TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE : Urban Transportation Planning Can Better Address Modal Trade-offs

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TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE : Urban Transportation Planning Can Better Address Modal Trade-offs

The use of highway and mass transit program funds to finance projects across modal lines has been limited. Of the $174 billion in total federal-aid highway funds obligated by states and localities since fiscal year 1976, only about 4 percent have been invested in traditional mass transit projects (e.g., bus purchases and rail modernization). Similarly, of the $40 billion in mass transit capital assistance obligated over the same period, only about 1 percent financed HOV lanes, busways, and other nontraditional transportation projects. Several factors contributed to these results. First, in general, neither highway nor mass transit program funds could be used to finance projects of the other mode. Second, an 80-percent federal matching share for mass transit capital assistance provided little incentive for states and localities to use 75-percent matching share highway funds for mass transit purposes. ThIrd, federal, state, and local officials indicated that historically, states and localities have been reluctant to use either highway or mass transit funds for the other mode because of substantial unmet highway and mass transit needs. Finally, federal and local officials said that the use of highway funds for mass transit purposes has been hindered because state transportation departments, which are dominated by highway programs, have authority over highway funds.