It Takes a Lot of Money to Get a Good Freeway

Were you stopped on the San Diego Freeway this morning? Or was it the Harbor? It doesn’t matter; the crush was probably bad everywhere.

A recent study conducted by the Eno Transportation Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, found commuter travel time increased in every major American city between 1980 and 1990. L.A.’s increase exceeded 10%.

You might think this would get some political attention in an election year, but according to their national campaign offices, neither Bob Dole nor President Clinton has made a statement about highway funding.

Exactly how bad are things? The American Automobile Assn. issued a study recently, titled “Crisis Ahead,” that reported that more than a third of major U.S. roads are in poor to mediocre condition.

Even by the Federal Highway Administration’s own measure, it would take annual spending of $53 billion to maintain the current bad conditions and $72 billion to improve the roads. Instead, the nation spends about $35 billion annually.

There are some bright spots. A new federally funded “smart corridor” opened Friday on the Santa Monica Freeway. It is hoped the plan will cut the average commute time by 12% by using high tech systems to manage traffic flow.

When the interstate highway system was launched in the 1950s, it was financed in part by gasoline taxes paid into the federal Highway Trust Fund. Last year, $30 billion was collected, but a third of that was siphoned off for other federal uses.

Investments in transportation always pay back more in economic growth, wages and public satisfaction than they cost, so the public should be clamoring for higher gas taxes, said Alan E. Pisarski, who wrote the Eno Foundation report.

But, he said, “The public is smart enough to perceive that when you send money to Washington, funny things happen to it.”

* Vartabedian cannot answer mail personally but will attempt to respond in this column to automotive questions of general interest. Do not telephone. Write to Your Wheels, 1875 I St. N.W. No. 1100, Washington, DC 20006 or e-mail to ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com.