Well, after a couple month’s hiatus, the interminable “infrastructure week” once again is upon us—this time via an ostensible force majeure: the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. At first glance, the tragedy—which took at least six lives—was just that . . . a tragedy. According to eyewitness reports, a tanker struggling to maintain its power supply drifted head first into the crossway straddling Baltimore Harbor, causing the steel behemoth to collapse into the water below like a house of cards in the breeze. Ongoing investigations might ultimately confirm that this was a fluke. Quite likely, though—given the state of America’s roads, bridges, and tunnels—the collapse was at least partly the result of decades of poor upkeep by the U.S. Department of Transportation (the Key Bridge is part of the interstate highway system). What exactly does this all have to do with the Evergreen, you ask? Oodles, as it turns out, though in comparative terms more than anything else. While Washington ranks well in many criteria, state-maintained infrastructure is not one of them. Per U.S. News and World Report, Washington excels in internet and energy access (though I have a few bones to pick with this characterization). But it ranks solidly in the middle when it comes to transportation. And that is saying a lot given the sad nationwide state of this more traditional (read: actual) form of infrastructure. (Despite what President Biden says, no, not everything is infrastructure.) More on our state in a moment.
Baltimore’s bridge collapse illustrates in the starkest terms since at least the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment last year the grave dangers the public faces when government fails in its most basic functions. And yes, ensuring the safety and integrity of public roads and other channels is a core governmental function. While the libertarian in me is inclined towards privatization whenever and wherever feasible, provided government continues monopolizing transportation it should also continue to own its failures—both systemic and sudden—as much as officials herald successes. Recall that when the Exxon Valdez slammed into an Alaska shoreline in 1989, captain error was only part of the equation. Another major cause, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, was the federal government’s ill-preparedness for incidents of that caliber. The same thing can be said of this incident—although, again, we reserve our full judgment to the results of any and all official investigations.
Nearly every story of “infrastructural calamity”—for lack of a better term—involves some degree of governmental failure. Other recent incidents—in East Palestine, on several commercial Boeing aircraft, and outside Philadelphia, where a portion of I-95 collapsed last year—illustrate that the Key Bridge collapse was not a one-off, but can all be traced, at least in part, to official incompetence. The failures are simply too systemic to be mere bad fortune—though I hesitate to call it malfeasance, conscious of philosopher Robert J. Hanlon’s caution to “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
Akin to Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s underwhelming federal helmsmanship, for over a decade now Governor Jay Inslee’s administration likewise has had a far-less-than-stellar infrastructure record. Exhibit A is the almost weekly catastrophes now befalling our ferry system—one which transports a greater percentage of Washington’s commuters than any other state’s equivalent. Per the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Washington’s ferries registered 30.5 million passenger trips in 2019—polling second in the nation (after New York) despite ranking 13th in total population. In recent years, these passengers have endured staffing shortages, mass cancellations, consistent delays, and a number of near-lethal incidents traceable to these former factors, which themselves are attributable to Governor Inslee’s terrible decision to hamper the ferry-restoration-and-requisition process with an unrealistic hybrid-electric quota. Firing hundreds of ferry work for refusing Covid vaccines certainly hasn’t helped, either.
The policy has greatly hampered the replacement of dilapidated vessels, which constitute an ever-growing proportion of the total fleet. To the point that “[a]ny failure on a single vessel cascades into cancellations across the network, further plummeting confidence in the system and stranding riders who sometimes have no choice but to ride to get to work, school, or even critical doctor’s visits.” Besides the likely vast economic costs flowing from the slow-motion collapse of Washington State Ferries (“WSF”)—the responsible state agency—sooner or later these failures will produce fatalities. Inflicted with a particularly bad case of “senioritis,” Governor Inslee has all but ignored the crisis, content instead to ride his “by-the-skin-of-our-teeth” approach to the finish line next January. To wit, Inslee fairly characteristically shifted blame to lawmakers, publishing a letter that is a masterclass in blame-deflection. We doubt highly that Inslee will heed the Seattle Times’s recent metaphor-laden exhortation that he “has one year left in his term to right the ship before cementing a legacy as the governor who sailed the system into decrepitude.”
The dire consequences of Governor Inslee’s cavalier attitude can be seen elsewhere, as well. Anyone who has had to fly out of SeaTac International Airport in recent years can well-attest to the unpredictable buildup of security-line queues and other capacity-related issues. Indeed, SeaTac now has the sixth longest wait times among American airports. Of course, some of this is attributable to the federal Transportation Security Administration’s ineptitude, but state authorities still do play a role. To wit, Governor Inslee—though long aware of the problems facing SeaTac and the likely need for an additional major airport in Western Washington—last year vetoed portions of HB 1791—specifically those sections which would have funded a study into the feasibility of several potential sites. A move that the state’s Commercial Coordinating Commission acknowledged “definitely delays the process, there is no question.”
Finally, the state’s highways are not doing well either. Granted, its problems pale in comparison to those facing our ferries or SeaTac. Per the Federal Highway Administration, nearly one-fifth of Washington’s roads are in poor condition, with only 40% in good condition. According to the transportation analysts at Construction Coverage, Washington has the 10th worst roads in the country. Us Washingtonians deserve far better from our elected officials and appointed civil servants. For over a decade now—if not longer—Olympia (and especially the executive branch) has faltered, fantastically, in delivering quality transportation to the people of the Evergreen. It is by the grace of God (or Allah, or Yahweh, or Buddha, or even the Flying Spaghetti Monster, for those so inclined) that we have not yet experienced a disaster on par with this week’s bridge collapse in Baltimore. But time is running out.
The longer we have to wait for a course-correction in transportation policies, the more ominously will catastrophe loom. We are desperately in need of policies that prize environmental health but not to the counterproductive point of unduly compromising service quality on our ferries, in our airports, and on our roadways. We likely will not get it during Governor Inslee’s swan song. But let’s hope that the next administration steers things in the right direction, so that Washington does not host the next case-study in infrastructural failure.
Alki and Safe Travels,
Sam Spiegelman