Congress must provide a permanent revenue solution for the federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF), Bob Alger, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) chairman, recently testified.
The hearing, Oversight of the Federal Transit Administration’s Implementation of the Capital Investment Grant Program, was held by the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee.
Alger said ARTBA supports the Capital Investment Program (CIG), but “Congress’ chronic failure to fix the Highway Trust Fund program threatens all federal surface transportation programs, including transit projects.”
The CIG program is supported with general revenue dollars through the annual appropri¬ations. The HTF was funded in previous administrations by more than $140 billion in general fund transfers. The fund will be adversely affected when the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act expires in October 2020.
To permanently fix the HTF, Alger said Congress should consider raising the federal gasoline and diesel user fee rates, applying a freight-based user fee to heavy trucks and instituting a fee to ensure electric vehicle users also help pay for the system from which they benefit.
Alger also said the Federal Transit Administration needs to improve its regulatory and project- delivery process so that projects can be completed on time and within budget.