As if gridlocked traffic, dwindling bus routes and crumbling bridges weren't clue enough, there is no shortage of warnings for state residents about the dire situation of Pennsylvania's roads, bridges and transit systems, which stand in need of $3.5 billion.

On July 22, Gov. Ed Rendell told the state Senate Transportation Committee to "work every day this summer" in order to address Pennsylvania's crisis in transportation funding.

Two weeks earlier the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials released a study, "Unlocking Freight," which discussed the dramatic rise of truck traffic on the nation's highways.

In addition, the American Society of Civil Engineers released the 2010 Report Card for Pennsylvania's Infrastructure in late May. The report assigned both roads and transit a grade of D minus, mostly because they are radically underfunded. Bridges squeaked by with a C.

But do residents truly understand what's at stake if our Legislature fails to find solutions to fill that $3.5 billion gap?

One consequence is draconian cuts in public transit, starting this January. Port Authority of Allegheny County CEO Steve Bland has said that if the Legislature doesn't find $47 million in funding, Pittsburgh area residents can expect service reductions of up to 20 percent, 400 workers laid off and dramatically higher fares.

Then there are the roads and bridges that will continue to deteriorate instead of being repaired or replaced due to a shortage of funding. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation states that in Allegheny County alone, Interstate 279 needs to be resurfaced from the Fort Duquesne Bridge to Camp Horne Road, a stretch that also includes several bridges and affects an average of 52,000 cars daily. The Neville Island Bridge, affecting 46,000 vehicles daily, won't be repaired at this time. Neither will the Babcock Boulevard Bridge in Ross, which carries an average daily load of 42,500 cars -- and the list goes on.

In surrounding counties, there's Butler County's Overbrook Bridge, affecting 23,000 vehicles a day, slated for replacement, and in Westmoreland County, the bridge on I-70 that crosses State Route 8034, affecting 33,000 cars a day, and all the scores of bridges, highways and signal improvements in Beaver, Armstrong, Washington and other southwestern Pennsylvania counties that will have to make do although they're overdue for repairs.

As drivers, we know the inconvenience of gridlock, delays and closed bridges, and if we're public transit riders, the frustration of having our route eliminated. In addition, we pay higher repair bills as a result of poor roads and more money on gas because of traffic, and we have to replace our cars more often because of the cumulative wear and tear of that extra time on the road.

But as civil engineers, we also know the huge economic impact of allowing the state's transportation infrastructure to crumble. Businesses that choose to relocate elsewhere due to insufficient freight capacity; industries that look to create jobs elsewhere because trucking delays cut into their bottom line; and new residents who pick another state to live in because the public transit is more reliable and convenient.

Funding transportation isn't so much an expense as it is an investment in the future of our businesses and communities -- an investment we've failed for decades to make, thinking of transportation infrastructure as something done once and checked off a list, rather than as an ongoing project.

None of the many possible solutions to the funding crisis is pleasant. The solutions include raising gasoline taxes, increasing vehicle registration and license fees and enacting tolls on interstates. And, with midterm elections this year, many politicians will try to avoid taking a stand on these potentially unpopular issues as long as possible.

But Pennsylvanians can't afford to stay silent on this issue, nor can they afford to let their representatives stay silent.

Whatever you may think of the failed proposal to toll I-80 or about inefficiencies in the delivery of projects, those arguments will do nothing to plug the $3.5 billion hole that's opened up under our roads, bridges and transit systems, unless they are part of a comprehensive solution.

To borrow an expression from the environmentalists, if we continue to ignore our transportation infrastructure, we can bet the future of our state that it will go away.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers does "Rob's Rough," an early look at his work and his creative process, exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.