TRIP TALK

By: Will Wilkins

In addition to its ongoing national program, one of The Road Information Program's (TRIP) most important functions is to work with state highway-contractor chapters and/or industry coalitions to craft tailor-made research reports and communications programs that help educate the public about road and bridge funding issues in their state.

TRIP's activities vary according to the needs of a particular state group and usually start with consultations to help define the type of message the TRIP's research report will deliver. TRIP's most traditional reports focus on road and bridge conditions and highway-funding issues in the state by highlighting a newsworthy aspect of that state's road and bridge network.

One of TRIP's more unique programs took place in California in March. TRIP worked on behalf of several California highway industry groups to research and release a report titled Bridge Seismic Retrofitting's Impact on California's Transportation Funding Crisis. The report was designed to educate the public about the impact on California's transportation system if a ballot measure calling for $2 billion in bonds to pay for the seismic retrofitting of the Golden State's bridges failed. Failure to pass the measure would have meant that the cost of financing the mandated retrofitting program would have come from the state's transportation-improvement program.

The report detailed the significant shortfall in the state-highway account and demonstrated how paying the seismic-retrofit bill out of that account would undermine the state's transportation-improvement program. The report showed that approximately $600 million worth of projects in California faced cancellation and another $4.6 billion faced delays of up to five years if the seismic-retrofit measure failed.

Opponents tried to defeat the measure by claiming it essentially was a "hoax." TRIP's report provided data that verified the state's highway-funding crisis and helped counteract the efforts of these opponents.

The TRIP report was based on data from sources that included the California Transportation Commission, the FHWA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The report was released in major media markets in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego, resulting in a statewide article by the Associate Press and radio and/or TV coverage in every market.

In March, California voters passed the retrofitting measure after it failed to pass the previous year. We like to think TRIP's role helped the public make a wise and informed choice.

Wilkins is the executive director of The Road Information Program. You may write him in care of the editor.