FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2012
Contact George Manahan – (304) 720-5450
Transportation Day at the W.Va. Capitol
Groups United In Call For Transportation Plan
CHARLESTON, W.VA. -- West Virginians for Better Transportation (WVBT) and several partner groups today announced that they will be developing a coordinated campaign with the goal of getting state leaders to develop and enact a long-term plan to address the state’s transportation needs.
The announcement came at the group’s 2012 Transportation Day at the Capitol.
“The time is now to address this issue,” said WVBT Chairman Bill Hilborn. “We’ve talked a lot about finding a solution. We think it’s time to do more than talk.”
Hilborn said his organization will ask partner groups to join in and to make financial commitments to help cover the costs of a statewide advertising and PR effort that will educate legislators, policymakers and the general public. Hilborn said his group is asking legislators to come up with a solution by the end of the 2013 legislative session.
Twenty-four (24) groups, including WVBT, from across the state are gathering today at the state Capitol to meet with local legislators and to help educate lawmakers about the challenges facing transportation.
West Virginians for Better Transportation is a statewide coalition that works to educate West Virginians about the importance of maintaining a safe and modern transportation infrastructure. The coalition includes 300 organizations, groups, government leaders and companies that recognize and value the importance of a good surface transportation system. WVBT coalition groups participating in the “2012 Transportation Day at the West Virginia Capitol” are:
• West Virginians for Better Transportation
• West Virginia Chamber of Commerce
• West Virginia Business & Industry Council
• West Virginia Economic Development Council
• West Virginia AFL-CIO
• Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation of West Virginia
• West Virginia Association of Counties
• West Virginia Municipal League
• West Virginia Trucking Association
• West Virginia Manufacturers Association
• West Virginia Hospitality & Travel Association
• West Virginia Ski Areas Association
• Contractors Association of West Virginia
• American Council of Engineering Companies of West Virginia
• West Virginia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers
• Asphalt Pavement Association of West Virginia
• West Virginia Crushed Aggregates Council
• Builders Supply Association of West Virginia
• Coalfields Expressway Authority
• King Coal Highway I-73/74 Authority
• I-73/74/75 Corridor Association
• Shawnee Parkway Authority
• Little Kanawha River Parkway Authority
• Robert C. Byrd Corridor H Highway Authority
“These groups are united in their request that legislators spend this year taking a serious look at our transportation infrastructure challenges and examining possible solutions to the funding needs,” Hilborn added. “Ultimately, our state will need a long-term plan.”
Hilborn explained that the state’s transportation system is facing both continued inflationary increases and funding uncertainties. “The situation is getting rather problematic, with the state Department of Transportation now being on the record that it cannot keep up with fulfilling maintenance obligations of the existing system nor meeting the calls for new highway construction projects. The current situation also has added uncertainty and instability for the thousands of workers who are part of the state’s transportation, engineering and construction industries.”
“Twenty-four of the largest, most influential organizations and groups, representing business, labor, travel/tourism, local governments and transportation authorities, are assembled today here at the Capitol to point out the dire circumstances facing our state’s roads, bridges and highways and to showcase the united support for maintaining and growing a modern, efficient and safe transportation system,” he continued.
“West Virginia needs to develop a long-term plan for its transportation needs and priorities …and this plan needs to have a secure funding source not only for maintenance of the existing infrastructure…but also for new construction and expansion,” Hilborn said. “And, our national leaders in Congress must enact a six-year federal highway reauthorization bill that is fully funded.”
For more information about West Virginians for Better Transportation, please go to: www.keepwvmoving.org.
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The Facts – West Virginia’s Transportation System
West Virginia’s extensive system of roads, highways and bridges provides the state’s residents, visitors and businesses with a high level of mobility. As our state looks to enhance and build a thriving, growing and dynamic state, it will be critical that it is able to provide a 21st Century network of roads, highways and bridges that can accommodate the mobility demands, employment and commerce of a modern society.
Furthermore, a well-maintained and growing transportation system can play an important role in enhancing West Virginia’s economic well-being by providing critically needed jobs in the short term and by improving the productivity and competitiveness of the state’s businesses in the long term. However, continued transportation funding challenges and possible shortfalls could result in job losses for many West Virginians whose employment is connected directly to the state’s construction or engineering industries…or whose business or jobs are dependent on a safe, modern and reliable transportation infrastructure.
Here are other key challenges facing our state’s transportation infrastructure:
• Since FY 1994 the state’s Road Fund has experienced a decline of nearly one-third in the real value of total dedicated tax revenues.
• The WVDOT projects a transportation funding shortfall of approximately $5 billion from 2009 to 2018. Moreover, the state DOT has estimated that it will need a substantial increase in annual funds to return the state to a normal (12-year) repaving schedule and work to reduce the number of bridges that are structurally deficient.
• West Virginia’s highway fatality rate is the third highest in the nation.
• The federal surface transportation program, which is set to expire March 31, 2012, is an essential source of funding for the construction, maintenance and improvement of West Virginia’s highway system but inadequate revenue being collected into the Federal Highway Trust Fund could result in West Virginia’s federal highway dollars being cut by 35 percent in 2013.
Other Important Facts:
• West Virginia is one of only four states (Delaware, North Carolina, and Virginia are the others) that takes care of both state and county roads.
• West Virginia’s Department of Transportation has responsibility for roughly 39,000 miles of public highway mileage, which makes it the sixth-largest state maintained highway network in the nation.
• West Virginia leads the nation in percentage (94%) of miles that are state maintained.
• Vehicle travel in West Virginia increased by 33 percent from 1990 to 2007 – jumping from 15.4 billion vehicle miles traveled in 1990 to 20.6 billion in 2007. By 2025 vehicle travel in West Virginia is projected to increase by another 25 percent.
• More than $38 billion in goods are shipped from sites in West Virginia and another $37 billion in goods are shipped annually to sites in West Virginia, mostly by truck. Commercial trucking in West Virginia is projected to increase 36 percent by 2020.
• Roads in need of repair cost each West Virginia motorist an average of $280 annually in extra vehicle operating costs -- $371million statewide – from accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, and increased fuel consumption and tire wear.
• A 2007 analysis by the Federal Highway Administration found that every $1 billion invested in highway construction would support approximately 27,800 jobs, including approximately 9,500 in the construction sector, approximately 4,300 jobs in industries supporting the construction sector, and approximately 14,000 other jobs induced in non-construction related sectors of the economy.