A renowned historian and engineer explores the past, present, and future of America's crumbling infrastructure. Acclaimed engineer and historian Henry Petroski explores our core infrastructure from both historical and contemporary perspectives, explaining how essential their maintenance is to America's economic health. Petroski reveals the genesis of the many parts of America's highway system--our interstate numbering system, the centerline that divides roads, and such taken-for-granted objects as guardrails, stop signs, and traffic lights--all crucial to our national and local infrastructure. A compelling work of history, The Road Taken is also an urgent clarion call aimed at American citizens, politicians, and anyone with a vested interest in our economic well-being. Physical infrastructure in the United States is crumbling, and Petroski reveals the complex and challenging interplay between government and industry inherent in major infrastructure improvement. The road we take in the next decade toward rebuilding our aging infrastructure will in large part determine our future national prosperity.

Engineers argue that inadequate maintenance of roads, bridges, airports, waterways, and other critical aspects of infrastructure along with underinvestment have created an infrastructure crisis in the United States. Many politicians agree with this claim and are attempting to take action. However, we are faced with the issue of which projects are most essential and how to fund them. Is the state of America's infrastructure that dire compared to the rest of the world? Are these efforts to improve it a cynical ploy from politicians to gain attention and ensure reelection? This volume considers the many perspectives of this pressing issue.

"Policy-makers often call for expanding public spending on infrastructure, which includes a broad range of investments from roads and bridges to digital networks that will expand access to high-speed broadband. Some point to near-term macro-economic benefits and job creation, others focus on long-term effects on productivity and economic growth. This volume explores the links between infrastructure spending and economic outcomes, as well as key economic issues in the funding and management of infrastructure projects. It draws together research studies that describe the short-run stimulus effects of infrastructure spending, develop new estimates of the stock of U.S. infrastructure capital, and explore the incentive aspects of public-private partnerships (PPPs). A salient issue is the treatment of risk in evaluating publicly-funded infrastructure projects and in connection with PPPs. The goal of the volume is to provide a reference for researchers seeking to expand research on infrastructure issues, and for policy-makers tasked with determining the appropriate level of infrastructure spending"--

Americans are stuck. Americans are stuck. We live with travel delays on congested roads, shipping delays on clogged railways, and delays on repairs and project approvals due to gridlocked leadership. And when we can’t move, when goods are delayed, and when information networks can’t connect, then economic opportunity deteriorates and social inequity grows. We don’t have to take it anymore! In Move, Harvard Business School professor and bestselling author Rosabeth Moss Kanter visits the business leaders, mayors, transportation advocates, and entrepreneurs across the country tackling these challenges through underwater tunnels, instant bridges, road sensors, parking apps, bike-sharing programs, seamless wifi, and much more. It all adds up to a new vision for American mobility, where local leaders and public-private partnerships lead the way. With unique insight and unrivaled expertise, Kanter gives us a sweeping look at the innovative projects, vital leaders, and bold solutions that are moving our transportation infrastructure toward a cleaner, faster, and more prosperous future.

Abstract: Trujillo, Martín, Estache, and Campos provide empirical evidence on the impact that private participation in infrastructure has had on key macroeconomic variables in a sample of 21 Latin American countries from 1985-98. Specifically, they look at the effects on GDP per capita, current public expenditures, public investment, and private investment, controlling for country effects and institutional factors. The authors also investigate the relevance of the specific contractual form of private participation contracts on these variables and show differentiated effects according to contract types. The results suggest that: Private sector involvement in utilities and transport have some, but not impressive, positive effects on GDP per capita; There is some degree of crowding-out of private investment resulting from greenfield projects in utilities, and delayed crowding-in from concessions in transport. There is crowding-in of public investment by private participation in utilities, while there is crowding-out by increased private investment in transport; Private participation in utilities decreases recurrent expenditures, while in transport it results in an increase. The net effect on the public sector account is uncertain, but this uncertainty is a major risk. The revelation of this risk may be the main contribution of this paper since it is inconsistent with the fiscal gains expected by many policymakers as they engage in infrastructure privatization programs. This paper"a product of the Governance, Regulation, and Finance Division, World Bank Institute, and Finance, Private Sector, and Infrastructure Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region"is part of a larger effort in the Bank to increase understanding of infrastructure regulation.

"In The Road to Renewal: Private Investment in U.S. Transportation Infrastructure, R. Richard Geddes surveys the current state of the American transportation system and finds that, like the roads themselves, the existing policy approach is in desperate need of repair. Drawing on the basic economic principles behind supply, demand, competition, and incentives, Geddes argues that a shift toward increased use of public-private partnerships (PPPs)--contractual agreements between public agencies and private parties that allow private participation in the design, construction, operation, and delivery of transportation facilities--could significantly improve the quality of America's transportation infrastructure. By learning to see themselves as customers and investors--rather than mere users--of roads and highways, Americans should expect to receive a reasonable return on their investment: thorough, effective maintenance of America's transportation infrastructure. The Road to Renewal shows how incorporating increased private participation can halt the deterioration of America's transportation system and become the foundation for a safer, more efficient transportation future."--P. [4] of cover.