Page 52 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – November 2018

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Funding Our Failing Infrastructure
Our nation’s transportation infrastructure has needed attention for some time. Motorists across
the country face significant issues with increased congestion and deteriorating roads and bridges.
AAA has advocated for increased transportation investment for many years at the state and federal levels but has not seen significant progress toward
a long-term funding solution.
In July, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) released a transportation funding discussion draft to address future infrastructure investment and examine alternative funding options. While it is not anticipated that Congress will take legislative action on this draft, AAA applauds the chairman’s efforts and believes his work provides
an opportunity for policymakers, transportation stakeholders and road users to begin the vital funding conversation before authority for federal transportation funding and programs expire in 2020.
The traditional source of federal transportation funding has been the 18.3-cent federal gas tax that
we all pay at the pump. It hasn’t been increased since 1993. With inflation, changing driving habits and more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road, the purchasing power of the current tax has been cut nearly in
half. Since 2008, Congress has filled this gap in revenue by transferring $143.6 billion from the U.S. Treasury General Fund. They’ve used a patchwork
of nontransportation-related funding sources, rather than increasing the gas tax or creating an alternative sustainable source of funding. This has generated uncertainty and made it more difficult for state and
AAA supports a user-based fee to support transportation and has been encouraged by the federal government and states exploring different options to the gas tax.
local governments to plan for future transportation investment.
As the 2020 expiration of the current transportation law nears, the Congressional Budget Office projects that from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2026 the gap between dedicated surface transportation revenues and spending will average $20.1 billion annually.
Chairman Shuster is right to call for a short-term increase to the federal gas tax while a plan to develop a long-term, sustainable funding stream as a replacement to the gas tax is developed. AAA supports a user-based fee to support transportation and has been encouraged by the federal government and states exploring different options to the gas tax. AAA clubs around the country are participating in road-usage charge pilot tests to understand the options better and provide consumer perspective. However, even supporters of these
pilots, like the one in Oregon, admit that widespread implementation is years away. A fair, user-fee based system that is sustainable in the face of inflation and increasing vehicle fuel efficiency is the only way to have revenue keep pace with evolving infrastructure needs.
The Shuster proposal is an essential first step forward in the discussion about how we pay for transportation infrastructure in the future. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation’s roadways a “D grade” in its 2017 infrastructure report card, and without significant investment, the situation will only worsen.
To achieve the safe, efficient and reliable transportation system of the future that we all desire, we have to get serious about paying for it. AAA will continue to support investments that will improve and modernize our nation’s transportation infrastructure and
increase safety and mobility for all road users, and we hope that Congress and the administration will eventually come together around that common goal.
By Megan Foster
Director of Federal Relations for AAA
50 | AAA MAGAZINE