Highway Trust Fund
Gasoline consumption continued to increase for the first six months of the year, as it has for the last years, reports the Federal Highway Administration. What's different this year is that it was by the largest amount, ever.
U.S. Department Of Transportation
Transportation ballot measures are popular this November: over 70 populate ballots across the country. In California and elsewhere, they supplement declining federal and state funds for local infrastructure.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
The U.S. Department of Transportation is funding ways to transition from the gas tax to other user-based revenue mechanisms to fund transportation infrastructure. The federal gas tax hasn't keep pace with transportation expenditures since 2008.
U.S. D.O.T. Press Release
The Grand Old Party platform calls for an end to using gas taxes for public transit as well as other non-road purposes like "bike-sharing," opposes increases to the 23-year-old gas tax, and would eliminate the U.S. DOT Livability Initiative.
Progressive Railroading
$15 million in a U.S. Department of Transportation grant program is now available for states to implement pilot projects based on a "user-based alternative revenue mechanism," aka vehicle-miles-traveled fee.
Planetizen
Federal transportation leaders recognize that sustainable transportation funding options are needed to meet America's infrastructure needs. At AASHTO's Annual Washington Briefing, different funding strategies were proposed by key Congress members.
AASHTO Journal
Through the lens of Henry Petroski's new book, Tom Vanderbilt discusses why infrastructure, as we have come to define it, is such a fraught topic in American life.
The New Republic
With the two Democrat candidates debating who is the real progressive, it would be interesting to see how they would respond, if asked, about President Obama's proposed $10-per-barrel fee to fund a 21st Century Clean Transportation System.
The New York Times
President Obama, long opposed to increasing the gas tax, has proposed a $10-per-barrel oil fee to be paid by energy companies. It will fund his 21st Century Clean Transportation System to reduce carbon emissions and promote new vehicle technology.
Politico
The five-year transportation reauthorization known as the FAST Act relies on $70 billion of one-time, non-user fees to fund the $302 billion bill. The act also allows the government to fund the development of sustainable funding options by states.
The Hill
The passage of the five-year FAST Act, the first long-term transportation bill since 2005, solidifies the trend that has been in place since 2008, when General Fund transfers to the Highway Trust Fund first began. Such transfers are now the new norm.
the transport politic
With transportation taxing and spending authority set to expire on Friday night, President Obama used an auto-pen to sign the extension on a plane to Malaysia. Both chambers must agree to the bill that emerges from the conference committee by Dec. 4.
AASHTO Journal
A three-week extension of federal transportation spending and three-year extension for railroads to install positive train control was signed on Oct. 29, the date the current highway extension expired.
Transport Topics
The current patch bill funding highway and transit spending expires on Oct. 29. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has released a multi-year bill called the Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform Act of 2015 (STRR Act).
The Hill
Surprise! A three-month transportation funding bill turns out to have funds for nine months! While unanticipated funds certainly sound like good news, it also takes immediate pressure off the House to working on a six-year reauthorization bill.
The Hill
The Senate was hard at work on Thursday, passing not one but two transportation funding bills—first its controversial six-year (funded for three) transportation reauthorization bill, the DRIVE Act, and then, most importantly, the patch bill.
The Hill
Overcoming their differences, Republican leaders in both chambers agreed Wednesday to a three-month patch bill to continue transportation spending through Oct. 29. The bill must pass by Friday due to lack of funds in the Highway Trust Fund.
Wall Street Journal
The House passed their patch bill on July 15—it's now the Senate's turn at bat on highway funding. Both houses are controlled by Republicans but they appear to be pitching for different teams. A bill must pass by July 31 or road funding ceases.
New York Times
Though federal highway funding is set to terminate on July 31, the House has proposed an $8.1 billion, five-month extension instead of a six-year reauthorization bill.
Bloomberg Business
The basics of South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice's "Highway Trust Fund Certainty Act": Increase federal gas and diesel taxes by 10.1 cents in one year, index to inflation, and issue an income tax credit for $133.
The Hill
