The crisis of U.S. infrastructure, III

an infrastructure “bank” to leverage private investments and to institute a separate capital budget for the federal government. Nor does the direct approach — the possibility of federal appropriations — give him reason to hope. He fears that the entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) will squeeze the budget, shrinking the discretionary spending on infrastructure projects. Where, then, will the money come from? At Brookings, infrastructure expert Robert Puentes thinks that relatively small, targeted investments can relieve the worst bottlenecks — those of national importance, such as the congestion at the port of Long Beach, Calif. In any event, simply relying on the construction of new highways and airport terminals won’t suffice, in Small’s view: “It’s just too expensive.” Many economists favor another solution — congestion pricing. London, Stockholm, and Singapore now charge vehicles that drive into the central cities at busy times of the day. Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s businessman-turned-mayor, pursued the idea until the state Legislature shot it down. Pure congestion pricing, a high-tech means of raising or lowering the toll depending on the traffic, is being tested on a highway north of San Diego, where the price of driving changes every few minutes. Such pricing would be one way for Americans to pay their way.

On the night that Senator Barack Obama of Illinois claimed the Democratic nomination for the presidency, he spoke to the nation about, among a litany of intentions, “investing in our crumbling infrastructure.” Of course, he happened to be in Minnesota, less than ten miles from where the I-35 bridge had collapsed. Then he spoke of the problem again two days later while campaigning in Virginia and, later, at a roundtable with sixteen Democratic governors. In trying to bolster his appeal to working-class voters in Flint, Michigan, on 16 June, Obama promised to use the money he would save from ending the war in Iraq on a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that would spend $60 billion over ten years. Stressing the issue helps Obama look sober and serious about the nation’s long-term needs, which is useful for a candidate who is criticized for being inexperienced. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, whom Obama bested for the nomination, demonstrated the versatility of infrastructure as a political issue. A week after the bridge fell in Minnesota, she delivered a speech in New Hampshire on infrastructure as “a silent crisis.” She showed a thorough understanding