Highway Trust Fund

According to the CBO, President Obama's transportation budget keeps the Highway Trust Fund, currently expected to run out of funds in 2015, solvent until 2021. The additional funds come from 'intergovernmental transfers' - but are they real?

May 24, 2013 - Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Yonah Freemark writes about the expiration of the nation's five-year rail investment program that funds the FRA, Amtrak, and freight rail - separate from MAP 21, and suggests that without a new funding source, don't expect to see any increases.

May 1, 2013 - the transport politic

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office concludes that drastic reductions in transportation spending and/or increases in the federal gas tax will be needed unless another multi-billion dollar bailout is provided for the Highway Trust Fund.

April 25, 2013 - Governing

In this special "Energy: Squaring Off" section, experts take opposing sides on six energy issues - the first being how best to pay for transportation. Carl Davis of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy vs. Robert Poole of Reason Foundation.

April 17, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Kathryn W. Wolfe takes President Obama to task on his fiscal 2014, $77 billion transportation budget - not in where the money goes but where it comes from. How often can the 'peace dividend' be justifiably used as a funding source?

April 16, 2013 - Politico

It's not too early to think about "fixing the Highway Trust Fund", a prerequisite to renewing MAP-21 transportation legislation that expires Sept. 30, 2014. Rep. Peter DeFazio may have the fix in the form of an indexed gas tax - but which index?

April 4, 2013 - American Society Of Civil Engineers

The impending bankruptcy of the Highway Trust Fund a lack of clear purpose for national transport investment has Eric Jaffe asking if, after 120 years, we might be witnessing the end of federal transportation funding as we know it.

March 11, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

So said Thomas Donohue, CEO of the world's largest business organization, in calling for raising the gas tax at a press conference following the annual State of American Business address to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

January 20, 2013 - Governing

Justin Hyde is firmly in the camp that 'Vehicle-Miles-Traveled' (VMT) fees are coming - and the release of a GAO report last month may support that contention. Privacy concerns from GPS and collection costs are challenges that were considered.

January 14, 2013 - Motoramic (Yahoo! Autos blog)

Vehicle-Miles-Traveled (VMT) fees have been ruled out by the president, and while studied and even implemented (on a trial basis) at the state level, have been hampered by the privacy issue. But Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer is not dissuaded.

December 17, 2012 - The Hill's Floor Action Blog

The Wall Street Journal published a 10-page energy section with the declining gas tax problem on page 1. Five solutions are offered: taxing the miles, taxing the roads, indexing the gas tax, taxing the oil, and taxing the cars. Each has challenges.

September 18, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

If Romney/Ryan win in November, we may know what to expect in terms of national transportation spending if they were to follow the Republican platform adopted on Aug. 28. In terms of increasing transportation revenue, it may not differ from Obama's.

September 1, 2012 - The Hill's Transportation Blog

Just how does a transportation bill that doesn't increase fuel taxes or introduce new user charges, and maintain the same level of spending reduce the deficit by $16.3 billion? Ask the Congressional Budget Office.

July 1, 2012 - Taxpayers For Common Sense

At long last, after more than a thousand days of politicking, Congress passed a comprehensive federal transportation funding bill on Friday. Transportation reform advocates are disappointed by the results.

June 30, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

With the unlikely possibility of the Congressional conference committee agreeing to a new transportation bill, much less an agreement to address the decreasing gas tax revenues to the Highway Trust Fund, Kathryn Wolfe looks at the remaining options.

May 16, 2012 - Politico

Ann Mesnikoff, Director of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign, looks at the CBO's Highway Trust Fund report on the relationship between fuel economy standards and projected gas tax revenues, and finds it too hypothetical.

May 14, 2012 - Sierra Club Compass

Enjoying bipartisan support, the Senate's two-year, $109 billion transportation and infrastructure bill was approved by a comfortable 74-22 vote margin this afternoon, reports Jonathan Weisman.

March 14, 2012 - The New York Times

As the Highway Trust Fund goes bankrupt, the editors of Bloomberg suggest new ways to finance transportation infrastructure that integrates new technology, increasing public-private associations and loosening the funding framework itself.

March 3, 2012 - Bloomberg

Calling it "uniquely terrible", the Times questions whether it will even survive a full floor vote in the House. The editorial lists three major problems with the bill, but notes there are many more.

February 10, 2012 - The New York Times - The Opinion Pages

Treasury Secretary Ray LaHood warned Congress that according to a recent Congressional Budget Office report, the Highway Trust Fund will be broke come fiscal year 2014, due largely to more fuel-efficient vehicles and less driving.

February 4, 2012 - The Hill's Transportation Blog