Diversions from Federal Highway Trust Fund and State Highway Funds Cripple Mobility
COST Commentary: Diversion of federal highway trust funds (article below) and highway gas tax diversions by many states, including Texas, have created serious strains on the ability of the nation to maintain a modern roadway network which meets the needs of a growing country. Highway funding shortages are compounded by inflation with no gas tax increases for almost 20 years. The third major area of funding reductions is the improving efficiency of vehicle engines and the use of non-gas engines, both resulting in less gas tax per mile driven. Diversions, inflation and gas efficiency have reduced the effective highway funding to less than one-half its value 20 years ago while population growth has significantly increased total driving.
Major Federal subsidizes of train transit have enticed state and city officials to allocate greater portions of their tax funds to this ineffective train mode. Because they now have significantly less funding, the Federal Transit Administration has recently suggested cities should strongly consider buses instead of trains as more appropriate in many cases. Major diversions to less efficient rail transit have degraded overall mobility and transit. Transit use is declining and highways are becoming more congested.
The Nation must effectively address two major challenges very soon.
1. The current gas tax approach, which served well for almost 50 years, is rapidly falling apart due to the conditions discussed above. Federal and state highway funding must be overhauled based on the realities of today. It must be a system which prevents diversions and accommodates inflation and technology advancements. One approach gaining favor is to base federal and state highway funding on “user fees” which are directly related to miles driven and other factors such as vehicle weight.
2. Funding at all levels must be more directly related and proportionate to user choices and priorities. Several cities, including Austin, are projecting 40-50, or more, percent of their transportation funds being spent on public transit which serves 2-5% of the trips in the area. This disproportionate funding degrades overall community mobility, including transit. The overwhelming majority of transit trips are on roads. Wasteful spending on ineffective rail precludes adequate road funding and degrades bus transit further with higher fares and reduced/inferior service for the vast majority of transit riders, mostly without alternatives.
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Government Diverts Highway Trust Funds From Highways
By DAVID HOGBERG
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 09/01/2011 05:15 PM ET
The George Washington Memorial Parkway is a “National Scenic Byway,” a special designation to a road for its archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities. It runs about 18 miles from Washington, D.C., to George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon. It’s especially lovely when the leaves change colors in the fall.
But the Parkway also has plenty of green. In 2007, it received over $630,000 in grants from the Federal Highway Trust Fund to add kiosks, interpretive signs and other enhancements to its Great Falls Park Visitor Center. From fiscal 2005-09, the HTF spent $175 million on the National Scenic Byway program.
The 18.4-cents-per-gallon gas tax is the largest source of HTF revenue. President Obama has urged Congress to renew the gas tax, saying thousands of construction jobs would be lost if Congress fails to act by Sept. 30.
But the reality is that a large share of gas tax revenue isn’t spent on building or repairing highways and bridges.
A Government Accountability Office report found that 32% of the HTF didn’t go toward highway or bridge construction and upkeep from fiscal 2004-08. That rose to 38% in 2009, according to an analysis by Ron Utt, senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
“With each passing reauthorization of HTF, more and more groups organized and hired lobbyists to get a piece of the action,” Utt said. “And many of them were successful.”
Since 1983, the HTF has been split in two. The Highway Account funds road and bridge building and repair. The Mass Transit Account supports mass transit projects and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund.
Mass Transit got $7.4 billion, or 19%, of the gas tax revenue in fiscal 2010. Yet that’s only part of the picture because much of the Highway Account funds go to nonhighway projects.
Highway Account programs from fiscal 2005-09 include:
The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program spent $8.6 billion. CMAQ gives grants for light rail, buses, bike paths, traffic-signal timing and other projects dedicated to reducing air pollution and road congestion.
The Safe Routes To Schools Program spent $612 million. The aim is to make bicycling and walking to school safe and routine.
$370 million to the Recreational Trails Program to build hiking, bicycle and snowmobile paths.
$13.5 million from 2005-09 on America’s Byway Resource Center, which engages in training, information and expertise to improve the byway system.
$37.5 million on a grant program to prohibit racial profiling.
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