Future Transportation System Must Accommodate Freight Increase, Foxx Says
In the coming decades, consumer demand for goods and services will lead to a sharp increase of trucks on the country's roadways, prompting a need for greater capacity, the nation's top transportation official told an audience in downtown Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28.
“Over the next 30 years, we’re going to have 65% more trucks on the road,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, speaking at the Center for American Progress, a promoter of liberal policy.
Foxx was reminding audiences of the findings from the Department of Transportation’s “Beyond Traffic” report, which highlighted the impact a rapid rise in freight volume will have on the on the transportation network in cities and suburbia.
Boosting freight connectivity is among the top priorities for Obama administration officials and trucking industry executives. Last year, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law a five-year highway law that established additional sources of funding to build large-scale infrastructure projects.
According to the “Beyond Traffic” report, unveiled last year, the economy has benefited from the “deregulation of the trucking and rail industries, which has led to increases in productivity and innovations in supply chain logistics.”
