United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2008-05-08 monographic deposited born digital 34 p. GA 1.13:GAO-08-763T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-763T P0b002ee1803a42e9 f:d08763t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-763T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-763T GAO-08-763T Accountability Aviation Critical infrastructure Federal aid for highways Federal aid for transportation Federal aid to states Federal funds Federal/state relations Fiscal policies Fund audits Funds management Investment planning Policy evaluation Program evaluation Reporting requirements Transportation costs Transportation industry Transportation planning Transportation policies Transportation research Program goals or objectives Highway Trust Fund Testimony A82058 Physical infrastructure is critical to the nation's economy and affects the daily life of virtually all Americans--from facilitating the movement of goods and people within and beyond U.S. borders to providing clean drinking water. However, this infrastructure--including aviation, highway, transit, rail, water, and dam infrastructure--is under strain. Estimates to repair, replace, or upgrade aging infrastructure as well as expand capacity to meet increased demand top hundreds of billions of dollars. Calls for increased investment in infrastructure come at a time when traditional funding for infrastructure projects is increasingly strained, and the federal government's fiscal outlook is worse than many may understand. This testimony discusses (1) challenges associated with the nation's surface transportation, aviation, water, and dam infrastructure, and the principles GAO has identified to help guide efforts to address these challenges and (2) existing and proposed options to fund investments in the nation's infrastructure. This statement is primarily based on a body of work GAO has completed for the Congress over the last several years. To supplement this existing work, GAO also interviewed Department of Transportation officials to obtain up-to-date information on the status of the Highway Trust Fund and various funding and financing options and reviewed published literature to obtain information on dam infrastructure issues. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-763T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-763T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-763T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-763T.pdf GAO-08-763T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-763T Testimony GAO-08-763T; Physical Infrastructure: Challenges and Investment Options for the Nation's Infrastructure; Accountability Aviation Critical infrastructure Federal aid for highways Federal aid for transportation Federal aid to states Federal funds Federal/state relations Fiscal policies Fund audits Funds management Investment planning Policy evaluation Program evaluation Reporting requirements Transportation costs Transportation industry Transportation planning Transportation policies Transportation research Program goals or objectives Highway Trust Fund