There is a light at the end of the long tunnel that has engulfed our economy. Let’s hope it’s the light of recovery.
But that light will certainly trigger anxiety, if not outright panic, among ports as they ponder how to build now with the financial resources they have now for possible growth later. (Aside from the accommodation of growth, existing facilities still must be maintained and rehabilitated, less glamorous but true.)
Throw in the much-discussed, much-heralded future impact of the expanded Panama Canal and you have a feeding frenzy for federal funds.
Couple that with the fact revenues generated from port activities will simply fall short, that most states are in worse financial predicaments than ports, (so state avenues for funding must become more creative or, more likely, will be less reliable), and that local taxpayers are less likely to want to bear the impact of port development, and you have a big gap in funding.
This is just for shoreside infrastructure. Throw in a dredging project, and the financial struggles become even more difficult.
The funding quagmire goes beyond shoreside infrastructure and dredging, touching operations as well, especially security, as technology progresses but does not get cheaper.
Interesting system; not exactly broken, but certainly struggling. Do airports have these money problems?