From Boston to Austin, autonomous vehicles are being tested on city streets. It’s so common that the driverless cars are no longer head-turners. Some estimates are that 10 million self-driving cars will be on the road by 2020. However, the introduction of new multi-passenger self-driving shuttles is still turning heads. These vehicles are grabbing the attention of public-sector officials in dire need of people-moving options.
Describing the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure as a “massive, self-inflicted wound on our country,” President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order designed to help speed the completion of major infrastructure projects nationwide.
Delays in the rollout of the Trump administration’s much-heralded $1 trillion infrastructure plan are proving costly for deteriorating U.S. roads, bridges, airports and transit systems. And the longer the delay, the more it will cost taxpayers. Tired of delays on a long-awaited new plan, some members of Congress are busy putting together a “Plan B.”
Here’s something that will shock most taxpayers. Projections are that cities will spend an estimated $150 billion in stormwater infrastructure projects over the next 20 years. That will create a very large marketplace but the action has already started.
There are indications that public safety concerns will provoke the spending on law enforcement technology in the US.
This will surprise many. A recent report estimates that spending on law enforcement technology in the United States will likely reach $7.6 billion this year and that number will climb exponentially in the next few years. Law enforcement technology includes such things as body armor, cameras, drones, vehicles, biometric software, upgrades to Next Generation emergency systems and more.
The wheels on the Trump administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan appear to be moving. After months of delays, the president, through an executive order, announced the creation of a Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure.
Neither the president nor Congress has been able to focus on infrastructure as health care legislation has dominated the early months of the Trump presidency. But now, the president has laid a foundation for the development of a 15-member panel to advise him on issues that are hampering the development of infrastructure projects nationwide. He has also named Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross as the individual who will direct the council’s activities.
There are a lot of question marks about the funding of rural America but there are also indications that a large segment of the Congress is in favor.
There’s no way to know how much, if any, will actually trickle down to small and rural areas. Spokespersons for the administration say rural America will not be overlooked but there is still angst because capturing federal and state funding has always been challenging for rural communities.