Brian, you’re absolutely right that we can’t just rebuild what we have using the same means & methods we’ve been using. If those means & methods were capable of supporting our current needs, we wouldn’t have such a massive existing unmet need for investment in infrastructure. And technologies that are incapable of supporting current needs absolutely cannot support the emergent needs for the next generation of humanity, society, mobility, and economy.

I’m glad to see your statement about integrated sensors, advanced materials, and other transformative capabilities for roads that both generate and supply power to EVs. We are definitely on the same page.

Most people don’t grasp just how fundamental infrastructure is to our economy. Here in Missouri, the Department of Transportation has lost $750m in funding over the last few years. But that doesn’t represent a loss of $750m, because transportation funding has a 15x economic impact.

So when MoDOT lost $750m, Missouri lost $11.25b in annual economic impact. For an economy of $250b / yr, losing $11.25b / yr is a 4.5% loss. An annualized 4.5% loss in GDP is basically the difference between the states that have recovered from ’08 and those that haven’t.

Unlike a power switch, roads aren’t just on-or-off, so while we understand that a widespread loss of power would cause the economy to come to an immediate stop, we often fail to perceive how a gradual reduction in the level-of-service for roads (and other infrastructure) has knock-on reductions in productivity and prosperity across the entire economy.

Reductions in funding for transportation infrastructure have enormous, but often unrecognized, economic impacts. If we want a robust economy, the first place to start is with improvements in infrastructure.