Federal funding for surface transportation projects should migrate from a petroleum-fuel-based tax to a mileage-based user fee by 2020, says a 15-member commission appointed by Congress in 2007. The bipartisan group released its final report on Feb. 25 with suggestions for overhauling the Highway Trust Fund, due for its six-year reauthorization later this year.
The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission includes financial experts, lawyers, politicians and industry leaders. Geoffrey Yarema, a member and a partner with Nossaman LLP, Los Angeles, a law firm specializing in infrastructure, says the group’s conclusions were "unanimous."