Group Offers Three Possible Solutions for Increasing Transportation Funding
This story appears in the Dec. 8 print edition of Transport Topics.
WASHINGTON — The Eno Center for Transportation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, outlined ways to realize long-term funding for the national transportation system in a report unveiled at the National Press Club on Dec. 3.
To reach their recommendations for transportation leaders on Capitol Hill, the group studied how other countries fund infrastructure.
Three funding solutions proposed were: adjusting spending to reflect revenues, adopting a hybrid approach that combines general funds and fuel-tax revenues or eliminating the federal Highway Trust Fund and pay for surface transportation through a bigger general government fund.
“We keep pretending that we’re going to deal with the long-term funding issue, and then we don’t. So why don’t we admit that we’re not going to do that, and say this portion is general fund revenues, this portion is user pay and move on with our lives,” said Joshua Schank, the group’s executive director. Schank was joined by transportation advocates at the event.
Bud Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said he is not anticipating that Congress will address the long-term needs of the trust fund in the near future.
“I don’t think there’s any strong likelihood that they’re going to do what I just espoused, which is dealing with revenue flowing into the Highway Trust Fund to solve the problem,” said Wright, who attended the event.
Other transportation groups reacted to Eno’s report.
“The Eno report includes good information that can inform the debate about federal support for transportation in the future,” said Sean McNally, vice president of public affairs for American Trucking Associations. “Currently, however, ATA continues to support the user-pays system as the most viable path toward a stable Highway Trust Fund and establishment of a stronger federal program that focuses on national needs.”
Patrick Jones, executive director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel, and Turnpike Association, said the report “brings another important perspective to the table in support of a more robust debate about how to fund surface transportation now and in the future.”
In recent years, lawmakers have not been able to agree on a multiyear approach to keep the trust fund solvent. Yet, after the November midterm elections, Republican transportation policy leaders have indicated they plan to reauthorize a two-year highway funding law before it expires in May. MAP-21 was set to expire last September, but Congress passed and President Obama signed into law a $10.8 billion short-term measure to keep the trust fund solvent through May 31.
The trust fund has been bankrolled by a national tax on gas and diesel fuel of 18.4 cents and 24.4 cents a gallon, respectively.
Due to improvements in automobile fuel efficiency and more people who rely on transit options, the gas tax has been an insufficient source of funding.
The fund is used by the U.S. Department of Transportation to reimburse states for costs related to large-scale projects. DOT officials note an insolvent trust fund would force the department to scale back reimbursements for projects that affect industries, such as trucking.
