When it comes to transportation, it's personal. Whether we realize it or not, transportation affects the lives of each of us. It's much more than driving or using public transit. It's about your child's soccer shoes ordered online with the expectation of delivery, or the groceries you need to grab on the way home. It's the connections that keep businesses up and running. Transportation not only moves us, it makes the movement of goods and services possible.
It's our connection to work, safety and economic growth.
MoDOT Director Kevin Keith presented the personal side of transportation today at the 2011 Missouri Conference on Transportation. Missouri organizations like the Farm Bureau, State Highway Patrol, Transportation Alliance and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry gathered to discuss meeting the demands of a diverse population, ensuring economic growth and global competitiveness.
Keith pointed out that it really comes down to two choices. Door number one opens to the choice of doing nothing - Missourians lose the transportation gains we've made, such as smooth roads and fewer fatalities than seen in the last 50 years. We watch roads and bridges get worse, and find ourselves with the inability to attract and retain vital businesses.
Or, there's door number two. That door opens to finding a way to invest in infrastructure -- building better roads, and providing literal and figurative bridges to improve our economy.
It's a challenge in today's political and economical environment, but a plan of action is needed.
Which door will you choose?
