The nation’s economic well-being relies on Illinois’ infrastructure. Illinois is one of the top six exporting states in the U.S., and our intermodal traffic has increased significantly in the last decade. As the nation’s central transportation hub for highway, air, rail, and freight, Illinois must continue to invest in intermodal facilities that extend our capacity to transfer goods from ports to trucks to trains. Increased intermodal capacity will alleviate regional freight congestion and foster new economic development within the state. Creating thousands of new jobs by funding infrastructure in our state ensures the health of our nation’s economy. Funds that go toward transportation have an impact on the economy that go far beyond the direct jobs seen at the construction site. What citizens may not see are the material suppliers, equipment manufacturers, insurers and bonders that have jobs due to the goods or services they provide for these projects. Even in their own communities; venues such as coffee shops, restaurants, or gas stations, receive the revenues from servicing the construction project workers. The typically unseen indirect jobs that the transportation industry supports are also critical to our state's, as well as our nation’s economy.
The IRTBA is committed to keeping America working. In order to maintain a robust economy, we also need to keep our roads and bridges safe and our citizens working. Congress and the General Assembly must provide adequate and reliable funding for our transportation systems to guarantee a safe and stable transportation system.
Statistics
- $1 billion for road/highway = nearly 13,000 jobs per year (direct & indirect), according to FHWA.
- Transportation accounts for 11 million jobs, and transportation-related employment accounts for about 8.7 percent of civilian workers in the United States.
- The IDOT multi-year program (MYP) is a strategic capital investment plan for the State of Illinois.
- The FY 2013-18 MYP identifies a total of $9.2 billion of highway investments on state and local highways.
- According to the ARRA, studies of transportation job creation all showed that on average road repair produced 16 percent more jobs per dollar.