Historically, the federal government has played an important role in funding overall highway and transit spending. The federal share of total highway spending (capital investment and operations and maintenance costs) has ranged from 17 percent in the late 1950s to more than 30 percent at times during the 1960s, and it is currently near the long-term average of about 25 percent. Regular federal funding for transit began in 1962; since 1988 the federal share of total transit spending has averaged about 18 percent.7