AAPA, ASCE Say Government Funding of Ports Must Increase

America's seaports and marine terminals must make combined investments of $46 billion over the next five years to maintain and improve their infrastructure, said American Association of Port Authorities Chairman Jerry Bridges in a Sept. 13 briefing. But he said the federal government "has not committed to matching this investment in improving the connections with our ports."

Bridges said funding for dredging federal navigation channels has decreased, and maintenance dredging is sorely underfunded, despite a nearly $7 billion surplus in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. Landside improvements have also been too low a priority, with little of the highway funds going to freight transportation projects, he said. AAPA participated in releasing a report that said:

• There will be a projected $16 billion funding gap by 2020, and $30 billion more by 2040, between the estimated requirements and historical budgets for navigation.
• The additional costs of goods due to insufficiently dredged navigation channels are estimated to have been $7 billion in 2010, and are expected to increase to $9 billion by 2020, and to $14 billion by 2040.
• Billions of dollars of cargo are delayed daily due to deficient connections to roads and rail in and around port cities, threatening the price competitiveness of the goods we export.
• The impacts will result in about 738,000 fewer jobs by 2020, and almost 1.4 million fewer jobs by 2040.
• The report estimates $7.9 trillion in cumulative loss in business sales through 2040 as a result of inadequate investment in our shallow- and deep-draft ports and harbors.

"It's important that these investments are recognized as an essential, effective utilization of limited federal resources, paying dividends through increased trade, jobs and tax revenues," Bridges said. "As our nation recovers from its economic troubles, we know that cargo growth will expand as well. As our nation invests in infrastructure, we must ensure that ports and their water- and land-side needs are high on the priorities list."