Tag: Highway Trust Fund: Page 25

Roadbuilding

Jason Carter pushing for transportation sales tax

Democrat Jason Carter is reviving the idea of a regional sales tax for transportation infrastructure improvements in Georgia. In 2012 Carter and Gov. Nathan Deal backed a sales tax increase for transportation, known as the T-SPLOST, but failed in most parts of the state despite support from a big part of the business community and many political […]

August 21, 2014

Roadbuilding

Deficient roads cost Alabama drivers $3.1 billion statewide

Deficient, congested and unsafe roadways cost Alabama drivers as much as $1,562 annually, and a total of $3.1 billion statewide, according to a new TRIP report. Roads and bridges in need of improvement are causing higher vehicle operating costs, more traffic crashes and congestion-related delays. The Trip report points out that 15 percent of Alabama’s […]

August 20, 2014

Roadbuilding

DOT owes Palm Beach over $300K

In 2010 the Florida Department of Transportation paid Palm Beach $1.046 million when it took all but 1,598 square feet of a 14,744-square-foot parcel at the southeast corner of the Flagler Memorial Bridge to make room for a replacement bridge. The town would go on to sue the DOT, saying that amount wasn’t enough. After […]

August 20, 2014

Roadbuilding

Firearms to be used for road construction

Thousands of handguns, rifles and other weapons have been destroyed to eventually be used in construction of roads and bridges. The weapons were melted and converted into steel rebar as part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s 21st annual Gun Melt event. Over 178,000 weapons have been destroyed as part of the event since […]

August 19, 2014

Roadbuilding

POLL: Majority of Americans would rather pay tolls than taxes

73 percent of Americans agree that transportation spending is inefficient and most would rather pay for highway repairs with tolls instead of taxes, according to a Reason-Rupe poll. Out of the 1,000 people surveyed, 58 percent say they would rather pay for transportation projects with tolls. Only 32 percent would prefer to pay for the projects […]

August 18, 2014

Roadbuilding

Highway Trust Fund 2014: Timeline of Events

It felt like an eternity went by before Congress passed a bill to fund the Highway Trust Fund through May 2015. Unfortunately, for or as long as it took, nobody ended up happy with the outcome. Congress had months to work out a long-term deal and all they could agree on is a short-term plan […]

August 15, 2014

Roadbuilding

Bursting bubble of big tobacco financing gives glimpse of road building’s future without a gas tax increase

Last week I wrote about how states that engage in public-private partnerships (P3s) and other types of debt and bond financing would create short term gains and long term disaster for the road building industry. This weekend I read an article on ProPublica, an independent journalism site, that shows how the exact same thing—only using tobacco money—is […]

August 13, 2014

Roadbuilding

Congress passes Highway Trust Fund patch; Obama signs

Just hours after the House turned down the Senate’s highway funding bill, Congress has passed a $10.8 billion bill to fund the Highway Trust Fund. Without the temporary patch, the HTF would have run dry in the next month or so. The bill is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama and should allow […]

August 12, 2014

Roadbuilding

21 states receiving millions to repair storm-damaged roads

The Department of Transportation announced $334 million in emergency funds will be used to help 21 states repair roads and bridges damaged by storms and floods. Colorado will be getting $130 million, which is by far the more than any other state. The funds will help the state fix several roads and bridges damaged by […]

August 11, 2014

Roadbuilding

Missouri voters speak: Sales tax not the place for raising highway monies

Missouri voters in Tuesday’s (8/5) primary elections, as I wrote last week, were presented with a ballot measure that would have raised the state retail sales tax a fraction of a cent to help fund transportation projects — it would also, as I noted, have prohibited for 10 years tolling as a means of funding and likewise […]

August 11, 2014

Roadbuilding

Toll roads, P3s and creative financing will bring short-term gain, long-term disaster for the road building industry

For the last half-century gas and diesel taxes collected at the pump have been the primary source of funding for almost all our highway infrastructure. But Congress hasn’t  increased the gas tax or adjusted it for inflation since 1992. Anti-tax advocates claim this as a victory, but it’s not. With the highway trust fund running […]

August 8, 2014

Roadbuilding

House votes down Senate’s highway bill, sets up must-act situation for Senate

The Senate now must choose Friday whether to accept the House’s 10-month highway funding patch or allow the Highway Trust Fund to go bankrupt, which would be construction projects around the country at risk, along with an estimated 700,000 jobs. The House voted 272-150 on a motion to “disagree” with the Senate’s changes to its bill. […]

July 31, 2014