The looming fiscal disaster for transportation
America is at a crucial decision point for transportation. The nation’s transportation trust fund is facing a crisis. The gas tax that has sustained the federal transportation program since the middle of the last century is no longer keeping up with investment needs. Starting this fall, every dollar of gas tax revenues collected will be needed to cover the federal share of projects already promised to states, regions, and transit agencies, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Unless Congress adds new revenue to the trust fund, the federal government will be unable to commit to funding new projects, depriving states and localities of resources critical to maintaining and improving the infrastructure that makes our economy possible.
At the same time, Congress has an opportunity to save and reinvigorate our most important infrastructure program in order to boost today’s economy and ensure future prosperity. The federal law that sets national transportation policy and investment levels – known as MAP-21 –expires on October 1. As Congress reconsiders this vital program, business and elected leaders across the country are calling on the representatives not only to save the transportation trust fund, but also to refocus federal transportation policy on locally-driven, innovative transportation solutions.
This report examines the impact of Congressional inaction on the transportation needs of each state and metropolitan area, a potential loss of nearly $47 billion that would jeopardize the nation’s future economic growth. It demonstrates why Congress must act – and soon – to avoid depriving states and communities of the critical resources needed to provide the safe and reliable transportation networks that allow people to thrive and businesses to succeed.