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Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is lamenting the fact that Americans are driving less, resulting in declining gas tax revenues and decreased funding for road projects. As eTrucker reports, the federal government already had to make an emergency contribution of $8 billion to the DOT in September to continue in-progress projects. Statistics show Americans have driven 62.6 billion miles less than they did over the same nine-month period last year, leading Peters to remark "If we don’t evolve our policies, we will leave a sad legacy of old roads, crowded highways and unfulfilled transit ambitions." Which is exactly what we have now, so who do we blame for that? [eTrucker; Photo Credit] More »
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Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is warning that the Federal Highway Trust Fund could run out of money by the end of this month, reports the AP. The fund is facing an $8.3 billion shortfall in projected revenues, primarily due to high gas prices reducing the amount of fuel purchased by American consumers. The immediate impact would be a delay or reduction in payments for local road and bridge projects the government had agreed to partially fund, likely resulting in a delay or reduction in work by construction crews. While the current recommendation is to borrow from the general fund through the end of the fiscal year, we suggest tapping Detroit automakers for low-interest loans, allowing the transportation department to invest in new highway technology and replace aging stretches of obsolete asphalt. More »
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