1) The state’s population will increase by one million over the next 15 years. These one million new residents who will generate an additional 4 million trips per day.

2) Transportation investments create jobs and economic development. For the first time in 30 years, Minnesota’s unemployment rate rose above the national average in 2007. The lack of investment in transportation is hurting opportunity and prosperity for Minnesotans around the state. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, the Itasca Group and the Farmer’s Union have all declared transportation infrastructure and services to be a priority issue for the continued prosperity of Minnesota.

3) Over 2/3 of all highway fatalities occur on rural, two-lane highways with narrow shoulders, steep ditches and no room for mistakes.

4) Minnesota has a backlog of highway projects that falls further behind each year. The state estimates that trunk highways are short $1 billion per year for the next 20 years, while county highways, city streets and local transit systems are also underfunded for a total need of $1.8 billion per year. It will cost around $1 billion to replace the deficient bridges on the local road system and over $1 billion to meet the bridge needs identified on the trunk highway system. Minnesota has over 1800 structurally deficient bridges.

5) The amount of money being spent by local governments on roads and bridges has increased 100% in the last 20 years, while the population has only increased by 25%. We drive more and put far more demand on our infrastructure. Inadequate state funding, local governments have to turn to local property tax payers to maintain local streets and highways.

6) Minnesota’s state gas tax – which can only be spent on roads and bridges - has not been adjusted in 20 years. The gas tax is a user tax, designed so that road users contribute based on their share of use. The 20 year old rate no longer reflects the real and increased cost of maintenance and construction.

7) Over $50 million in State funds designated for highways was actually spent on interest payments for bonds in 2007. Before the year 2000, highway funds were almost never used for interest payments. A “pay as you go” funding system is better than borrowing money and having our children pay the bill later.

8) This problem is not going away – it’s only growing more expensive. If we don’t act now, the cost to fix our roads and bridges will be much more expensive in the future. Construction inflation has been running significantly higher than the consumer price index since 2003.

9) The state has a plan for improving the transportation system by removing bottlenecks, expanding key highways, replacing worn out bridges and building a network of transitways. MnDOT and the Metropolitan Council have detailed long-range plans, but we don’t have the funding to make those plans a reality.

10) The people of Minnesota want action now to make the transportation system safer and more effective. Polls show that people understand the importance of the transportation system they rely on every day and they support increased funding to fix our transportation problems.