1. The third deficit: Illinois’ transportation crisis
June 30, 2016
National Organization of Minority Engineers Leadership Summit

2. It’s time for an honest conversation.
Time to have an honest conversation. Illinois is facing a number of challenges.
$10 billion backlog of unpaid bills because the budget isn’t balanced.
large (and increasing) pension payment.
And there’s another huge problem on the horizon that isn’t getting much attention:
Our transportation system is crumbling because we’re systematically underfunding it.
Just as important as our budget and pension deficits
you and I rely on transportation every day to get around
it’s the backbone of our state’s economy.

3. “The effect and costs of poor infrastructure are staggering.”
So those are the personal effects. Now take those and multiply them by the 12 million people in the state, and think about each and every business in the state. You can’t name one that doesn’t rely on a well-functioning transportation network, and to some, it’s downright critical.
Ask UPS. Their largest ground sorting facility in the nation is in Illinois. UPS told us, “The effect and costs of poor infrastructure are staggering.”

4. 5 minutes = $105 million/year
If every UPS driver experiences five minutes of delay every day, the cumulative cost of that over a year is $105 million.
So you can start to imagine how our lack of investment in transportation seriously hurting our state’s economy, our job growth, and our everyday lives.

5. We’ve failed to invest...
So with the Gas tax stuck at 19 cents per gallon and buying 40 percent less than it did in 1991 coupled with the fact that people are using less gas because their cars are more efficient.
A very predictable thing happened to the amount of gas tax that you and I have been paying:
The Average person paid about $150 in gas taxes every year in Now in constant dollars that average is down to under $100—that’s this blue line
Naturally, has led to less state investment—that’s the orange line. (click)
In 1991 roughly 13% of the state’s budget went to invest in transportation. Today only 8.5% of the state’s budget.

6. …and it’s only getting worse
State roads in good condition
Condition of our roads and transit has gotten worse.
90% of a state of good repair, is the industry benchmark, and we were able to maintain until about 2010
Precipitous decline since 2010
By 2015 our roads were down to less than 80%. (click) (one in five). The RTA system is only 2/3 SOGR
If we continue this trend, we’ll be down to nearly 60 percent in another five years. (two in five)
And down to 50% shortly thereafter.
If we start today, we can get back on the path to that 90% target. (click)
What would it take to get back on track to that 90% target in ten years

7. For the first time, we have a number
$43 billion
over ten years
$43 billion over ten years. (pause for effect, let it sink in)
That’s the size of our transportation deficit, to get back to a state of good repair
This is unquestionably a significant goal but it is an achievable one.
How do we meet this deficit?
Well, one way would be to raise $2.7B in new revenue per year ($27B over 10 years) using some of it to service $25B in bonds and the remainder ($18B) in pay as you go we can fund $43B over ten years – and after the 10 years - still have $1B per year for pay/go into the future.

8. For the first time, we have a number
$43 billion over 10 years
How did we come up with that number?
Talked to road and transit agencies around the state.
Put all their numbers on same timeline, same scale.
Most is for maintenance of existing assets—fix it first—but we also figure for a limited number of new projects to accommodate growth in our economy and our population.
Total is $43 billion dollars over 10 years.
Additional, new investment, ON TOP OF OUR EXISTING FUNDING LEVELS
Remember: based on actual study of need from each agency

9. How do we meet this deficit?
Gas tax
Registration fees
+ 30¢/gal
+ 50 % +
We need enough steady revenue to support a blend of pay-as-you-go and bonding. How can we get enough revenue each year?
For simplicity, we’re going to illustrate the scale with two traditional sources
Add 30 cents to gas tax and Increase vehicle registration fees across the board by 50%.
Again, you can’t name anything that costs the same today as it did in Why should gas tax be different?
Both need to be indexed to grow with inflation.
This is the scale of what we need to do. Anything less is insufficient.

10. How much would that cost you and me?
40 cents/day $12.25/month $147/year
The additional gas tax and the increase in registration fees would cost the average person $147 each year
To put this in context, the Typical driver in the City of Chicago currently spends nearly $2,000 for insurance, repairs, gas, registration, license fees and motor fuel taxes
At a household level, the Center for Neighborhood Technology says the average household spends just over $10,000 on transportation annually.
For the monthly cost equivalent of one take out lunch or Netflix subscription, Illinois can have bridges, roads and transit that actually works.

11. $7.3 billion Cost of congestion each year in Chicagoland
If we go back to the hidden costs we’re paying now, that $147/year starts to sound cheap.
The cost of lost time:
Drivers in Chicagoland lose 114 hours every year sitting in congestion. (new TomTom study)
Can’t eliminate congestion, but can improve it—better road maintenance and more and better transit.
How much does that lost time cost you? Your business? What is that costing our state?
In 2008, an MPC study pegged the cost of congestion in the Chicago region alone at $7.3 billion dollars every year.
The annual cost of time wasted per car commuter in region is $1,579
Cost of repairs:
The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates people in Illinois spend an EXTRA $3.7 billion every year on car repairs from poor roads. That’s above and beyond normal maintenance costs. That’s an extra $450 a year for every driver in the state!
Think how much this most cost the CTA, Metra, Pace, and transit agencies around the state to repair their buses and trains, or UPS’s fleet of delivery trucks.

12. Fixing will cost less over 10 years
Hidden costs we pay now
$110 billion
Invest to fix and upgrade
$43 billion
In short we are already paying a lot more 4.3B per year and getting nothing for it!
If we get smart and fix the problem by making a real investment, we will pay much less and get better, safer roads and better transit as well as a better economy and a better quality of life
So we can invest $43B and get $110B (a 250% profit) in return.
If someone offered you a a 250% return on an investment, wouldn’t you take it….. I would.

13. A quarter of all freight rail traffic passes through Chicago.
Logistics, distribution warehouses, shippers.
A quarter of jobs in the Chicago region related to this.
We risk squandering this advantage
Already losing business to neighboring states
All of this was bequeathed to us by past generations of leaders. Are we less wise than those than they were?
Photo: Thomas Hawk (flickr)

14. Take Action
Join Accelerate IL ( Support the transportation “lockbox” amendment on Nov. 8th
Accelerate IL: Organizations and individuals can sign-on to support investment in our transportation infrastructure.
The Lockbox amendment will protect taxes and fees collected for transportation and dedicate that money to transportation-related spending. It will prohibit legislators and the governor from using money collected specifically to improve our roads and public transportation to plug state budget gaps. 

15. metroplanning.org/transportation @metroplanners #43billion
Thank you
metroplanning.org/transportation
@metroplanners #43billion