You may or may not be following the many transportation issues facing our nation. We all know there are local transportation issues, but decisions being made at the national level affect us too.

For instance, a new, six year transportation bill is being proposed by Congress. This bill has the potential to be significantly different than previous transportation bills. In this bill, there is an increased focus on environmentally-friendly and sustainable transportation. There are also elements of the bill that address transportation and land use efficiencies. It will be very interesting to see whether people embrace the bill and the changes it represents, or whether these elements will be diluted once special interests make their positions known.

Another issue facing the nation is the Federal Highway Trust Fund. Unless Congress adds billions of dollars over the next two years, all federal highway construction projects will come to a screeching halt. The process for funding the FHTF is broken because the fund’s primary and almost exclusive revenue source is the gasoline tax, which is no longer a good source of sustainable revenue. There are many reasons for that: increases in the miles per gallon (MPG) efficiencies of most vehicles; a reduction in driving due to higher gas prices; the introduction of alternative energies (electric, hydrogen and ethanol vehicles are not taxed at same rate); and recent increases in costs associated with transportation projects.

The biggest questions about transportation projects always center around funding and funding sources. As a nation, we face huge challenges, not only in road building, but also with transit and transit operations. It all takes money and the amounts increase every year. We are facing the possibility that even traditional programs will not secure funding. When even highway construction – the heart and soul of moving people around the country – faces funding challenges, we know we are in the midst of interesting and unusual times.

All of this affects us at the local level. We are facing budget cuts at the State level, which affects County and City funding just when federal funding is being cut. Fortunately the bulk of the Connector’s funding comes from Measure A, so we can thank the wisdom of voters a few years ago for the ability to continue finding a solution to help ease regional congestion.

More on transportation and relating funding issues in future entries. It’s a fascinating and ever-changing topic!
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