#interstate system

the united states interstate system is a domain of every entity!

The US Interstate system. I-5 down the west coast. Driving through the brutal west Texas desert on I-10, I-80 through the gorgeous North Carolina mountains. Headed to Disney World in the back of your parents car on I-4. Stopping at Wall Drug on your way to Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone or Devil's Tower driving through the tourist mecca of South Dakota along I-90. The LA-Vegas run along I-15 immortalized by Hunter S. Thompson. The SF-Tahoe run on 80. The Majesty of driving on I-70 through the rockies. Slumming it at $30 motels, avoiding the cities, scraping by gas money with your friends, or the fun of driving right through the heart of every american city, stopping at great hotels and getting out quick the next day. Who hasn't had the experience? Who hasn't, eventually, been awed by the diversity and breadth of this country while staring out of the back seat of a car along an interstate? The US government built that. 

The US Interstate system (officially called The Dwight D Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways) is the world's largest network of highways. It's a monumental achievement of engineering, and speeds the transfer of goods and people throughout the United States. It is a network of nearly 47,000 miles of limited access freeways (with a few very small exceptions) conceived, financed and engineered by the United States government. It took over 35 years to complete the original plan, at a cost of over $128 billion in 1991 dollars, or about $310 bilion in today's dollars.*

It is, almost completely, free for anyone to enjoy - there are some segments of the interstate system that were grandfathered in from previously-built toll roads, and since 2005 the government has explored some toll options on limited parts of the system.  But by and large, any American can hop in their car and cruise on a freeway at high speeds across the country more or less unimpeded.  

It was not always thus. As automobiles gained popularity, private citizens and clubs throughout the country began marking car-accessible paths, or "auto trails" with signage. These signs were designed to let those with automobiles know that this path or trail was friendly to their car. Auto trails were hodge-podge - some were in excellent shape, while others were in very poor condition. Some of these auto trail clubs were well funded, by rich auto enthusiasts, who used private funds to keep the roads in great shapes. Some more analogous to the hobo sign code - helpful citizens marking out where cars could manage to go, but not putting anything in maintenance. However, even that often proved useful, as it helped local governments understand where automobile drivers wanted to go, and gave them a direction in which to deploy their funds. These auto trails gave rise to the "named highways" that some of us remember of our youth. The first of these was the Lincoln Highway, running from New York to California. It was Eisenhower's experience, as a young army officer, of traversing the Lincoln Highway in the 1919 Motor Transport Corps Convoy that later gave rise to his inspiration for the Interstate System.† In this massive transcontinental crossing of troops, more than 200 vehicular incidents were logged, 9 vehicles retired and 24 troop injuries were sustained. Additionally, the convoy had to deal with the poor conditions of the auto trail, and basically had to fix it as they went along, including repairing over 80 bridges (many of them, in fairness, they themselves broke to begin with).‡ Later in life, as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WWII, Eisenhower experienced Germany's Autobahn system. Though the Autobahn system did not contribute greatly to Germany's military advantage, the potential to Eisenhower was clear.

It's not hard to see why the the auto trails needed improving upon. Some states, first Wisconsin and then most notably several states in New England, began numbering their highways and taking a more active role in their planning and development. The US Government got into the act with the two Federal Highway Acts of 1916 and 1921. These bills laid the groundwork for a system of numbered roads in the US - running from US 1 along the east coast to US 101 along the west coast, and from US 20 from Boston to Oregon and US 90 from Florida to Texas. The US Highway System, though it is also occasionally referred to as the Federal Highway System, was really more of a case of the government putting some organization on things. The funding for the highways still came from state and local governments. 

Though the US Highway System drastically improved the situation over the Auto Trails, despite some sadness about the lack of the evocative names the auto trails inspired (I am particularly fond of the superlatively named King of Trails, replaced primarily by US 75). However, the state and local funding was inconsistent throughout, and the quality of the roads showed it. Even today you can see this easily by driving US 1 from Boston to New York. In some places it's an eight lane freeway. In other places it's a meandering 2-lane road winding through picturesque main streets. While convenient to follow due to its excellent signage it is not by any means particularly efficient. 

Enter the interstate system. Eisenhower more or less willed the thing into fruition. He commissioned his pal John Pershing to make a map of the roads that the military would need in case of an attack on the homeland. Pershing delivered the thing, literally, on a 32 foot long map to Eisenhower, and Eisenhower basically said "go build it."§ As such, the original interstate plan was light on Florida (they did not think it could be easily invaded) and heavy on the coasts and the industrial heartland. There was a bill written - the Federal Highway Act of 1956. 

Over time, the Interstate System grew to cover the whole country, and now hits every state - even Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are in on the act. For while they do not have badged interstate signs, they receive funding. 

And here we come to perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the Interstate System. Funding for the interstate comes almost completely from the US Government, who has covered $114.3 of the $128 billion in funding. Funding is obtained mainly through a fuel tax, along with lesser amounts from bond issues, property taxes and a very small amount of tolls. State funding for the balance is primarily raised through fuel taxes as well, while local funding is more diverse. This was all authorized by the Federal Highway Act of 1956, which established the Highway Trust Fund to pay for it. These taxes were approved 388 to 19 in the house, and by a voice vote in the senate. No one had a problem with it.‖

So then we have the interstate we have today. The grid — numbered I-5 on the east coast to I-95 on the west coast, I-10 along the southern border and I-90 along the northern — was intentionally reversed from the original highway system to avoid confusion. Spur roads were numbered with even (returning to the trunk) or odd (a spur) third digits. For example, by looking at I-205, while driving on I-5, one knows they can take I-205, without consulting a map, and they could return to I-5. 

The benefits of the Interstate System have been enormous. In a paper on the occasion of the Interstate System's 40th anniversary, Wendall Cox and Jean Love, two policy analysts on infrastructure and government, called the Interstate System "The Best Investment A Nation Ever Made." Their studies find that it has saved the lives of 187,000 people, prevented injuries to nearly 12 million people, and had a return on investment of $6 for every $1 spent. They state "It is not an exaggeration, but a simple statement of fact, that the interstate highway system is an engine that has driven 40 years of unprecedented prosperity and positioned the United States to remain the world's pre-eminent power into the 21st century."¶ It's interesting to note Wendall Cox's background, she was Newt Gingrich's appointment to the 1999 Amtrak Reform Council which was, shall we say, not quite as glowing in its opinion of Amtrak.** 

Wendall & Love make a good albeit almost political point in their paper: 

"While it is not typically thought of in this way, the system is in reality a gift from one group of people --- highway users --- to the nation as a whole, which has reaped a gain of at least $6 in benefit for each $1 spent in construction. And that's just the beginning --- there are additional benefits such as higher employment rates and greater economic opportunity that are simply beyond quantification. Fortunately, the group of people who paid for the interstate highway system is sufficiently large that it's difference from the nation as a whole is virtually without distinction. But it is a worthy difference to keep in mind as a backdrop for public policy deliberations over future funding of highways."

And perhaps it is. The Interstate System is funded by one group of its most immediate beneficiaries: drivers. But we all benefit. Those who don't pay, by not driving, benefit. Those who do, benefit as well. And the Army, who was ostensibly the motivation for it, and quite possibly the reason for such an overwhelming congressional vote of support, benefits as well, without paying a dime. Lucky them. But benefit we all do. 

But more than that, it's just awesome. For many Americans, the Interstate System is the only way that they see the nature of America. Rolling through the Rockies or the mountains of North Carolina, kids in the back, stoping at roadside motels, has become a time-honored American tradition. 

The Downside

My friend John, upon hearing of my choice of the Interstate System as an example of government good, commented "the interstate highway system is not an example of the government doing good. It is evil in so many ways. We would be much, much better off without it." The main criticisms I've come across in my research involve the following:

The economic damage to the small towns that were bypassed by interstates that had risen, from the 20's through the 60's, along the auto trails and numbered highway system. For example, the state of missouri comments "many rural residents saw the interstates as a threat to the economic survival of Missouri’s small towns.  U.S. highways often passed directly through such towns, and many service industries sprang up to serve travelers.  The interstate system, however, usually bypassed small towns, carrying traffic away from them.  Businesses in small towns lost a significant portion of their potential customer base, leading to widespread economic decline.  In the long run, all Missourians benefited from the interstate system, but when it was built, many rural residents saw it as a disaster for their local community and a threat to their survival." Detailed studies, however, have found  that "bypasses on ordinary highways do not hurt any category of business in the long-term."††

The participation of the auto industry in the creation of the Interstate System: one of General Motors' executives was an advisor to Eisenhower. 

The encouragement of urban sprawl, reliance on automobiles and the commensurate impact on the environment this misbegotten adventure in loving our automobiles caused. This is a chicken and egg game, in my view, as this was beginning well before the 1970's when the interstate system was finally really ramping up.  

Notes:

* http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/interstate.cfm

† http://books.google.com/books?id=y3wPAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA394#v=onepage&q&f=false

‡ http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/online_documents/1919_convoy.html

§ http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/96spring/p96sp44.cfm

‖ http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/transportation/a_highway.html

¶ http://www.publicpurpose.com/freeway1.htm#safety

** http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/arc/report/app2.pdf