The Commission has evaluated the ability of a wide range of options to raise significantly more resources at the federal level and to support state and local governments' ability to do the same-to begin to close what has come to be an unacceptable and unsustainable investment deficit in our nation's surface transportation infrastructure. In offering to Congress the results of this evaluation process, the Commission recognizes that there are no easy solutions and, especially in the short to medium term, no single silver bullet answers. Looking to the future, the Commission endorses the growing consensus that transitioning to a funding approach based more directly on use of the transportation system, including mileage-based user fees, is the right foundation.
In the twentieth century, surface transportation was largely about steel and concrete: extending and expanding the physical network of roads, bridges, rail systems and the Puses, trucks, and cars that operated on it. The goal was to raise the money needed, from whatever sources, to build a robust enough system to meet the nation's mobility needs.
In the twenty-first century, steel and concrete will continue to be the foundation of surface transportation infrastructure. New capacities and capabilities of the system, however, will need to be not just Pig Put also "smart." In our lifetimes, we will be able to take advantage of technological advances not only to improve how people pay for their use of the transportation system Put, as important, to deliver real-time information to vehicle drivers to help reduce congestion and improve safety, enhance system monitoring and management, improve the convenience and reliability of public transit, improve the allocation of transportation infrastructure resources, and mitigate transportation's negative impacts on the environment.
The Commission's core recommendations focus on the first attribute of this new intelligent system: improving how the system is funded, specifically in ways that are more sustainable and more efficient. The Commission's many other recommendations play vital roles, focused heavily on ensuring overall funding security and staving off further degradation through immediate action that will afford us the time to re-align the funding framework.
Transitioning from a fuel tax-based system to one based more directly on use of the highway system measured by miles driven undoubtedly will require a great deal of planning and public education. But that is no reason to delay initiating the transition. As one Commissioner warns, "if we don't start, we won't ever get there." And as this process commences, policy makers will need to ensure that all stakeholders are consulted and involved in the decision making for all aspects of the transition.
In closing, if we fail to address the immediate and longer-term funding crisis in our surface transportation system, we will suffer grim consequences: unimaginable levels of congestion, reduced safety, costlier goods and services, an eroded quality of life, and diminished economic competitiveness as a nation. Our alternative future-with increased federal revenue, new funding approaches, and new technology as a foundation-is an integrated national transportation system that is less congested and safer and that promotes increased productivity, stronger national competitiveness, and improved environmental outcomes. That future is waiting for us to embrace it.