Government funding now the norm
Worldwide, the role of government is increasing. In the US, discussions of infrastructure funding are dominated by conversations about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or The Stimulus Bill) of 2009.
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) highlighted that a group of large US ports received an aggregate $30m in Diesel Emission Reduction Act grants, administered through the Environmental Protection Administration. These will support pollution reduction, retrofitting and re-powering of trucks, cargo handlers, and other harbour equipment, and the installation of shore-side power at one terminal in Brooklyn, New York.
Kurt Nagle, president and chief executive of AAPA, in a posting in The National Journal’s online forum, pointed to the broader context of the ongoing re-authorisation for US surface transportation.
He wrote: “Continuing to move toward a new surface transportation authorisation that includes a focus on freight transportation will create more jobs and develop the infrastructure necessary to deliver prosperity.”
An AAPA recommended view of funding, a National Freight Program, with attention to intermodal freight connector roads or rail spurs at ports, also figures prominently in this approach.
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