Key senators agree that highway and transit funding will hit a critical juncture soon and faces longer-range financial needs. At a May 6 Finance Committee hearing, there was no agreement on specific short- or long-term remedies.

The Highway Trust Fund's flagging health is the immediate problem. The Congressional Budget Office projects that, by Sept. 30, the trust fund's highway-account balance will dwindle to $2 billion and its transit account will have $1 billion left, Joseph Kile, a CBO assistant director, testified.