Highway Trust Fund
Effects of the partial shutdown of the federal government differ between state highway departments and local transit agencies. Some effects aren't yet apparent, but could be soon.
Governing
The new IPCC report calls for decarbonization of transportation. While many cities are attempting to do their part, two recent federal developments in trade policy and tax legislation threaten to will make progress more difficult.
CityLab
Earlier this month marked the ten-year anniversary of an event that lives in infamy in the annals of the federal government.
Eno Transportation Weekly
Rep. Bill Shuster, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, wants to hike gas and diesel taxes by 15 and 20 cents per gallon, respectively, add two new user fees on bicycles and electric vehicles, and test VMT fees.
U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Pilot programs are not the real thing, warned Michael Lewis, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, testifying at a House transportation subcommittee on March 7. Colorado completed a successful four-month pilot last April.
AASHTO Journal
During a closed-door meeting Wednesday with Democratic and Republican lawmakers, President Trump endorsed hiking the gas tax by 25-cents per gallon to help pay for the $200 billion investment and restore solvency to the Highway Trust Fund.
Politico
Analysis from the Center for American Progress breaks down the fallout in funding and job losses to the state level, if policies proposed in the Trump Administration's infrastructure plan and its proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 are adopted.
Center for American Progress
It's not funding Trump's much-talked-about infrastructure package, but the 2020 termination date of the FAST Act has state transportation officials urging Congress to hike fuel taxes to sustain the Highway Trust Fund.
AASHTO Journal
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
