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Idaho's transportation system | Idaho citizens' vision for transportation | Investing in transportation creates jobs
Our transportation system is vast | Our transportation needs are growing
Idaho's transportation system is crucial
Idaho’s transportation system:
■ spurs economic growth;
■ increases national competitiveness;
■ creates jobs;
■ is important to pubic safety;
■ offers support to an increasingly mobile society;
■ works to protect the environment;
■ is key to our national defense.
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Idaho citizens' vision for transportation
In 2003, the Idaho Transportation Department asked our citizens to dream about the future.
The response of policy makers and Idaho citizens to this visioning process was remarkable. Every corner of the state had a major role in drafting a new vision. While citizens identified needs that were unique to their geographic area, they discovered an amazing consensus from border to border. The result is a message for all Idaho transportation agencies, not just ITD.
Citizens want a transportation future that:
■ creates a multimodal system that provides individuals with choices;
■ supports a quality of life in Idaho, respects its history and protects its environment;
■ engages people and businesses who use and operate the system in making decisions about transportation; and
■ achieves their goals within bounds of reasonable funding in new and creative ways. |
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Investing in Transportation Creates Jobs
A strong transportation system is critical to the nation’s economy.
Did you know:
■ In 1997, the country's roads, railroads, airways, waterways and pipelines shipped 11 billion tons of freight valued at $7 trillion,
■ the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials estimates that every $1 billion invested in highway projects creates 42,000 private sector jobs,
■ investment in public transportation generates jobs at virtually the same rate as highway investment,
■ for every dollar invested, the nation’s highway system will return $2.60 in benefits to the economy.
In Idaho:
■ more than 14,000 good paying jobs are created or sustained annually through highway construction,
■ Idaho’s aviation system supports another
26,000 jobs. |
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Our transportation system is vast
Idaho’s transportation system is an integrated network of:
■ 60,000 miles of roads;
■ about 4,000 bridges;
■ 1,887 miles of rail lines;
■ 68 county and city airports;
■ 30 recreational and emergency airstrips;
■ 14 public transportation providers;
■ and one seaport, the Port of Lewiston.
America’s transportation infrastructure includes:
■ 4 million miles of highways and streets;
■ 508 urban transit systems;
■ 3,600 airports;
■ 3,700 commercial waterports;
■ 109,000 miles of track.|
Everyday, more than:
■ 6.3 billion miles of vehicle travel is logged;
■ nearly 19 million tons of products are shipped;
■ 6.8 million Americans use mass transit;
■ 1.3 million passengers depart from airports;
■ 300 million tons of cargo shipped from waterports;
■ four thousand tons of freight is shipped by railroad. |
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Our transportation needs are growing
The nation’s reliance on its transportation system is growing.
Did you know:
■ the United States has more vehicles per capita than any other nation in the world;
■ Americans are traveling almost twice as much as they did in 1973;
■ the number of vehicles on the nation’s roads has increased more than 50 percent since 1973;
■ at the same time, however, the highway system has increased only three percent since 1973.
Demand on Idaho’s transportation system is skyrocketing.
Since 1978, did you know:
■ the annual vehicle miles traveled in Idaho has grown 104%;
■ 93 percent more cars are registered;
■ there are 63 percent more licensed drivers;
■ Idaho’s population grew 51%;
■ the total gallons of highway fuel consumed grew 46 percent.
The state highway system carries the load. Did you know:
■ the state is responsible for nearly 5,000 miles of highway in Idaho, just 10 percent of all roadway miles in the state. However, the state highway system accounts for 54 percent of the state’s vehicle miles of travel.
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