PHILADELPHIA—Sixty percent of the U.S. public support higher federal spending on infrastructure, up from 48 percent last year, according to a new national poll released Oct. 20 by the American Trucking Associations.
The new poll, conducted Aug. 30-Sept. 1 by Public Opinion Strategies for the ATA, also showed 63 percent of Americans believe U.S. roads and bridges are not being properly maintained.
“This poll tells the American people now believe what we've been saying for some time: our roads and bridges are in need of repair, and we need to raise revenue to do it,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said in a news release.
Infrastructure is second only to education, by a 64-60 margin, as the area in which Americans think more investment should be made, the ATA poll demonstrated.
Forty percent of those polled said infrastructure should be a top priority for federal spending, and 53 percent said they thought taxes must be raised to raise funds for infrastructure.
Respondents to the poll reluctantly chose an increase in fuel taxes to fund infrastructure over raising income taxes and interstate tolls or creating new registration fees.
The current funding mechanism for surface transportation ends Oct. 29. The House is scheduled to vote on a six-year, $325 billion infrastructure bill Oct. 22.