The money mirage: How the fight over funding transportation distracts from outcomes
The conversation about how to fund the transportation system has dominated the reauthorization process at the expense of its core purpose: safely delivering people to the destinations they want to get to. To build a system that actually works for people, we must acknowledge what’s not working and what Congress must do to find solutions. Continuing to guarantee funding for a clearly failed federal program that isn’t delivering on its promises is simply not the way forward—and throwing billions more at it, as some folks have suggested, isn’t the solution either. What we need is accountability for outcomes.
Don’t show me the money, show me outcomes
The existing federal transportation program does not produce good outcomes. We have written extensively about the fact that the federal transportation program has utterly failed to deliver on measurable results like safety, state of repair, and access: There has been a 75 percent increase in deaths of people walking since 2010, roads scored a D+ and bridges scored a C in the most recent infrastructure report card, congestion has increased, and our transportation system remains one of the leading producers CO2 emissions. Despite these disastrous results, Congress keeps bailing out this bankrupt program with general fund transfers without intervention. At some point, Congress must stop and ask, Why are we bending over backwards to protect and fund a system that is not producing results on the core, tangible goals of improved safety, increased access, and improved conditions of existing infrastructure?
An improved transportation program and a safer national transportation network are possible. Many other countries are actively outperforming us on all fronts. Norway has taken pedestrian deaths seriously and is ranked one of the safest countries in Europe for all roadway users due to their targeted goals and legislative reforms. Switzerland has the highest infrastructure rating of 2024 according to the World Population Review (credited to its well-maintained roadway network). Many countries are racing towards net zero emissions through their transportation sectors. The U.S. can compete with all of these countries, and we can meet our goals, but there are some clear things holding us back.
One major hurdle is state DOTs and their lack of accountability with any form of flexible funds. Most of the federal money state DOTs receive comes from formula funds that can be used for essentially any project. The lack of direction or explicitly stated use of these funds usually means that they will be spent misguidedly. Not for bridge maintenance, not for road repair, not for expanding transit options, but usually for increased roadway expansion. The biggest obstacle, however, is Congress’s hyperfixation on dumping more money on the problem rather than demanding the system deliver outcomes. Reauthorization seems to strike the same tired discourse and potential “political” wins of which side is able to pour (or retract) money from the system.
Overall, money is the problem, but not because there is a shortage, but because we are spending it irresponsibly. The lack of accountability means there is no incentive to make roads safer, keep them in a good state of repair, or build anything besides highways. The biggest issue for the system isn’t that the dedicated autopilot revenue stream of a trust fund can’t pay for the transportation improvements the country needs; it’s that we’re getting bad results and ignoring the issue by trying to drown it in dollar signs. You can’t pay away the fact that we’re building inefficient, unsafe infrastructure—we have to change course now.
Accountability and results are the end goal
While it’s long been debated, at the end of the day, Congress has only a few possible options to solve the Highway Trust Fund’s structural solvency problem. We could pour in more general fund dollars to keep the trust fund solvent and keep spending at the same levels; we could scale the program down to the size of what the gas tax brings in each year; we could abolish the (already functionally dead) trust fund and shift the transportation program to one funded entirely by yearly appropriations; or do something else completely.
But all of these alternatives are meaningless if the program does not start delivering on its promises and producing tangible results on safety, state of repair, and other goals that are supposedly embedded in the program. We will never produce better outcomes from our federal transportation system if the only conversation about it revolves around money. The conversation should focus on measuring progress, spending within our means, and ensuring that our infrastructure is safe and well-maintained.
Results and improvements must be the ultimate priority of this program before we put a single extra dime in it. Increasing the gas tax or dumping additional general fund dollars into the trust fund doesn’t solve bad outcomes—consistently good outcomes require a system that demands them. Only when outcomes become the measures of success will we get a program that produces safer roads, structurally sound bridges, and transit systems worth paying for.
Call on your member of Congress to prioritize accountability and outcomes in upcoming legislation.
We are rapidly approaching the next surface transportation reauthorization. The federal government has spent $1.5 trillion of American taxpayer dollars over the past 30-plus years for a transportation system that is producing poor results on the core, tangible goals of improved safety, increased access, and improved conditions of existing infrastructure. Congress cannot do more of the same; they must focus our transportation system around outcomes and accountability, not just the price tag.
Your members of Congress need to hear from you. Whether you act individually or as an organization, your support is essential to ensuring the next reauthorization is centered around improved outcomes that benefit all community types. Contact your members of Congress directly to encourage them to make results and improvements the ultimate priority of the federal surface transportation program at this link.