A shortage of airports runways and gates along outmoded air traffic control systems have made U.S. air travel the most congested in the world.
Ray LaHoodPortal Bridge is based on a design from the 1840s and was already obsolete shortly after it was completed in 1910. It's a swing bridge that needs to be opened several times a week so barges can pass up and down the river. It takes about a half an hour. The problem is it fails to lock back into place on a regular basis.
Ray LaHoodThe last time we raised the gas tax, which is how we built the interstate system, was 1993.
Ray LaHoodLiveability means being able to take your kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, drop by the grocery or Post Office, go out to dinner and a movie, and play with your kids at the park - all without having to get in your car.
Ray LaHoodThe Bush administration, they had two blue ribbon commissions about infrastructure finance that recommended a lot more money, and additionally the gas tax being increased. We couldn't get them to accept being able to move forward. Since President Obama's been in office, there has been, to be charitable, a lack of enthusiasm for raising the gas tax.
Ray LaHood