Transcript 0:00 [gentle music] Honestly, the thought that so many of us are driving across structurally deficient bridges every day is downright frightening, if not disgusting. 0:15 How often do we have to talk about this? We've had enough tragedy. The pandemic has got us scared enough. We don't need another major catastrophic event to wake our legislators up, do we? 0:29 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation, with your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:51 Hello, listeners, and welcome to today's edition of The Peggy Smedley Show. I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:56 I hope everyone had a fun and safe Fourth of July, even though this year's circumstances may have made the holiday look a little different than usual. 1:05 Now that it's July, we're going to be focusing on infrastructure and transportation infrastructure in particular. Our latest feature is now up on the site, so I encourage you to go and take a look. 1:18 In today's segment one, I'm going to be discussing the Invest in America Act, a bill designed to provide a boost to some of the nation's urgent transportation infrastructure needs. 1:30 Later on in the show, I'll be interviewing Chatri Muladi, co-founder and chief technology officer of Foghorn, and then I'm going to be wrapping up the show welcoming back John Havlik, co-author of The Leadership Killer: Reclaiming Humility in an Age of Arrogance. 1:46 So let's get started. 1:48 About a month ago, Peter DeFazio, who is the chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, released the text for the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and the Surface Transportation in America Act, or Invest in America Act for short. 2:06 I'll first give you kind of the specifics of the proposed bill, and then I'm gonna kind of give you the bigger infrastructure picture and where I see this could kind of be an improvement with this bill. 2:19 The Invest in America Act goal is to authorize funds for federal aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, among other purposes. 2:31 More specifically, the bill would authorize about five hundred billion over the course of five years to help address some of the US's most critical infrastructure needs. 2:43 And here are some of those needs according to DeFazio and some of his co-sponsors. 2:48 Needs include tackling the backlog of roads, bridges, and transit systems that need to be repaired or replaced in order to be safe; building resilient infrastructure that will withstand the impacts of climate change and extreme weather; designing safer roads for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists; pursuing zero emissions from the transportation sector by prioritizing carbon pollution reduction, investing in public transit and the nation rail network, building out fueling infrastructure for low and zero emission vehicles, and deploying technology and innovative materials; increasing funding for public transit option in order to integrate technology use and increase routes and reliability; and investing in a robust, reliable rail system and address long-standing maintenance needs. 3:45 And finally, improving communities' access to federal funding so they can pursue projects that are smarter, safer, and more sustainable. 3:56 So let's kind of take a step back now that I've kind of gone through all those for a second and look at the big picture. 4:02 It's been a while, I think, since we've kind of had, uh, the ASCE, the American Society of Civil Engineers infrastructure report card in the US. 4:12 The last one, as you'll recall, was in twenty seventeen, and the next one is out next year, twenty twenty-one. 4:19 But I'm guessing most of you remember what our last one actually said, and in case you haven't, let me give you a refresher. We talked about this a while ago, but let me give you what the overall report card rating was. 4:32 We got a D plus overall. Yep. Now, remember, it was a D plus. 4:37 If we look more closely at transportation infrastructure, bridges received a C plus, inland waterways received a D, rail got a B, roads got a D, and transit got a D minus. Yeah. Now remember this. 4:55 It's pretty dismal picture for this report card pr- paints overall. Yeah, I'm saying it's dismal. 5:01 So ASCE points out that there's a ninety billion dollar backlog of transit maintenance projects, and that's expected to reach a hundred and twenty-two billion by twenty thirty-two if nothing changes. 5:17 That's a staggering hundred and twenty-two billion. Now, just think about that. So if both sides of the aisle don't get their collective acts together, we're gonna be in trouble. 5:28 So ASCE also puts the estimated backlog of bridge rehabilitation needs to a hundred and twenty-three billion in twenty seventeen. So that's what they had looked at these numbers. 5:42 So this sounds overwhelming, and frankly, it is overwhelming. So but legislation like the Invest in America Act is trying to tackle this overwhelming problem. 5:55 So when we think about this, this is good, but insufficient transportation infrastructure isn't just a transportation problem. 6:05 It's all of our problem, and that's what I think we need to understand.So let me explain this. First of all, it can be dangerous. You and your family, your employees are driving on these roads and bridges. 6:21 You're taking these trains and buses every day. Okay, well, let's-- lately we're not all doing that, but you get my point. 6:28 Honestly, the thought that so many of us are driving across structurally deficient bridges every day is downright frightening, if not disgusting. How often do we have to talk about this? We've had enough tragedy. 6:44 The pandemic has got us scared enough. We don't need another major catastrophic event to wake our legislators up, do we? I mean, think about that just for a minute. I mean, that's the point here. 6:58 Highways are congested, and traffic leads to less productivity, higher operating costs on our vehicles, both personal and those fleet vehicles. I mean, that's the point. 7:11 Traffic also leads to more carbon emissions into the atmosphere. That's a fact as well. 7:17 ASCE's data is also pretty clear on the following point: investment in public transit is not even close to keeping up with the demand, and those are just the facts. So that's what I'm giving you right now. 7:30 Earlier, when we talked through the needs that the Invest in America Act aims to address, the ones that really caught my eye are the ones that we mentioned earlier, and that's technology. 7:40 I love to talk about technology because when I look at all these issues on our nation's transportation infrastructure, I see the potential for the IoT, and this is really what's promising, and we really have to think about digital transformation and what IoT technologies built into the infrastructure can help us collect data and act upon it, and that's what's so important. 8:03 If you look at a data-driven world, we don't want our infrastructure to be a blind spot. We need to be making decisions based on data, and that's what implementing technology solutions can do. 8:16 And we can get past the initial investment hurdle, of course, by thinking about this. 8:21 So DeFazio also points out the Invest in America's bill's text that if we don't invest in our transportation infrastructure, there will be economic consequences as well. Now, here's what he says. 8:34 "The Invest in America Act is our opportunity to replace outdated systems of the past with smarter, safer, more resilient infrastructure that fits the economy of the future, creates millions of jobs, supports American manufacturing, and restores U.S. 8:52 competitiveness." Now, last week, the president of ASCE issued a statement following the House moving forward with H.R. two. So let me quote you what he said. 9:03 He said, "Since the House of Representatives prioritized more resilient and sustainable modern infrastructure as part of America's recovery, we commend the House for moving an infrastructure investment as a priority by passing a one point five trillion Moving Forward H.R. 9:21 two. 9:22 So this comprehensive legislation takes a holistic approach to investing in and modernizing all infrastructure sectors from roads and bridges to ports and rail and networks and inland waterways and airports, all of which drive our economy. 9:40 In addition to the drinking water and the wastewater systems that keep Americans safe and schools and parks on which our children rely. H.R. two is the first step toward making investments in these sectors a priority. 9:56 Infrastructure investments has historically been a bipartisan issue, so we now urge the Senate to follow the House's lead and pass an infrastructure package that maintains and modernizes the systems that make up the backbone of our economy. 10:12 We hope Congress can come together over the upcoming weeks to prioritize our infrastructure, create jobs, and to get the economy moving again, which will ensure that our hardworking citizens can enjoy the quality of life that they rightly deserve," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 10:28 You get the point. So he continues on, and he's saying so that we have a competitive world. The current surface infras-- transportation authorization actually expires September thirtieth of this year. 10:40 So something needs to be done quickly, and that's what we're saying. I think that if we continue to let our infrastructure go, we're not going to help the future of our transportation, and that's my opinion of today. 10:53 I think what's going to happen, we need a smarter, safer, and more efficient use of IoT technologies, and that's what's going to happen. So here's my tip. If we look at all this, the overhaul to the U.S. 11:04 transportation infrastructure needs to include technology. No matter where we go with this, that needs to be the priority. The U.S. 11:12 Chamber of Commerce put out a letter that addresses the Invest in America Act, and it hit the nail right on the head. 11:19 Its recommendations include things like promoting the use of innovation and technology to address the resilience in surface transportation and supporting new entrants to the space like rideshare business models and automated vehicles. 11:35 Innovative technologies need to be built into our plan. But you know, always when I say I want to hear what you think, does this Invest in America bill go far enough or too far for all of your tastes? 11:49 Because does it include enough technology in its call to action? If you're in the transportation space, is technology an integral part of your long-term plan? 12:00 We'll see how far this particular legislation gets, and perhaps I'll plan to give you an update when all of this eventually happens. 12:08 But I certainly know that I'll be following this closely because we have to do something. These are critical times in infrastructure, and you know that I'm very committed to this. 12:18 And what we choose to do or not to do in this decade will have a huge impact on decades to come. And I can tell you, this is a very critical time, and we need to step up to the plate and do something. 12:31 All right, that's all the time I have for this segment, but stick around. We have more to come. But what I want you to do, I want you to tweet at me at ConnectedWMag. Check out our website. 12:40 We just put up a new article, like I said, at connectedworld.com. Check out our past archives at thepeggySmedleyShow.com. But stick around. We'll be right back after this quick commercial break. 12:49 This is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. Remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. [upbeat music]
