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March 2013

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Infrastructure on the needs and priorities of local communities and the state," she said. It's difficult to know how efficiently the states are spending funds, because the agency releases little data that's useful for making state-by-state comparisons. The GAO and the U.S. Transportation Department's inspector general have repeatedly faulted the agency's data-collection methods. Law requires the department to submit detailed annual reports to Congress on how the states invest federal highway funds. The reports categorize about one-quarter, or $10 billion of the total spending by the states each year as "other." The obscure report has received little attention on Capitol Hill, and in spite of the law's additional requirement that the reports be made available to the public, the agency posted the eight most recent reports on its website only after McClatchy requested them. The agency developed computer software more than a decade ago to help states determine which projects would generate the most return on investment by meeting goals such as reducing congestion and improving the mobility of people and goods. But most states don't use it, and those that do may simply ignore the recommendations. When the GAO asked state transportation departments in 2010 what factors they considered in their transportation plans, only 11 states said economic analysis was "very important." Taylor, the UCLA professor, said transportation decisions had to consider geographic needs as well as economic ones. "It's difficult to come up with objective criteria," he said. "It's just a very complex terrain." Half a century ago, America had a shared vision and policy around the Interstate Highway System, a massive national public-works project that drove economic growth for decades. "Those days are gone," said Earl Swift, the author of "The Big Roads," a history of interstates. "We are a long way away from that unity of purpose we had in 1956." n Chris Adams contributed to this article. © McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. Contact the authors, Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon at: ctate@mcclatchydc.com, ggordon@ mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @tatecurtis, @greggordon2in Lowe Manufacturing coMpany, inc. 18903 High point road Viola, wi 54664 pH: (888) Dig-Lowe (344-5693) fX: (608) 538-3995 www.LoweMan.com Lowe@LoweMan.com PRODUCTIVE, DURABLE, VALUE. ® AUGERS TRENCHERS GRAPPLES March 2013 | Construction Equipment Distribution | www.cedmag.com | 39 34_Highway_Feature_KP.indd 39 2/27/13 4:03 PM

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