Highway Trust Fund

Road Construction

Ten Years of Highway Trust Fund Insolvency

Earlier this month marked the ten-year anniversary of an event that lives in infamy in the annals of the federal government.

September 11, 2018 - Eno Transportation Weekly

Gas Pump

Federal Gas Tax Legislation Would Also Tax Bikes, EVs, and Transit

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.

July 27, 2018 - U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Road Usage Charge at Least 10 Years Away

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.

March 12, 2018 - AASHTO Journal

Trump

Trump's 25-Cent Infrastructure Tax?

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.

February 18, 2018 - Politico

Highway Interchange

Trump's Infrastructure and Budget Plans Spell Doom for the Highway Trust Fund

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.

January 27, 2018 - Center for American Progress

Commute

State Transportation Officials Ask Congress to Hike Transportation User Fees

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.

July 24, 2017 - AASHTO Journal

Pumping Gas

U.S. Gasoline Consumption Jumps Three Percent in First Six Months of 2016

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.

November 1, 2016 - U.S. Department Of Transportation

Tax

Behind the Popularity of Transportation Tax Increases

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.

October 27, 2016 - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Over $14 Million Awarded to Eight Projects to Find Alternatives to Gas Taxes

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.

September 6, 2016 - U.S. D.O.T. Press Release

Gas Station SUVs

Republicans Reveal an Anti-Urban, Anti-Public Transit Platform

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.

July 21, 2016 - Progressive Railroading

U.S. DOT Announces First Year of Grant Funding for State VMT Fee Pilot Programs

$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.

March 24, 2016 - Planetizen

House Transportation Committee to Explore Sustainable Funding Options

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.

March 1, 2016 - AASHTO Journal

Syracuse Highway

America's Infrastructural Reckoning

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.

February 27, 2016 - The New Republic

When Regressive is Progressive

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.

February 8, 2016 - The New York Times

pallets of green oil barrels stacked

Obama's Bold Transportation Funding Proposal Likely to Go Nowhere

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.

February 5, 2016 - Politico

Federal Funding Authorized for States to Test Gas Tax Alternatives

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.

January 10, 2016 - The Hill

Death of the Federal Transportation User Fee

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.

December 7, 2015 - the transport politic

Two-Week Transportation Extension 'Auto-Signed' by President Obama

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.

November 22, 2015 - AASHTO Journal

President Obama Signs 3-Week Highway Bill and Railroad Safety Extension

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.

October 30, 2015 - Transport Topics

New House Transportation Reauthorization Bill Expected for Mark Up This Week

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).

October 19, 2015 - The Hill

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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