Should Fuel Taxes Pay For Alternative Transportation?

Planetizen has teamed up with <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/">National Journal</a>, a weekly politics and policy magazine, to explore transportation issues. As part of National Journal's <a href="http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/">Transportation Experts blog</a>, we've asked Planetizen Interchange bloggers and National Journal's Transportation Experts whether money from the Highway Trust Fund should be used for non-highway projects like bike lanes and pedestrian walkways.

May 4, 2009, 9am PDT | Planetizen

We've posed the following question to Planetizen's Interchange bloggers and National Journal's Transportation Experts.

Transportation sources contribute 30 percent of U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases, and road congestion is a large and growing problem in many urban areas. Yet the Highway Trust Fund is facing a severe cash crunch, and state transportation departments are worried that there won't be enough money for highways and mass transit. Should the next surface transportation bill allow states and municipalities to use a greater share of scarce Trust Fund dollars on non-highway projects such as bike lanes and pedestrian walkways?

Interchange bloggers and National Journal's Transportation Experts have answered. Read their responses.