators of spending, orders for manufactured goods, and government contracts.On this episode, Ed Sullivan, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist in the Market Intelligence Group for the Portland Cement Association, shares the details of his annual Fall forecast for the economy and cement consumption.

Groups come from all over America to ask Congress and the Administration for more money. The needs are many and the dollars few, so the push, often times, is intense. The federal government plays a key role in so many initiatives across all 50 states, but there aren’t many that are greater than the lead Uncle Sam takes when it comes to funding transportation.The lagging condition of our infrastructure is well known. Perhaps it’s the magnitude of the need that makes one transportation non-profit’s message so unique.Transportation for America has made a break from conventional thinking, and while others are saying “more,” its leaders have energetically declared “no more.”T4’s Director, Beth Osborne, joins us week to explain her organization’s funding message heard ‘round the transportation world.Link:Advocacy Group: Stop Spending on New Roads

Emergency managers know what it takes to recover from natural disasters. That’s why they’re telling states, counties, and cities to act now to prepare for storms, wildfires, and other calamities. David Paulison, the longtime chief of Miami Dade Fire Rescue, rose to national prominence in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when he was tapped by President George W. Bush to help New Orleans and other storm-ravaged communities recover while serving the nation as its FEMA chief.Now he advises planners work to prepare their roads, bridges, water systems, electrical grids, and telecommunications networks before the next big weather event strikes. That was his suggestion in an article he co-authored for RouteFifty.com, and it’s what he told us during a recent telephone conversation.Links:Former Emergency Managers: Act Now Before the Next Storm

Washington is mesmerized by discussions of the spending that could be included in the next transportation reauthorization. Observers for more than a year have speculated about dollar amounts, paying little or no attention to the formulas that send federal bucks to the states each year.Researchers for the non-profit, non-partisan Eno Center for Transportation want Congress to update the way money is spent. The think-tank recently published a report focused on the outdated funding formulas that are used to dole out billions in federal dollars to states annually.Paul Lewis is Eno’s Vice President of Policy and Finance. He visited the Hard Facts studio this week to discuss the findings, and ideas, included in the report.Links:Report: Refreshing the Status Quo: Federal Highway Programs and Funding DistributionWebinar Presentation of the Report

Just how much impact does transportation spending have on the U.S. economy? The influential Business Roundtable, a Washington, D.C.-based organization representing the CEOs of America’s top corporations, aimed to answer that question when it released earlier this year its economic analysis of transportation infrastructure investments.As Congress continues to work this fall on a new surface reauthorization bill, we’re talking about the report, Delivering for America, with Matt Sonnesyn, the Business Roundtable’s Vice President of Infrastructure, Energy, and Environment.Link:Delivering for America