For the past three years, the Salt Lake Chamber has been at the forefront of pushing for greater and greater funding for transportation - both highways and transit. The reason for this has been made abundantly clear in all of the Chamber’s prior efforts - the huge funding gap of over $16 billion over the next 20 years that Utahns will face. This continues to be an economic imperative. We must continue to invest in transportation now or accept an underperforming, less competitive economy in the future.

Granted, we have made great strides in obtaining significant transportation funding. In 2006, the Salt Lake Chamber formed the 2015 Transportation Alliance. This business-led effort led to accelerated transportation investment in Utah. Through the efforts of the Alliance, funding was secured for selected projects identified in the 2030 transportation plans in half the normal time.

The most significant Alliance success was the approval by voters of a 1/4-cent sales tax increase in Salt Lake and Utah Counties to pay for additional transit lines, including for light rail lines in Salt Lake County and commuter rail in Utah County. We have also been successful in obtaining the Legislature’s huge ongoing support for highway finding to the tune of over $300 million new dollars annually plus over $1 billion in bond authorization.

So you may wonder, since we have been so successful at getting new money into the pipeline, why is there still such a huge funding gap? The simple answer is inflation. Material costs have skyrocketed, from steel girders to concrete to asphalt. The overall costs of construction and labor have escalated to the point that the majority of the new funding will have been eaten up by the time new construction begins. We are not doing much more than keeping pace with growth.

In addition, because of the higher cost of gasoline, Utahns are driving fewer miles. While this may lessen the pressure on new construction, it also means that fewer gas tax dollars are coming in, leaving fewer dollars for road maintenance, let alone new construction.

Add to all of this the fact that highway and transit funds coming from the federal government are drying up. In a matter of a few short years, states will be left to fend for themselves in funding their transportation needs.

The harsh reality is that in the next 20 years …

• Another one-and-a-half million people will live in Utah.
• Travel demand will continue to increase. While this will increase at an admittedly lower rate, it is still putting us on a course for a transportation meltdown.
• Even at the new increased funding levels, increases in transportation capacity will barely keep pace with travel demand, resulting in a still unmet funding gap.

A severely under-funded transportation system will result in significantly more congestion, reduced worker productivity, and an impaired business environment and quality of life. We will lose our ability to be competitive in a highly competitive world. This scenario is unacceptable to Utah’s business community.

Ongoing Efforts

The business community cannot sit on its hands. Aggressive funding packages must continue to be considered by the Utah Legislature in its 2009 General Session. This should include discussion of additional motor fuel tax increases, a sales tax on gasoline, and some way to tie highway funding to inflation. Congestion pricing is also a viable alternative that should be seriously considered.

The Crossroads of the West is at a Transportation Crossroads. Are we going to be content with past successes or are we going to continue the fight until the job is done? We all need to step up and do what is necessary to keep a strong economy and enviable quality of life. We support a combination of increased highway and transit funding to meet our needs.