California Association of Port Authorities President and Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan is urging state officials to help ease congestion along the supply chain.
“The current congestion that we see today is a result of decades of underinvestment in our ports and supply chain,” Wan said during the Nov. 3 California Legislature’s Select Committee on Ports and Good Movement meeting. “Notably there is an 11-to-1 imbalance in federal transportation and waterside spending on other port complexes around the country compared to those in our state.”
Wan said stakeholders must come together to find solutions to the bottlenecks, whether it’s dedicating space to store containers or creating a supply chain investment fund.
Business and jobs may migrate to other states if action is not taken, Wan said. In California, trade at CAPA member ports account for more than a million jobs in the state and three million jobs in the U.S., according to the Association of Port Authorities. About $9 billion in annual tax revenue stems from California port activity, CAPA added.
“The global congestion caused by our broken supply chain requires public policy changes that can be addressed by our state leaders,” Wan said.
