by Tanya Snyder, Streets Blog
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The Highway Trust Fund has more problems than just its 1950s-era name. Funded by the federal gas tax, the trust fund is becoming obsolete over time, as efficiency gains and declining miles-traveled sap its size. The Eno Center for Transportation says it’s time to rethink the entire system.
In a new report [PDF ], Eno compares the U.S. method of funding transportation to that of five peer countries. Ours is the only one that still pretends to rely on a “user-pay” system. (Yes, pretends: The last six years of constant last-ditch infusions from the general fund, totaling $65 billion, have exposed that particular myth.)
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Eno argues that the Highway Trust Fund skews funding decisions by introducing petty conflicts … “These challenges have historically overshadowed substantive arguments over policy and hindered the tying of federal funds to national goals or performance measures,” according to the report.
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https://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/12/04/eno-stop-obsessing-over-the-gas-taxaand-change-how-we-fund-transpo/
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