Issue / Federal Funding
Federal, state, and local governments all play a significant role in funding $300 billion in annual transportation spending. The federal government, which funds about a third of the system, supplies important capital funding for highways, transit systems, airports, waterways, and ports while also operating the nation’s air traffic control system. State and local governments augment federal spending with their own to invest in and operate their transportation networks. Federal transportation law dictates how and where transportation is spent. Local funding and finance rely on a broad range of revenue sources, from ballot box measures to tolling and VMT fees.
1915 Report of the Joint Committee on Federal Aid to Good Roads
Jan 21, 2015 | ENO CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATIONJanuary 21 2015 Over the coming months, the Eno Center for Transportation will be placing online a large number of historic...
Providing Context for Eno’s Life and Death of the Highway Trust Fund Study
Jan 19, 2015 | Paul LewisIn December 2014, Eno released a detailed research report about the current and future prospects of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The...
A Counterpoint to, “A Constrained Federal Aid Highway Program: Rightsizing for the 21st Century?”
Jan 19, 2015 | Carter TempletonBY KEVIN HEANUE Transportation Consultant In the last edition of the Eno Brief, Steve Lockwood presented one view of a future...
The Highway Trust Fund: It’s a Millennial Problem
Jan 01, 2015 | Elizabeth BastianBefore embarking for a long summer vacation, Congress has disappointingly failed, once again, to pass an updated multi-year surface...
A Counterpoint to, “A Constrained Federal Aid Highway Program: Rightsizing for the 21st Century?”
Dec 25, 2014 | Carter TempletonBY KEVIN HEANUE Transportation Consultant In the October edition of Eno Brief, Steve Lockwood presented one view of a future...
Full Analysis of FY 2015 Omnibus Appropriations for Transportation and Public Works
Dec 10, 2014 | Jeff DavisDecember 10, 2014 Last night, Congressional negotiators made public the long-awaited text of the omnibus appropriations package for...
How To Get A Transportation User Tax Increase Through the House of Representatives
Dec 04, 2014 | Jeff DavisDecember 4, 2014 Many observers of transportation debates have long wondered: how do we get a user tax increase through an anti-tax...
Myths Surrounding Devolution of Federal Transportation Programs
Nov 25, 2014 | ENO CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATIONAs the lame-duck session of Congress approaches, there is nascent optimism within the transportation community that perhaps this could...
GAO Report Breaks Down FHWA Spending By Improvement Type
Nov 10, 2014 | Jeff DavisNovember 10, 2014 On October 9, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report requested by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)...
Tax Reform/Transportation Connection Mentioned Again
Nov 10, 2014 | Jeff DavisNovember 10, 2014 At his news conference on November 5, President Obama made it a point to single out infrastructure as a possible...
Devolving Surface Transportation Infrastructure Responsibilities to the States: What’s Past is Prologue
Oct 25, 2014 | Carter TempletonBY ERIC PETERSON Transportation Consultant During the 1919 transcontinental convoy, west of Grand Island, Nebraska, soldiers...
Federal funding for highways is stagnant and the Federal Aid Highway Program (FAHP) appears to be “shrinking by default.” Transportation infrastructure is not a top 10 public polling issue. Highway conditions have improved and there is little “inside the beltway” dialogue on transportation infrastructure. Meanwhile, popular discussion of mobility is more focused on new vehicle technology than on highway infrastructure.
Oct 25, 2014 | Carter TempletonBY STEVE LOCKWOOD Senior Vice President, Parsons Brinckerhoff A New Context for the FAHP? In the absence of Congressional action,...