 | NARP blogTRAINS: A travel choice Americans want |
» Visit the Official NARP Website
Ways Without Means
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Food for thought on one of the busiest travel holidays of the year.
Few would defend America’s current transport policy. Each year congestion costs more than $78 billion in wasted hours and petrol. Washington’s main transport strategy has been not to have one. The Department of Transportation (DoT) runs 108 different programmes. But an integrated system for planning—one that includes passenger rail, freight, highways and mass transport—does not exist. Full analyses of projects’ costs or benefits are rare. —The Economist, June 20-26
As we head into one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, when many will face slow going on the roads and crowded flights, it is a good time to remind ourselves just how much work is needed to make our society as mobile as it could be. Despite a small drop in gas prices, USA Today reports in a cover story that the country is in the midst of “the longest and steepest decline in driving since the invention of the automobile.” Since last November, the drop in vehicle miles traveled on American thoroughfares is akin to “taking between 8 million and 10 million drivers off the road.” Much of this may be due to the state of the economy, which is forcing many to forego travel or adjust their plans, but the article also notes the increasing number of Americans opting for less car-dependent lifestyles. It makes one wonder if we would be better able to weather this recession if we had a smart transportation strategy, one that provided real choices and made getting around safer and more affordable, accessible and enjoyable for all. Motor vehicles alone will not be able to provide the mobility people are demanding in a way that enhances our quality of life.
Fortunately, the woeful state of American mobility is receiving long-overdue attention in Washington. But, as The Economist notes (and NARP has been pointing out for some time), the main well of money for transportation improvements is about to run dry, and we don’t have a viable plan for replenishing it. A set of worthy goals has been written, but the Obama Administration wants to borrow from the General Fund to pay for them, a desire confirmed in a document released by DOT this week (see Hotline #611, 3rd story). Tapping into the Treasury for such consistent expenditures is highly unsustainable in the long run as it adds to the defecit and relies on the whims of Congressional appropriators. The Administration says it needs more time to figure out a sustainable long-term funding mechanism that will also repay the loans from the General Fund.
Congress has given us “cash for clunkers,” yet we struggle to find the cash to overhaul our ‘clunker’ of a transportation system. If we don’t get on track (literally and figuratively) to a robust and sustainable system now, all Americans will continue to pay a higher price: as travelers, consumers and taxpayers. It’s up to all of us as citizens and voters to give our leaders the political will to do what needs to be done. We must pay a little more now to build the safe, efficient, multi-modal mobility network we deserve in order to avoid a great deal of pain later.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by NARP
Tags: advocacy, affordable, driving, economy, funding, gasoline, highway trust fund, politics, recession, transportation, travel,Highway spending exceeds “user fees”, Government Accountability Office reports
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Government Accountability Office issued a report this week showing that all 50 states received more highway transportation funding than they paid into the national system through the gasoline tax.
The overdraft, according to the GAO, took place because “overall, more funding was authorized and apportioned than was collected from highway users, since the account was supplemented by general funds from Treasury.”
I’m appreciative of the forthright way that the oversight agency puts forth its findings in this document. But the GAO isn’t exactly doing advanced calculus here. For years, NARP has been highlighting the $34.5 billion in general funds transferred to the Highway Trust Fund in the past few years. This transfer was necessary to cover the deficit between the funds provided by the gasoline tax and the money spent on highways. NARP has also been at paints to point out that this $34.5 billion is almost as much as has been spent on Amtrak over its 40-year history. Perhaps the GAO’s authority—recognized across party lines—will help this message make a lasting impact.
I’m writing this from Los Angeles (the location of NARP’s Council of Representatives meeting). While transit officials in this city have made great strides in developing a modern rail and bus network, it is impossible not to see the ways in which the over-building of highways has deformed development in this region. If we can eliminate the myth of the “user fee”, I think we’ll have made great strides in correcting an infrastructure imbalance that is choking growth in cities across America.
And for that, I thank the GAO for its work.
Posted by NARP
Tags: government accountability office, highway trust fund, user fees,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
» Recent Entries
» Blogroll
» Terms of Service for Comments
You may register to post comments in response to NARP-generated postings on the Blog. By registering you agree 1) that all comments will be relevant to the respective posting and 2) not to post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, or that violate any laws. We reserve the right to permanently block postings from any user who does not abide by the above terms. NARP reserves the right to remove, edit, or move any messages for any reason.
» Monthly Archives
