Issue / Highways
Highways and roads are the backbone of the transportation system. 91 percent of American households own a vehicle and use those vehicles to make the vast majority of their trips. Highways and local streets also constitute the bulk of transportation investment at the federal, state and local level. Vehicle miles hit a record 3.2 trillion miles in 2018, and continue to climb, posing challenges for maintenance, investment, congestion, and the environment.
DOT Opens Applications for $625M in EV Charging Grants
Mar 17, 2023 | Jeff DavisThe Biden Administration announced that the first $625 million of an eventual $2+ billion provided by the Infrastructure Investment and...
ETW Exclusive: How Hundreds of Millions in Highway Funding Was Almost Lost Last Summer
Feb 24, 2023 | Jeff DavisEvery year, the total amount of funding that can be legally obligated for expenditure by the federal-aid highway program is limited by...
FHWA Reveals Possible $3.5 Billion Highway Funding Overstatement
Feb 03, 2023 | Jeff DavisThe Federal Highway Administration told Congress this week that $3.5 billion in federal-aid highway contract authority balances held by...
Initial HTF Formula Funding Given to States for FY23 Is $1.1 Billion Less than FY22
Feb 03, 2023 | Jeff DavisThe Federal Highway Administration this week notified state DOTs that they would be able to obligate and spend a total of $45.34...
Why an I-81 ‘Skyway’ Would be Costly and Unworkable: ‘Who wants to live under a 70-foot bridge?’
Jan 11, 2023 | Robert PuentesEno's Robert Puentes is asked about a recent highway project in Syracuse and what it may mean for the community.
Senate Confirms Bhatt to Run FHWA; Amtrak Nominees Expected to Wait in Limbo
Dec 08, 2022 | Jeff DavisThe U.S. Senate on December 8 confirmed Shailen Bhatt to be Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, by voice...
FY23 Highway Funding: Allocated Set-Aside Reaches All-Time High; 33 States Face Vulnerable Road User Penalty
Oct 28, 2022 | Jeff DavisOn October 20, the Federal Highway Administration gave states a pro-rated share of fiscal 2023 highway funding permission under the...
Costs of Highway Construction Rose 20%, 1Q 2021 to 1Q 2022
Sep 15, 2022 | Jeff DavisThis week, the Federal Highway Administration updated its official measure of highway and bridge construction costs to indicate that...
Innovative ‘Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project’ in Northern Virginia to Open on Time this Year
Sep 14, 2022 | Jeff DavisAs Jeff Davis, a Senior Fellow at the Eno Center for Transportation, recently noted: “If sustained highway cost inflation averages...
FHWA Narrowly Avoids Lapse of FY22 Highway Funds in August Redistribution
Sep 06, 2022 | Jeff DavisAfter some extra encouragement from the Federal Highway Administration, state DOTs collectively managed to request just enough highway...
Comparing the Two Community Reconnection/Access Programs
Aug 19, 2022 | Jeff DavisThe just-enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) creates a new $3.2 billion program called the "Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant...
DOT Reinstates Greenhouse Emissions Measure for NHS
Jul 15, 2022 | Jeff DavisLast week, the Federal Highway Administration announced a proposed regulation requiring states and local planning agencies to measure...
January 9, 2019 While no silver bullet will fix the woes of urban mobility and access, transportation economists believe that congestion pricing strategies come close. A number of U.S. cities and metropolitan areas are exploring the idea of charging a fee for driving on the parts of the roadway...