TRB Study Finds No Short-Term Road Funding Crisis, But Calls for More Tolling
A new report from the Transportation Research Board doesn't see an imminent crisis in the current U.S. system of financing road building, but it says there would be major benefits from expanded use of tolls and from other ways of matching motorists' fees more closely to how much they drive.
The report, The Fuel Tax and Alternatives for Transportation Funding, released Jan. 23, says that the current highway finance system, which relies mostly on gasoline and diesel fuel taxes paid to the Highway Trust Fund, should be able to cover some added road capacity and other improvements over the next 15 years. But it adds that the funding won't be enough to unclog nationwide road congestion.