Every day across this country, Americans see bridges in disrepair, congested roads with potholes, and inadequate public transit.  They see obsolete rail lines that make our freight and passenger rail service slow and inefficient.

More than 30 percent of our nation’s bridges have exceeded their 50-year design life, and one in nine is structurally deficient.  Almost one-third of America’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that we must invest $1.7 trillion by 2020 simply to get our roads, bridges and transit to a "passable" condition – four times the current rate of spending. 

The American Society of Civil Engineers recently ranked Vermont 28th in the nation in state highway performance and cost effectiveness, moving up 14 spots from No. 42 in the previous year.  The percentage of paved roads in very poor condition has declined from a high of 36 percent in 2008 to 21 percent in 2013.   

Likewise, in 2008, Vermont ranked near the bottom of all states – No. 45 in the nation – for its number of structurally deficient bridges.  By 2013, the state ranked No. 28.  The overall percentage of structurally deficient bridges has declined from 19.7 percent in 2008 to just over 8 percent in 2013.

The substantial infusion of federal funds in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene helped improve some of the state’s most vulnerable roads and bridges. 

Vermont is making real progress.  But it is clear we have much more work to do repair the remaining roads and bridges in poor condition.

Moreover, Sen. Bernie Sanders believes we must significantly increase funding to repair our nation's infrastructure for the United States to remain competitive in the increasingly global economy.

“For most of our history, the United States led the world in infrastructure innovation, from a network of canals, to the transcontinental railroad, to the interstate highway system.  These innovations gave our economy a competitive advantage and our workers a decent standard of living.  Now, sadly, that is no longer the case,” Sanders said.

The U.S. invests just 1.7% of GDP on infrastructure.  Europe invests three times that amount, and Canada invests five times that amount.  China invests almost six times our rate of infrastructure spending.

Meanwhile, instead of passing a long-term transportation-funding bill, Congress merely extended current programs through May 2015.  As a member of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, Sanders helped draft a new transportation bill that would bring nearly $1.3 billion to Vermont over six years to maintain our roads and bridges. The bill is far from perfect, but it is a strong step towards rebuilding our crumbling transportation infrastructure.