'Costs Continue To Rise': Alsobrooks Presses Secretary Duffy About Inflation Affecting Construction

2 days ago

During Wednesday's Senate Environment Committee hearing, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) questioned Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy about how the Department of Transportation will combat inflation regarding the price of materials.

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Transcript

00:00Senator Alsop Brooks. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Secretary Duffy, good to see

00:05you again. You as well, Senator. And enjoyed the conversation yesterday. You know, during

00:11our discussion we talked about our time as county executives, and so you know

00:15that federal transportation programs really are so integral to the success of

00:20our state's projects like road maintenance, bridge repairs, safety

00:24projects, and so I am looking forward to working with you and working with this

00:29committee to craft bipartisan surface transportation reauthorization

00:35bill, but I'm also wanting to ask you just about three questions. One is

00:39regarding construction costs for infrastructure that we know, particularly

00:44highway construction, have increased significantly. And the Federal Highway

00:48Administration's National Highway Construction Cost Index, which measures

00:52the rate of inflation in labor and material costs, increased, we know, 59

00:57percent since 2021, 36 percent between 22 and the first half of 23, and these

01:04costs continue to rise. And so we know that they really, that this will impact

01:08how much infrastructure we can build with allocated funds. So the question is

01:13how will the administration plan to ensure that transportation funding keeps

01:18pace with inflation, so that projects in states like Maryland aren't delayed and

01:23are not downsized?

01:25Senator, I think that's a great question and I appreciated our

01:27conversation yesterday, two former prosecutors, and I appreciate the good

01:32work you've done and all the roles you've had in your public service. But

01:37you're right, we have to do our work in the department to get these projects out

01:43the door, get grant agreements signed, and get new notice of funding

01:47opportunities done as well. So again, we can have a massive infrastructure build

01:52in this country, and the sooner we do it, I think, to your point, the more

01:58cost-effective it'll be, because we get today's costs when we do projects,

02:05not tomorrow's costs if they're delayed. I think also an important part of it is

02:08not just the work that we have to do. I do believe that the Congress has to do

02:13its work on permitting reform, because that is taking a very long time, and

02:18it's not the work that you've done or the department's

02:21done, it's that the process to go through to begin these projects takes so

02:25long, and if they're delayed five, six, ten years, the cost of completion is

02:30significant. And also part of that, we can reduce the cost of the consultants and

02:36the permitting, which means more money will be there for the road or the bridge

02:39or whatever, the rail that we're working on. Okay, and also just, I know

02:44there's been a lot of conversation today about bridges. Maryland happens to also

02:48be very concerned about a bridge, in particular the Francis Scott Key Bridge

02:52that collapsed after being hit by a vessel in 2024, and the collapse

02:58highlighted some vulnerabilities that we have in our Nation's bridge

03:02infrastructure, and particularly around bridges that were not designed to

03:07withstand these modern vessel strikes. And so in response to the tragedy in

03:11Maryland, the National Transportation Safety Board conducted an investigation

03:15and issued a preliminary report, which highlighted other high-risk bridges

03:20that are across the country. So the question is whether you will commit to

03:23expeditiously adopting the recommendations that the NTSB outlined

03:28in that preliminary report. I would note I've worked very closely with

03:33the NTSB and their chair, Jennifer. Hamidi has done an excellent job and has

03:39partnered with us very well. I want to take a look at the recommendations, and

03:43again, to implement recommendations on the number of bridges that she

03:48highlighted would indicate a significant amount of money that comes in this

03:52upcoming bill. Again, the resources have to be provided, and you all have to have

03:57the discussion if that's a priority for the Congress. But I'm happy to

04:02engage, and we should have a broader conversation together about what that

04:06priority list looks like. So again, the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the lives

04:13that were lost there, tragic, and we want to make sure that doesn't happen again.

04:16Okay, and just a final question. I know we talked also about transit, and on

04:21average the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, WMATA,

04:25carries over 800,000 passengers daily across rail and bus systems, very

04:30important to the D.C. area and metropolitan area, including Maryland. And

04:36so I want to ask you whether you will, the funding stream has been so

04:40important to us, and I know that the lack of predictable funding really does

04:45harm the safety of passengers. I know we talked a lot about safety on those

04:51transits. So as Secretary, will you work with Congress in supporting long-term

04:55predictable funding streams for transit systems like WMATA and MTA?

05:00I'm happy to have that conversation. I do think that, again, everyone driving in a

05:07car may be challenging if you're coming into a, you know, in Washington, D.C. or

05:10to New York City, and so transit's an important part of it. But we should

05:14expect that if we want people to ride our trains, our trains should be safe.

05:17They should not be subject to violence on our subways or our

05:22trains, and I think that's local communities, and I think the mayor has

05:26been making good efforts in D.C. here, but we have to take steps to make sure

05:30people are safe. And also, I think we have to look at the cost. In New York, I

05:37believe it's the next most expensive place to build subways is

05:43London, and New York is five times more expensive than London. So we got to get

05:48our costs under control as well, because we don't have an unlimited amount

05:52of money. We don't have a money printing machine, though some people might think

05:55that the Congress is a money printing machine. It's not. And so let's use the

05:59money well and make investments that go further for the taxpayer and the

06:02American people, and make sure that they're safe. And I would work with you

06:05on that and figure out how we make those goals a reality.

06:09Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Blunt.

'Costs Continue To Rise': Alsobrooks Presses Secretary Duffy About Inflation Affecting Construction

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