Taking Climate Change into Account in U.S. Transportation

Transportation Law and Funding Context

Federal policy has long helped shape the U.S. transportation system. Most recently, the annual transportation appropriations bills and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21, which must be reauthorized or extended by September 2003) have been major federal instruments for influencing road transportation. TEA-21 amended Title 23 and Title 49 of the U.S. Code. Title 23 apportions federal funds to the states for the National Highway system, the Surface Transportation, and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) programs, as well as providing for research. Title 49 covers mass and intermodal transportation, motor vehicle safety, information and standards, and pipeline safety. Much of the recent federal influence has come in the form of conditions placed on uses of the apportioned funds and requirements for state and metropolitan planning.

Higway user fees of all kinds amounted to $99 billion in 2000, a third of which was collected by the federal government and distributed mostly to states. At present, most federal funds for highways and transit come from federal gasoline taxes, which are placed into the Highway Trust Fund. In 2000, the federal government funded 22 percent of total highway expenditures on transit. The rest of the funding came from state and local governments.

In the year 2000, U.S. federal, state, and local governments spent $130 billion providing and maintaining highways for public use (see Table 1).⁸ [1] Nearly all of the money was spent by state and local governments. The federal government owns only 3 percent of highway miles, while the local governments control about 77 percent and states about 20 percent.

Transportation Expenditures by U.S. Federal, State, and Local Governments (Table 1)

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