As Americans cut back on driving, federal motor-fuels taxes and other revenue flowing into the Highway Trust Fund dropped by $3 billion in fiscal year 2008, compared with the sum collected the year before, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation reports. DOT Secretary Mary Peters warns that if traffic continues downward, the trust fund may show a shortfall sooner than anticipated. Other observers share that worry.
DOT said on Nov. 19 that the trust fund took in $31 billion in fiscal 2008, down 8.8% from the $34 billion collected in 2007. As income fell, spending from the trust fund on highway and transit projects rose by $2 billion, compared with 2007’s level.