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Every day, Wisconsin’s transportation system carries workers to jobs, raw materials and supplies to factories, finished goods to store shelves, farm products to markets, consumers to retailers, and leisure travelers to tourist destinations. Wisconsin’s economic health and its ability to remain competitive depend on the safe, efficient and reliable movement of people and goods.
Wisconsin’s multimodal transportation system is …
- 12,000 miles of state and interstate highways
- 98,000 miles of local roads and streets
- 13,300 bridges
- 25 urban public transit systems and
- 36 shared-ride taxi services
- 9 commercial passenger and
- 88 general aviation airports
- 4,500 miles of track and
- 12 railroad operations
- 15 commercial water ports
… All serving 5.5 million state residents and the economy that supports them
Our Transportation System’s Benefits
Societal Benefits
- Mobility – Mobility is a key freedom. Mobility allows us to live where we want, work where we want, and obtain the goods and services we need. An inadequate transportation system rations our mobility and limits our freedom and prosperity.
- Reliability – Wisconsin’s transportation system must allow businesses and individuals to continue to take mobility for granted. We must provide certainty that all transportation options will perform as expected so that transportation-system users can manage the precious commodity of time.
- Safety – Wisconsin residents and businesses rely on and deserve a system that reliably provides safe mobility. In 2007, 737 people lost their lives on Wisconsin’s roadways. According to Federal Highway Administration data, roadway improvements could mitigate up to 30 percent of such crash fatalities.
Economic Impact
- Some Costs of Not Acting – Traffic congestion in the Milwaukee area highlights costs associated with unreliability. The average annual delay per traveler in Milwaukee in 1982 was 2 hours, while the average for 2005 grew to 19 hours. Congestion cost Milwaukee travelers $282 million in 2005, an annual cost per traveler of about $354.
Wisconsin Transportation Funding
Wisconsin’s segregated Transportation Fund, which funds all transportation programs, is made up of federal funds, state funds, and bond proceeds.
- State Funding – The motor fuel tax and vehicle registration fee are the primary state revenue sources for transportation. The gas tax makes up 57 percent of state transportation revenue and 34 percent of all transportation funds in Wisconsin – the largest single source. Wisconsin’s transportation funding base has the narrowest range of major sources of any state in the nation. Wisconsin provides no general purpose revenue to its all-modes Transportation Fund to help support those forms of transportation that do not themselves supply revenues to the fund. Other states do provide general fund revenue, sales tax revenue, local tax options, tolls or other revenue sources for transportation.
Click here for TDA’s analysis of the Wisconsin state transportation budget.
Growing Demand, Unmet Need
The demand for transportation has far outpaced population growth. Between 1970 and 2000, vehicle miles traveled in Wisconsin increased 140 percent, several times faster even than population growth. Demographic shifts will change the type of transportation demanded in the future. By 2025, about 20 percent of Wisconsin’s population will be 65 or older – making reliable, cost-effective alternatives to the personal automobile all the more important for this growing population segment. In addition to personal travel, population and economic growth are expected to boost U.S. domestic freight shipments 87 percent between 1998 and 2020. While demand for transportation is increasing, there is insufficient investment in Wisconsin’s system to handle the increase in commercial and personal travel.
State Transportation Needs
The need for transportation services far exceeds the current level of investment. The bipartisan Joint Legislative Committee on Transportation Needs and Finance, better known as the Road to the Future Committee, issued a report in 2006 that documented a nearly $700 million annual transportation funding shortfall just to meet existing needs in key programs. The committee found three principal reasons for the funding shortfall - high construction inflation, escalating transportation fund debt service, and stagnant revenue from the gas tax. The report detailed the additional funding necessary to continue the current program in highway construction and maintenance, local roads and mass transit. It did not address significant unfunded needs in aviation, rail, and commercial ports.
In spite of increased fees in the 2007-09 state budget, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau has estimated that the annual transportation funding shortfall has grown to almost $1 billion due to high construction inflation.
Click here to view the entire report from the Road to the Future Committee.
State Transportation Priorities
Beyond maintaining the state’s investments, Wisconsin must increase transportation funding and revenue options in the following modal programs:
- State Highways – This 12,000-mile system carries 60 percent of all traffic and 75 percent of commercial traffic in Wisconsin. Commitments for increased investment are needed for the Major Highway, State Highway Rehabilitation and Southeast Wisconsin Freeway Rehabilitation programs.
- County and Municipal Streets and Roads – These local roadways connect our households and businesses to the nation and are experiencing marked growth in travel in many areas of across the state.
- Public Transportation – For many Wisconsin residents, public transit provides an essential link to employment, education and needed services.
- Aviation – Airports play a critical role in the state’s economic development; 85 percent of new or expanded manufacturers in the state in the late 1990s located within 15 miles of a jet-capable airport.
- Freight Rail – Wisconsin’s 3,600-mile freight-rail network transports heavy bulk cargoes, such as coal, paper, lumber, farm products, and minerals – and in doing so helps maintain the capacity of our Interstate and state highways.
- Commercial Ports – Wisconsin’s 15 commercial port facilities can attract firms to Wisconsin’s shorelines by providing low-cost access to global markets.
- Bicycle/Pedestrian – Bicycling and walking contribute to the safe and efficient movement of people and goods to their destinations.
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