Foxx: It May be Time to Examine 'One State at a Time' Freight System

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx hinted that the nation’s federal surface transportation program could be one area of focus for the Department of Transportation as he works to develop a 30-year outlook on the state of transportation in the U.S.

In an interview with Politico, Foxx said too much emphasis is placed on short-term fixes for the Highway Trust Fund, and not enough is paid to policy and how those funds are spent.

A prime example, Foxx suggested, is the system that has been in place since the 1950s in which individual states are compensated for the costs of projects by the Highway Trust Fund.

”The history of our interstate system has been very state-focused,” Foxx told Politico. “As we look at a future where we’re going to have to double our freight capacity, how do you create a freight system that’s integrated across the country when you have 50 different freight systems that are built one state at a time?”