Plan C, anyone? AWS
SPANNING
BY ALLEN ZEYHER Managing Editor
THE NEWS
Plan C, anyone? Without a VMT or gas-tax increase, what might happen?
When President Barack Obama’s press secretary announced that taxing drivers by the miles they travel instead of the gallons of fuel they consume “is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration,” he cut a big leg out from under the recommendations of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission. There’s no certainty that a vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) tax would ever make it into law even with the president’s support, but it is the industry’s consensus pick for a long-
Spanning the Views
AMERICA'S FIRST BIOFUELS CORRIDOR began operation recently. The I-65 biofuels corridor stretches 886 miles from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. Americans can drive the entire length of the corridor on alternative fuels E85 and B20. The corridor got started in 2006 with a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. E85 is a blend of 85% enthanol and 15% gasoline. B20 contains 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel.
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APRIL 2009
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ROADS & BRIDGES
term successor to the gasoline tax. In the short term, the top pick is an increase in the gas tax. The financing commission agreed. After reviewing many alternatives, the bipartisan, Congressionally created commission concluded that “the most viable approach to efficiently fund federal investment in surface transportation in the medium to long run will be a user charge system based more directly on miles driven . . . rather than indirectly on fuel consumed.” In the short term, the financing commission recommended an immediate 10-cent increase in the federal gasoline tax and a 15-cent increase in the federal diesel tax and then indexing those rates to inflation. In the political reality of the worst recession in at least a generation, it is hard to see how that measure will become law. So what if both prime choices are blocked? “Plan C is basically that you then have to rely much more on tolling,” Robert Atkinson, chair of the financing commission, told ROADS & BRIDGES. “Basically they would have to say to the states and locals, You can toll a lot more than what you’re doing today. Whether they do that is another question. If they don’t do that then you’ve basically got nothing left.” Jeff Solsby, spokesman for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, tried to be optimistic. “I think just because they’ve said they’re opposed to it now doesn’t mean they won’t change,” he told ROADS & BRIDGES. The federal government is still faced with three options, he said, for addressing the funding challenges that face the Highway Trust Fund: deficit spending; finding new revenue sources; or seeing a 50% drop in funding to the states. The financing commission presented a long menu of what it called strong candidates as revenue options, many
WWW.ROADSBRIDGES.COM
of which are expansions of existing programs and rely heavily on tolling: • • • • • • • • • • •
Automobile tire tax; Motor fuel tax; Carbon tax/cap and trade; Customs duties; Heavy-vehicle use tax; Truck/trailer sales tax; Vehicle registration fee; Container fee; Tariff on imported oil; Sales tax on motor fuels; and Truck tire tax.
The financing commission recommended doubling the heavyvehicle use tax, which has not been increased since 1983, and indexing it and the excise tax on truck tires to inflation. The commission also recommended expanding the ability of states and localities to impose tolls on the interstate system both on net new capacity and on existing capacity in large metropolitan areas in need of congestion relief. Both measures expand existing programs. Continuing and expanding the Interstate Highway Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program also is a recommendation. The program allows tolling of existing interstate capacity for reconstruction and rehabilitation. To facilitate so much reliance on tolling, the commission’s recommendations include federal support for standardization of tolling and information systems by completing necessary rulemaking regarding electronic tolling and interoperability. Atkinson and Solsby both said they thought the commission wanted all options to be on the table. “The VMT needs to be on the table,” said Solsby, “as does a significant increase in the motor fuel excise.” The VMT debate does not have to be settled this year, said Atkinson. There is still time. And Congress will have a big influence on what happens as well as the White House. “I would hope that the reauthorization would include a lot of what we
recommend with regard to moving forward with seeing whether a VMT would work and the test beds and the standards and the studies, etc.,” said Atkinson. “The real question is, What is Congress going to do?”
State Funding La. highways need more money Count Louisiana among the states having trouble paying for highway and bridge construction. The state’s Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development (TIMED) program, for example, is out of
?Ud[R`TQc[^XP_`[\ĎčUZR^M_`^aO`a^Q O[ZOQ__U[ZO[Y\MZUQ_M^QR^[Y?\MUZ$
?\MUZhas a long history of public-private partnerships for the building and maintaining of toll roads and other infrastructure concessions. From airports and tollways to ports and parking lots, Spain-based companies lead the world in predictive modeling, electronic tolling technology and intelligent transportation systems. Discover how Spanish companies can help deliver the experience and technology necessary to develop and operate successful infrastructure concessions in your area.
BU_U`_\MUZ`QOTZ[X[Se$O[Y%UZR^M_`^aO`a^Q Circle 780 ROADS & BRIDGES
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APRIL 2009
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11
BY ALLEN ZEYHER Managing Editor
THE NEWS
Plan C, anyone? Without a VMT or gas-tax increase, what might happen?
When President Barack Obama’s press secretary announced that taxing drivers by the miles they travel instead of the gallons of fuel they consume “is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration,” he cut a big leg out from under the recommendations of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission. There’s no certainty that a vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) tax would ever make it into law even with the president’s support, but it is the industry’s consensus pick for a long-
Spanning the Views
AMERICA'S FIRST BIOFUELS CORRIDOR began operation recently. The I-65 biofuels corridor stretches 886 miles from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. Americans can drive the entire length of the corridor on alternative fuels E85 and B20. The corridor got started in 2006 with a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. E85 is a blend of 85% enthanol and 15% gasoline. B20 contains 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel.
10
•
APRIL 2009
•
ROADS & BRIDGES
term successor to the gasoline tax. In the short term, the top pick is an increase in the gas tax. The financing commission agreed. After reviewing many alternatives, the bipartisan, Congressionally created commission concluded that “the most viable approach to efficiently fund federal investment in surface transportation in the medium to long run will be a user charge system based more directly on miles driven . . . rather than indirectly on fuel consumed.” In the short term, the financing commission recommended an immediate 10-cent increase in the federal gasoline tax and a 15-cent increase in the federal diesel tax and then indexing those rates to inflation. In the political reality of the worst recession in at least a generation, it is hard to see how that measure will become law. So what if both prime choices are blocked? “Plan C is basically that you then have to rely much more on tolling,” Robert Atkinson, chair of the financing commission, told ROADS & BRIDGES. “Basically they would have to say to the states and locals, You can toll a lot more than what you’re doing today. Whether they do that is another question. If they don’t do that then you’ve basically got nothing left.” Jeff Solsby, spokesman for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, tried to be optimistic. “I think just because they’ve said they’re opposed to it now doesn’t mean they won’t change,” he told ROADS & BRIDGES. The federal government is still faced with three options, he said, for addressing the funding challenges that face the Highway Trust Fund: deficit spending; finding new revenue sources; or seeing a 50% drop in funding to the states. The financing commission presented a long menu of what it called strong candidates as revenue options, many
WWW.ROADSBRIDGES.COM
of which are expansions of existing programs and rely heavily on tolling: • • • • • • • • • • •
Automobile tire tax; Motor fuel tax; Carbon tax/cap and trade; Customs duties; Heavy-vehicle use tax; Truck/trailer sales tax; Vehicle registration fee; Container fee; Tariff on imported oil; Sales tax on motor fuels; and Truck tire tax.
The financing commission recommended doubling the heavyvehicle use tax, which has not been increased since 1983, and indexing it and the excise tax on truck tires to inflation. The commission also recommended expanding the ability of states and localities to impose tolls on the interstate system both on net new capacity and on existing capacity in large metropolitan areas in need of congestion relief. Both measures expand existing programs. Continuing and expanding the Interstate Highway Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program also is a recommendation. The program allows tolling of existing interstate capacity for reconstruction and rehabilitation. To facilitate so much reliance on tolling, the commission’s recommendations include federal support for standardization of tolling and information systems by completing necessary rulemaking regarding electronic tolling and interoperability. Atkinson and Solsby both said they thought the commission wanted all options to be on the table. “The VMT needs to be on the table,” said Solsby, “as does a significant increase in the motor fuel excise.” The VMT debate does not have to be settled this year, said Atkinson. There is still time. And Congress will have a big influence on what happens as well as the White House. “I would hope that the reauthorization would include a lot of what we
recommend with regard to moving forward with seeing whether a VMT would work and the test beds and the standards and the studies, etc.,” said Atkinson. “The real question is, What is Congress going to do?”
State Funding La. highways need more money Count Louisiana among the states having trouble paying for highway and bridge construction. The state’s Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development (TIMED) program, for example, is out of
?Ud[R`TQc[^XP_`[\ĎčUZR^M_`^aO`a^Q O[ZOQ__U[ZO[Y\MZUQ_M^QR^[Y?\MUZ$
?\MUZhas a long history of public-private partnerships for the building and maintaining of toll roads and other infrastructure concessions. From airports and tollways to ports and parking lots, Spain-based companies lead the world in predictive modeling, electronic tolling technology and intelligent transportation systems. Discover how Spanish companies can help deliver the experience and technology necessary to develop and operate successful infrastructure concessions in your area.
BU_U`_\MUZ`QOTZ[X[Se$O[Y%UZR^M_`^aO`a^Q Circle 780 ROADS & BRIDGES
•
APRIL 2009
•
11
