States at a crossroads: Q&A discussing how tech and investment can help ease traffic congestion

The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave America’s Infrastructure a “C” on its annual report card. At the same time, it graded the infrastructure for roads a “D+,” despite some improvement over the past few years, according to the 2025 Infrastructure Report Card^[1].

Deloitte’s latest 2025 Transportation Trends^[2] report calls for new solutions like increasing collaboration across states to diversify funding approaches, empowering states with more autonomy to meet local needs, and adding more flexibility in regulations.

For help unpacking some of the interconnected transportation issues and potential solutions, Florida Politics sat down with Chris Tomlinson, a managing director at Deloitte.

Tomlinson spent 24 years working for the state of Georgia, half that time as General Counsel for various state agencies, including the Georgia Technology Authority, Department of Transportation and the Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority. In 2013, he became Executive Director for the Tollway Authority and in 2019, served as the President of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association.

Florida Politics: Where do you see challenges in transportation today, and what do we still need to address when it comes to roads?

Chris Tomlinson: There are few things in life that we can all be sure of, and one of those things is rush hour traffic. The American Society of Civil Engineers^[3] recently reported that the average driver in the U.S. lost about 43 hours to traffic congestion in 2024. I’d argue that’s a lot of time wasted. Frankly, the transportation community has been taking more or less the same approach to dealing with these nagging issues not just for years, but for decades. I feel that there are more innovative ways to address some of our problems by using the right technology in the right way. One of the reasons I joined Deloitte was to help promote how technology can help further the mission of transportation agencies.

FP: For traffic issues, how do you keep the entire challenge in scale if transportation is an interconnected system?

Tomlinson: I think you’re right to frame it as an interconnected problem. The U.S. is dealing with increasing repair backlogs, safety issues and economic inefficiencies from unreliable or outdated transportation systems. If you look at the challenges from a systems view, you’ll quickly notice how many other parts of our lives are affected simply by the quality of our roads. I believe to address the issue of traffic, you have to be multimodal in your thinking and approach — and also mode agnostic. The same solution for one city or one area of a city may not be the right solution for another. Thinking this way means not playing favorites because we need all of them. We should let data and technology help us reach out to travelers to learn what options will suit them best, either from an efficiency or cost perspective.

FP: For decades now, a main source of transportation funding has come from collecting gas taxes. But there’s less tax being collected as cars become more fuel efficient. How does a state like Florida find new funding sources?

Tomlinson: It’s not just EVs and better fuel efficiency. Nonresident roadway usage also needs to factor into their budget models. At the beginning of this year, several states raised their gas tax rates. Some states are regularly adjusting gas taxes based on the consumer price index, auto-adjusting to align with inflation. While this is helpful, increasing gas taxes might not be sustainable because it impacts the cost of living. That’s where we can help agencies examine the funding picture: What can you afford? Where is money available? What are some more efficient ways to leverage limited funds or make a case for more funding? We can also provide data analytics to measure performance, as well as the engineering and technology support to design new systems that leverage solutions from the private sector.

FP: Who’s done this? Where has a municipality or state used a multi-disciplinary approach to improve transportation options?

Tomlinson: Just one example is in Virginia, where they partnered with the private sector for large-scale road projects over a decade ago. They have over 100 miles of tolled managed lanes on Interstate 66, Interstate 495, Interstate 395, Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia and Interstate 64 in Hampton Roads open to traffic. They have about 59 miles of managed lanes under development on I-64 and I-495. This all was the result of about $10 billion in private sector investment and intentional state policies to pursue and negotiate contracts that would enable these capital projects and finance them in whole or in part through tolling.

FP: Earlier in the conversation, you mentioned the need to not just use technology but to use the right technology in the right way. What do you mean by that, and why is that important?

Tomlinson: Take data analytics. It’s one thing to help people organize and visualize their data, but the real question is, “Are we providing what’s needed to truly support a more-informed decision that makes a difference? Is implementing this tech solution going to make the lives of the people you serve better, or is there another way?” And that’s driven me throughout my work in transportation.

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