华盛顿特区 (CNN) 交通专家表示，经过数十年关于基础设施故障的讨论，该国终于在 2021 年朝着修复它迈出了重要一步。
这一年可能会因为对基础设施的空前投资而被铭记，其中包括高速公路、桥梁、机场、隧道和火车。专家表示，拜登总统去年 11 月签署了价值 1.2 万亿美元的两党基础设施一揽子计划，这在地方和国家层面引发了新的兴奋。
“我们这些在基础设施领域工作了 40 年的人从来没有看到过全面的投资水平，”美国公共交通协会首席执行官 Paul Skoutelas 告诉 CNN Business。
大部分资金将用于修复和维护基础设施，而不是建造新事物。各州将在如何花钱方面有回旋余地。
美国土木工程师协会于 3 月发布了一份关于美国基础设施的成绩单。它给该国的评级为 C-，并表示存在 2.59 万亿美元的投资缺口。自 1998 年推出成绩单以来，美国从未获得过比 C- 更高的分数。
该协会负责政府关系和基础设施的常务董事 Emily Feenstra 告诉美国有线电视新闻网商业，将在五年内分摊的 1.2 万亿美元一揽子计划将是“一剂强心剂”，但它并不能解决所有问题。
大都会规划组织区域规划协会的首席执行官汤姆赖特告诉美国有线电视新闻网商业，历史学家可能会将 2021 年与 1950 年代艾森豪威尔总统领导下的州际公路的历史性投资进行比较，因为它对我们的旅行方式留下了持久的印记。
赖特认为，美国正处于一个关键时刻，就像 1950 年代一样，当时在如何发展国家方面出现了新的想法。 1950 年代的重点是高速公路、以汽车为中心的生活以及城市边缘的郊区住宅。赖特说，在过去的 10 年里，人们关注的是更密集的生活，而不是总是依赖汽车，包括在城市的中心。
“潜在的上升空间是巨大的，”赖特说。 “但陷阱也非常真实。”
他说，存在机会被浪费的风险。官僚作风和繁文缛节可能会减慢项目速度，并使项目成本过高。几十年前看起来不错的项目，但现在可能不再是，可以得到资助。另一个风险是，如果项目开发得不够快，国会可能会收回一些资金，而这笔资金的全部潜力将无法实现。
随着人们在持续的大流行期间改变他们的行为，领导者们正在努力解决如何做的投资。远程工作和电子商务变得越来越普遍。道路和高速公路上的交通基本恢复，但公共交通的客流量继续减少。 Skoutelas 说，全国乘客量在今年 9 月大流行之前恢复到了大约 63%，但此后又回落到了大约 50%。由于乘客支付机票的收入减少，许多机构已经削减了服务。
专家表示，2022 年会发生什么仍不清楚，尤其是随着 Omicron 变体的传播。美国人将开始看到基础设施投资的一些影响，但大多数不会在 2022 年浮出水面，因为需要开发项目。
基础设施建设的一年也可能被视为气候变化的转折点。一些投资将专注于减缓气候变化，包括电动汽车充电。
城市咨询公司 CityFi 的合伙人加布克莱因说：“这是在拜登之外创造真正转变的首付款。” “它向市场发出信号，化石燃料已成为过去。未来，不仅从拯救地球的角度，而且从商业的角度来看，都是电动的。”
2021: When infrastructure got its due
Washington, DC (CNN)Following decades of talk about failing infrastructure, the country finally took a major step toward repairing it in 2021, transportation experts say.
The year will likely be remembered in part for the unprecedented investment in infrastructure, including highways, bridges, airports, tunnels and trains. President Biden's signing of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package in November sparked fresh excitement both locally and at a national level, the experts say.
"Those of us who have been in infrastructure for 40 years have never quite seen the level of investment across the board," Paul Skoutelas, CEO of the American Public Transportation Association told CNN Business.
Much of the funding will go to repairing and maintaining infrastructure rather than building new things. States will have wiggle room on how to spend what they receive.
The American Society of Civil Engineers published a report card in March on US infrastructure. It gave the country a grade of C- and said there was a $2.59 trillion investment gap. The United States has never received a higher mark than C- since the report card launched in 1998.
Emily Feenstra, the association's managing director of government relations and infrastructure, told CNN Business that the $1.2 trillion package, to be spread out over five years, would be a "big shot in the arm," but it would not solve every problem.
Tom Wright, CEO of the Regional Plan Association, a metropolitan planning organization, told CNN Business that historians may compare 2021 to the historic investment in Interstate highways under President Eisenhower in the 1950s, in terms of leaving a lasting mark on how we travel.
Wright believes the United States is at a pivotal moment, like the 1950s, when new ideas played out in terms of how to develop the country. The 1950s brought a focus on highways, car-centered life, and suburban homes on the fringe of cities. In the last 10 years, Wright said, there's been a focus on denser living and not always depending on a car, including in the hearts of cities.
"The potential upside is enormous," Wright said. "But the pitfalls are also very real."
He said there are risks that the opportunity could be squandered. Bureaucracy and red tape could slow projects and make them exorbitantly expensive. Projects that seemed like good ideas decades ago, but no longer may be, could be funded. Another risk is that if projects aren't developed fast enough, Congress might take back some funding, and the money's full potential will go unrealized.
The investments came as leaders grapple with what to do as people change their behavior during the on-going pandemic. Remote work has become more common as well as ecommerce. Traffic on roads and highways is largely back, but public transportation continues to see reduced ridership. National ridership returned to about 63% of before the pandemic this September, but has since retreated to about 50%, Skoutelas said. Many agencies have cut service amid decreased revenue from what passengers pay for tickets.
What will happen in 2022 remains unclear, especially with the spread of the Omicron variant, the experts said. Americans will start to see some impacts of the infrastructure investments, but most won't surface in 2022 as projects need to be developed.
The year in infrastructure also may be seen as a turning point on climate change. Some investments will be focused on mitigating climate change, including electric vehicle charging.
"This is a down payment on creating a real shift beyond Biden," said Gabe Klein, a partner at the urban consulting firm CityFi. "It signals to the market that fossil fuels are in the past. The future, not just from the standpoint of saving the planet, but a business standpoint, is electric."
