Federal policies can be considered only within the context of national needs and related state and local policies, recognizing that federal government actions have an impact on the ability to deploy certain approaches by other levels of government.
While the federal Highway Trust Fund helps pay for the nation's transportation infrastructure, it is the responsibility of state and local government to develop, construct, operate, and maintain that system (other than a very small number of roads on federal land). Every frip—whether carrying people or freight— uses a network of state, local, and sometimes private infrastructure from origin to destination. Thus the federal government should take into account state and local government assessments of transportation needs and should ensure that federal policies support and promote surface transportation investments across the nation at levels adequate to maintain system quality on all aspects of the national transportation system, not just those that are federally funded. Toward that end, federal funding and financing policies need to be coordinated with related state and local policies and must be cognizant of the impacts that one jurisdiction's actions—particularly those of the federal government—have on others' ability and willingness to deploy certain approaches. As federal action has the potential to either promote or impede funding and financing options at the state and local level, this interplay must be adequately considered in federal-level decision making regarding transportation funding and finance.