Foxx Starts Highway Trust Fund Ticker
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said his department started posting a Highway Trust Fund Ticker on Jan. 15 that will tell all Americans monthly how much money is left in the reservoir that funds many U.S. road and bridge projects.
The fund — which is stocked, in part, with diesel and gasoline taxes — ended 2013 with about $8.5 billion. Foxx told members of the Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington, D.C., that the fund “will start bouncing checks as soon as August” if a new plan is not put in place.
While the two-year MAP-21 highway plan ends Sept. 30, Congress already has started work on a new bill. In the past, though, road-funding laws have often been extended with stop-gap funding.
Foxx said the nation has substantial infrastructure needs such as “100,000 bridges old enough for Medicare.”
While he said transportation funding should be increased, he mentioned no specific recommendations in his speech.
“President Obama has put forward an idea to fund transportation with the proceeds from corporate tax reform, and it’s a good idea because it could secure a source of funding for multiple years,” Foxx said.
He also said Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) has proposed higher diesel and gasoline taxes and that committee chairmen in the House and Senate are working on this issue.
