Marshalling Public Support is Key to Funding Infrastructure Improvements

Released on Monday, the report by transportation experts brought together by the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, and led by former transportation secretaries Norman Y. Mineta and Samuel K. Skinner, "aims to raise public awareness about an issue that greatly affects the U.S. economy."

Based on the results of a conference held last November, "where more than 60 transportation experts-including five former U.S. transportation secretaries-strategized about effective transportation messaging," the report emphasizes the need to build a mandate from a broader public in order to get skittish policymakers to provide the necessary investments.

In recognizing this need, the report "recommends a detailed communications strategy to draw attention to the nation's transportation challenges, including messages that would be compelling to a broad audience," and addresses four key elements to building such an argument.