The new federal “omnibus” appropriation bill, enacted March 23, provides over $86 billion for the U.S. Department of Transportation, a record funding amount and an increase of almost $10 billion from U.S. DOT’s FY ‘17 funding levels. Road, transit, and rail programs all see funding increases. The FY 18 funding levels show Congress’s commitment to robust federal investment for important state and local infrastructure projects.
highway trust fund
Oregon leads the way in addressing transportation funding challenges
Many states are facing the same challenges as the federal government, with decreasing buying power from gas tax collections and little political support for raising the tax. Oregon has decided to take steps to circumvent the transportation funding cliff by implementing a pay-per-mile program that will launch in July 2015. A new report by ODOT describes Oregon’s evolving pay-per-mile fee.
Six ideas for fixing the nations infrastructure problems.
Two writers for Governing, Russell Nichols and Ryan Holeywell, have come up with a thoughtful set of ideas, ranging from revamping the highway trust fund to empowering state and local governments to “get cities to …