Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/973749
L ate last year, Amazon made a splash in the press by announcing a competition for cities to submit proposals for the online retailer's second headquarters (HQ2). Three cities I know fairly well made it into the top 20: Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee. All three are popular urban destinations. But I have to wonder, how much weight is Ama- zon putting on the quality of transportation infrastructure in those cities? The company has said HQ2 would employ up to 50,000 folks. Unless we get flying cars pretty soon, those 50,000 employees are going to have to drive to work. Factor in families and you could reasonably expect HQ2 to add 80,000 cars and trucks to whatever city it lands in. If HQ2 in- cludes warehouses and a delivery hub, factor in the 24/7 tractor-trailer traffic, as well. How well are those cities prepared for this? Washington, D.C. The roads here are already so congested that even a relatively minor weather event can turn a one- or two- hour commute into a three- or four-hour – or longer – drive. As a result, the whole fed- eral workforce in D.C. is told to stay home anytime there's more than an inch of rain or the potential for a little snow or ice. I have sources in that city who have enjoyed at least six stay-at-home weather days in the past year or so. Nashville. Sitting on the intersections of I-65, I-24 and I-40, one would think that the nation's country music capital is well provi- sioned for transportation infrastructure. But like so many older cities, Nashville's inter- states were designed and built 50 years ago to handle half the traffic they get now – and traf- fic that was going 20 to 30 mph slower. At to- day's 80 mph standard, coming into Nashville is a nightmare of sharp turns, bad signage, abrupt level changes and potholes. Austin. In many ways, it's the textbook example of what not to do with your city's in- frastructure. Hippies took over the Austin city council in the '70s and '80s to stop almost all roadbuilding. Unfortunately, they didn't stop people from coming there, and today, despite a manic attempt to correct the deficit, Austin is one of the country's leading commuter night- mares. In two days of driving there recently, I spent $10 in gas and $24 in tolls. The point of all this is that for many cities in the United States, it's too late to change. You've heard the parable about the frog in the pot of slowly heating water? By the time the frog realizes he's boiling, he's too far gone to save himself. For D.C., Nashville and Austin, your frog is cooked, well done in fact. Your cities and many like them will never be able to land the big corporate campuses because you sat on your hands for 20 or 30 years and failed to prepare your infrastructure, zoning and land use for the future. Amazon might as well forget about Boston, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well. If the same weather that sets me back 20 or 30 minutes in our little town of 100,000 can cause the entire federal workforce to stop for a day, Amazon or any large corporation would be unwise to consid- er such a city for a headquarters or a hub. Sorry big cities. I've seen the future – and having failed to plan, having starved your citi- zens for the infrastructure they need – you're not it. April 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com 82 final word | by Tom Jackson Amazon, infrastructure and a warning TJackson@randallreilly.com