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Travel Industry Supports Obama's Infrastructure Plan
September 8, 2010
Because it will facilitate travel to and within the United States, the travel industry supports President Barack Obama's new comprehensive infrastructure plan to expand and renew the nation's roads, railways and runways, the U.S. Travel Association indicated this week.
In a Labor Day speech delivered to union workers in Milwaukee, the president described a six-year plan that would rebuild 150,000 miles of roads, construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail, and rehabilitate or reconstruct 150 miles of runway at U.S. airports, where the federal government also would install a NextGen air traffic control system designed to reduce travel time and delays.
"Today, I am announcing a new plan for rebuilding and modernizing America's roads and rails and runways for the long term," Obama said Monday. "I want America to have the best infrastructure in the world. We used to have the best infrastructure in the world. We can have it again."
The president also wants to create a so-called "infrastructure bank" that would be in charge of distributing federal funds to worthwhile infrastructure projects, including a national high-speed rail network.
"This will not only create jobs immediately, it's also going to make our economy hum over the long haul," the president said. "It's a plan that history tells us can and should attract bipartisan support. It's a plan that says even in the aftermath of the worst recession in our lifetimes, America can still shape our own destiny. We can still move this country forward. We can still leave our children something better. We can still leave them something that lasts."
Although it already has been criticized by members of both parties, some of whom question its cost and feasibility, the travel industry supports wholeheartedly the president's plan, according to U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow, who has called the national transportation system "the gateway to job creation in America's hotels, restaurants, attractions and destinations."
"Antiquated and inefficient aspects of today's transportation infrastructure have contributed to a decline in travel and economic growth," Dow said in a statement. "The president's initiative — focusing on our highways, high-speed rail and our air travel system — will begin the process of ensuring that more Americans and international visitors can move safely and efficiently from coast to coast."
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