Over the past few days, I have had the privilege of mixing and mingling with some of the country’s mayors at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.  Held this year in Miami, the four day meeting featured many great events, policy discussions, and networking opportunities. I had such a great time that I wanted to share some of the sights and sounds with the readers of this blog.

ASCE has been a member of the Mayor’s Business Council for many years and has had a long history of teamwork with the organization. Among our shared goals: improving and investing in the nation’s infrastructure. As part of the Mayors’ Ten Point Plan for Strong Cities, Strong Families for a Strong America, they cite our Report Card for America’s Infrastructure and call on the federal government to provide cities with greater funding resources to tackle the deferred maintenance and needed improvements these cities are faced with everyday.

Luckily, the bright green and purple Report Card on our display booth attracted a lot of attention, so I was able to talk to quite a few mayors from all over the country, from both large and small cities. They shared some of their experiences with me, which will be a huge help as we embark on the release of the 2009 Report Card- so you’ll have to wait to hear what these folks say until then. Not only did I meet quite a few mayors, a number of ASCE members were at the meeting. It was great to hear from them about the projects they work on in cities and how excited they were to see the Mayors taking up the infrastructure cause with us. An ASCE member, Danielle Elkins of CH2MHill in Los Angeles, even got to present to a committee on sustainable freight movement.

The highlight of the trip, however, was the enormous ASCE shout-out from Sen. Barack Obama. Attracting intense media coverage, numerous kooky protestors, and a lot of jockeying for a good seat in the convention hall, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee addressed the Conference on his proposed urban agenda. Reminding the audience that cities are not the problem, and are in fact the solution to many of America’s problems – he warned that if we didn’t start focusing on metropolitan areas, especially their failing infrastructure, we would risk losing our global economic edge. Citing the D ASCE gave the nation’s infrastructure in 2005, Sen. Obama urged a greater federal role in modernizing highways, implementing sustainable development, and repairing decrepit dams and levees.

It was a great moment for ASCE – to have a national candidate start speaking about the issues we have been advocating for years. It really feels like all our members’ hard work is paying off. His complete remarks are available on the Mayors' website.

Unfortunately, Sen. John McCain had a scheduling conflict and couldn’t make it to the meeting. I would really like to see the two go head to head on our issues and see their two plans side by side. Oh well, we certainly have more of the campaign (a lot more) to go - it might make in into a debate or two!

Well, I’m sad to leave such a beautiful city with such friendly locals, but it’s good to be back in Washington. Next year’s meeting is in Providence, RI – I can’t wait to see them try to top Miami.

On this blog we talk a lot about the things ASCE is doing to help improve the nation’s infrastructure, but we would be remiss if we didn’t give a hand to our partners in this task every once in a while. ASCE’s President David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE and Executive Director Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE had the honor this week to represent and lend ASCE’s support to a new initiative to increase federal funding for transportation infrastructure.

Kicking off this week is the Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition’s (ATM) new campaign: Faster, Better, Safer. Led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the ATM Coalition brings together a diverse group of businesses, labor, and non-profit groups to support increased investment in transportation infrastructure. By launching the new campaign, the coalition will demonstrate to policy-makers in Washington the groundswell of public support for repairing, rebuilding, and revitalizing America’s aging transportation system.

As the nation faces an uncertain economic outlook, the Faster, Better, Safer campaign makes the argument that poor infrastructure isn’t just a pain, or a worst dangerous, but it’s costing us a lot of time and money. Recent studies show that increased investment in transportation not only stimulates the economy and creates jobs, but also reduces the human costs imposed by congestion, pollution, and needless highway fatalities. In 2005, traffic congestion alone drained $78 billion from the economy, added 4.2 billon hours to commutes, and wasted 2.9 billion gallons of gasoline.

By bringing the ATM coalition’s diverse membership together, it shows that improving the nation’s transportation infrastructure is a national problem and must be a national priority – and not just left for cash-strapped state and local governments to deal with.

Timed by no coincidence to coincide with the upcoming authorization of federal highway and public transportation programs, the Faster, Better, Safer Campaign will urge Congress and the next Administration to reform transportation programs and maximize federal investment in roads, bridges, and public transit. The Coalition is challenging presidential and congressional candidates to make transportation policy a key issue in their campaigns.

As we move into the last, exciting months of the campaign season, let’s not forget the nation’s transportation infrastructure – and definitely don’t let your candidates forget either. If you’re local candidates aren’t talking about the nation’s infrastructure crisis – it’s time to remind them!

Need more information? Check out the campaign website http://www.fasterbettersafer.org for briefing materials.