US DOT to Nation: Send Your Pics of Failing Infrastructure
U.S. DOT's Instagram accountThe U.S. Department of Transportation is asking people to continue to share photos of poor or aging infrastructure on social media, as part of a campaign aimed at pressuring Congress to advance a long-term highway bill this year.
Photos on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #ShowUsYourInfraWear would be deemed to be part of the agency’s online campaign, which was launched in early August. Common scenes people posted on social media include traffic gridlock and mass transit delays.
“If you’ve been following the hashtag for the past 31 days, then you’ve seen some good snaps of crumbling bridges, damaging pavement, disappearing bike lanes, missing sidewalks, treacherous bus stops and a host of other symptoms of an America that needs to invest more aggressively in how we move people and freight,” DOT press officer Todd Solomon wrote on the agency’s “Fast Lane” blog.
“We have urgent needs today. And we have to start planning for tomorrow’s challenges —not the least of which is a population expected to grow by 70 million people over the next three decades. It won’t be easy, but we know it’s feasible,” he added.
The latest extension of federal highway funding authority expires at the end of October. Republican leaders have indicated they plan to advance a long-term highway bill prior to that fall deadline. The last time a multiyear highway bill was signed into law was in 2005. #ShowUsYourInfraWear
