STEERING OUR NATION'S TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM BACK INTO THE BLACK SUMMARY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The nation faces a crisis. Our surface transportation system has deteriorated to such a degree that our safety, economic competitiveness, and quality of life are at risk.
As a nation, we have reaped the benefits of previous generations' foresight and investment, generations that developed and built a transportation system that became the envy of the world. Over the last few decades we have grown complacent, expecting to be served by high-quality infrastructure, even as we devoted less and less money in real terms to the maintenance and expansion of that infrastructure. Not only have we failed to make the needed and substantial investment; we have failed to pursue the kind of innovation necessary to ensure that our infrastructure meets the demands of future generations.
This is not to say the nation is asleep at the wheel. The United States Congress has recognized the dangers of inattention and delay and has asked for assistance to re-envision the way the federal government funds and finances our national surface transportation infrastructure. Congress established the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission to provide recommendations for policy and action. This report offers the results of the Commission's investigative efforts and deliberations. It provides a new framework for consideration by policy makers with responsibility for financial stewardship of the nation's surface transportation network—and for all Americans traveling that network through cities and rural areas from coast to coast.
The Commission sought out the best ideas, the latest data, and the strongest research. Commissioners vigorously debated the options and developed recommendations for improved | |
• Real highway spending per mile traveled has fallen by nearly 50 percent since the federal Highway Trust Fund was established in the late 1950s. Total combined highway and transit spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen by about 25 percent in the same period to 1.5 percent of GDP today. • Because it is not adjusted for inflation, the federal gas tax has experienced a cumulative loss in purchasing power of 33 percent since 1993—the last time the federal gas tax was increased. | methods to fund and finance our national surface transportation infrastructure. While no first draft of a major reform is perfect, the Commission respectfully and unanimously offers its report as a road map for the transition to a new funding and finance framework, in the hope that this will inspire and inform further efforts toward a national surface transportation system that is more efficient, more effective, and more sustainable. The Commission's recommendation to shift from our current funding approaches, based largely on indirect user fees in the form of federal motor fuel taxes, toward a new system built around more direct user charges in the form of fees for miles driven will require hard work, thoughtful attention to myriad policy issues and implementation details, and the cooperation and support of the American people. |