By EDR Group (now EBP) for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

For the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), EDR Group prepared a four-part economic report series, showing the economic consequences of continued underinvestment in our Nation's infrastructure, and the economic gains that could be made by 2020. The fourth and final report in the series, entitled Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Airports, Inland Waterways and Marine Ports Infrastructure, shows that unless America’s infrastructure investment gaps are filled, transporting goods will become costlier, prices will rise, and the United States will become less competitive in the global market. As a result, employment, personal income, and GDP will all fall due to inaction.

Aging infrastructure for marine ports, inland waterways, and airports threatens more than 1 million U.S. jobs according to the report. Between now and 2020, investment needs in the nation’s marine ports and inland waterways sector total $30 billion, while planned expenditures are about $14 billion, leaving a total investment gap of nearly $16 billion. Similarly, with airports, between now and 2020 there is an investment need of about $114 billion, while anticipated spending is $95 billion, leaving a gap of nearly $19 billion, as well as an additional need of about $20 billion to implement NextGen. The report concludes that unless America’s infrastructure investment gaps are filled, transporting goods will become costlier, prices will rise, and the United States will become less competitive in the global market. As a result, employment, personal income, and GDP will all fall due to inaction.

This is the fourth report in ASCE’s Failure to Act series prepared by EDR Group. The first report, Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation Infrastructure, encompasses highways, bridges, rail, and transit. The second report, Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Water and Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure, focuses on the pipes, treatment plants, pumping stations, and other infrastructure that make up the nation’s public drinking-water and wastewater systems.  The third report, Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Electricity Infrastructure, examines ways that households and businesses will face higher costs if sufficient electricity generation, transmission, and distribution systems are not available in the future.  Following the release of the four reports, a Failure to Act summary report that looks at infrastructure overall was released as well.