American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) officials said the organization has developed a tool providing the public and elected officials with insight regarding state transportation tax dollars investment.
ARTBA’s Highway Dashboard: A 50-State Guide to the Benefits of Federal Investment serves as a breakdown of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) data presenting information on more than 24,000 projects that advanced in FY 2018. States leveraged $31 billion in federal funds to advance $66.5 billion in highway improvements during fiscal year 2018.
“This dashboard helps shift the conversation about federal highway investments from apportionment tables and obligation charts to specific outcomes and benefits,” ARTBA President Dave Bauer said. “Such transparency and accountability will help the American people better understand the value they are getting from infrastructure investments.”
The ARTBA analysis showed nearly half of the projects were for repair or reconstruction work on existing highways in FY 2018, with capacity, planning, design and construction engineering, new construction, planning, environmental, research and administration, bike and pedestrian facilities, debt service and utilities being among the other featured categories.
The ARTBA said the tool enables users to visualize how each state deployed federal funds in a given year and features the top projects dating back to 1950.