Rethinking 21st Century needs – Newsday

U.S. infrastructure is crumbling under its own lack of innovation.

While the country scrambles to figure out how to fund infrastructure projects, the root of the problem lies in the lack of change over the past century. Almost all of the countrys main infrastructure was designed between 1920 and 1960. The Babylon Long Island Rail Road line, which saw the most passengers in 2016, was completed in 1867. The Queens-Midtown Tunnel was completed in 1940. Even the Long Island Expressway is nearing its 60th anniversary.

Our subways, highways, sewer systems, power lines, airports and rail cars were never meant to handle the load they do now, even with the patchwork interfaces placed over the services.

By 2025, our failing infrastructure is estimated to cost the country 25 million jobs, $4 trillion in GDP, and almost $3,500 in personal disposable income per year, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Ideally, ASCE would like federal and state governments to work together to spend roughly $3.6 trillion to fix the countrys ailing infrastructure by 2020. But, the ideal goals are just that ideal. That $3.6 trillion isnt something to be thrown around. The United States cannot escape from the money and space constraints on its infrastructure.

Some groups in the United States are turning to the idea of the public-private partnerships to fix the funding issue. P3s allow for private groups to fund, build, and operate construction projects. Public money would then be used to provide a constant revenue stream for the contracts lifetime.

New York State, which unveiled a $100 billion plan to repair state infrastructure, is spending $4 billion to renovate LaGuardia Airport and $10 billion to redesign Kennedy Airport. Both projects are using the P3 model to accelerate the planning and building phases.

However, the P3 model doesnt necessarily mean progress. Private companies, which are only going to go as far as the government asks them to, do not necessarily have any added incentive to add revolutionary technology to their projects. P3s will rapidly fix current-day issues, but nothing more.

President Donald Trump has promised his version of a P3 investment in infrastructure in the first 100 days of his presidency. Trump had promised a $1 trillion plan that would touch on almost all of the countrys main infrastructure needs.

The idea of replacing and innovating all of the countrys infrastructure is far-fetched, but the presidents commitment to the issue is the right first step.

Innovation comes from necessity, and our infrastructure is at that point. Whether it be through private or government investment, the first dollar should be spent on pushing boundaries to better prepare for the future. And while innovation is happening in scattered instances across the country, we need to move forward on a much larger scale.

Countries like Dubai are doing it. Dubais international airport will begin using drone taxis in July as part of its continued effort to reduce congestion on the highways in the city. The drones will take a single passenger anywhere within 30 miles of the airport and are completely electric.

China has begun using automated buses to increase efficiency in public transportation. Its automated full-size buses have successfully traveled at 40 mph and have merged with traffic without any issues over the last two years.

French Polynesia is taking infrastructure to the ocean with their Seasteading Project. Dubbed the Floating Island Project, French Polynesia and Californias Seasteading Institute have partnered to construct a self-sustaining island off their coast by 2020 as a pilot to demonstrate the ability to create floating cities.

In the United States, utilities like Washington D.C.s Water Department are turning biowaste into fuel at their wastewater treatment sites, which not only provides power for the station, but also acts as a filter for water entering the water table.

Innovation is difficult. It takes time and money. However, if the country is going to embrace the challenges of the 21st century, future needs, not patchwork problem solving, should be at the forefront.

Jager Robinson is an intern with Newsday Opinion.

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Rethinking 21st Century needs - Newsday