TRB Special Report 303: Equity of Evolving Transportation Finance Mechanisms (2011) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 How Transportation Is FundedandWho Pays
2 How Transportation Is FundedandWho Pays
Pages 37-54
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 37... ...
This chapter presents a taxonomy of transportation funding approaches for highways and transit in the United States to set the scene for later discussions of specific issues relating to transportation finance equity. For a more detailed discussion of surface transportation revenue sources, the reader is referred to the reports of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission (NSTPRSC 2007)
|
From page 38... ...
This topic is examined in detail in the section of Chapter 3 on distributions of burdens and benefits. TAXONOMY OF TRANSPORTATION FUNDING APPROACHES The revenue raised for surface transportation comes from a variety of transportation and nontransportation sources, ranging from vehicle registration fees and weight-based fees to property and sales taxes.
|
From page 39... ...
• Tolling, pricing, fares, and other user fees: – Tolling and congestion pricing, – Vehicle miles traveled fees, and – Transit fares and other fees. • General revenue sources: – Income taxes, – Property taxes, and – General sales taxes.
|
From page 40... ...
At the federal level, the excise tax on motor fuels is one of the principal sources of funding for capital investments in public transit. About 16 percent of federal highway user excise taxes are deposited into the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund and are used to support the programs of the Federal Transit Administration (GAO 2006)
|
From page 41... ...
It is, therefore, an indirect user fee and so may not always be perceived by users as a fee for service. Motor Vehicle Taxes and Fees Motor vehicle taxes and fees levied by states include vehicle registration, license, and title fees; personal property taxes on vehicles; and excise taxes on vehicle sales.
|
From page 42... ...
Tolling and Congestion Pricing Currently, there are approximately 5,100 miles of tolled roads, bridges, and tunnels in the United States, with 101 tolled facilities operated by 85 different regional, state, and local agencies or entities (NGA Center for Best Practices 2008)
|
From page 43... ...
to begin paying for a replacement bridge.2 HOT and Express Toll Lanes HOT lanes are tolled lanes operating alongside existing highway lanes that provide users with a faster and more predictable travel option in return for payment of a toll.3 Some vehicles, such as carpools, buses, and emergency vehicles, typically have free access to HOT lanes; other vehicles pay for access. Nearly all U.S.
|
From page 44... ...
Altshuler (2010) characterizes existing HOT lanes in the United States as a weak variant of congestion pricing: although they do charge for travel during congested periods and thus are intended to manage congestion through pricing, there is always an unpriced route available in the corridor, giving travelers the option of paying more for faster service or tolerating congestion at no incremental cost.
|
From page 45... ...
More recently, the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission recommended commencing the transition to a comprehensive mileagebased user fee system for deployment by 2020 (NSTIFC 2009)
|
From page 46... ...
Although these sources represent opportunities for agencies to generate some additional resources, their revenue-generating potential is limited; public transit is subsidized precisely because systems cannot function on operating income alone. Significantly increasing transit fares would both drive away customers and raise equity concerns because tran 5 The weight–distance tax is also called a ton-mile tax, and occasionally a highway use tax.
|
From page 47... ...
Transit fares and other operating revenues account for approximately 30 percent of the total revenues used for transit expenditures at all levels of government (Cambridge Systematics, Inc., et al. 2006; NSTPRSC 2007; National Transit Database 2008)
|
From page 48... ...
. Other examples of local-option sales taxes for highway investments and transit are provided by Cambridge Systematics, Inc., et al.
|
From page 49... ...
Tolls are often, but not always, the revenue source. In many cases, PPPs are a way of using privatesector borrowing capacity to raise revenue up front, to be paid back later by a stream of dedicated funds from gas taxes, tolls, transit fares, or parking fees.
|
From page 50... ...
The gas tax, for example, is levied on fuel distributors, who then include some or all of it in the price they charge fuel retailers. If these retailers can shift the tax onto motorists, then the distribution of the resulting burdens among the latter is what should really matter for an equity analysis.
|
From page 51... ...
• Revenues for public transit in the United States come from fares and federal, state, and local sources. Local sources predominate, although the federal motor fuel tax is an important source of funding for capi tal investments in public transit.
|
From page 52... ...
It is this ultimate distribution that determines the equity implications of transportation finance mechanisms. REFERENCES Abbreviations FHWA Federal Highway Administration GAO Government Accountability Office NGA National Governors Association NSTIFC National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission NSTPRSC National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission TRB Transportation Research Board Altshuler, A
|
From page 53... ...
In Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1833, Transporta tion Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., pp.
|
From page 54... ...
Presentation to Committee on Equity Implications of Evolving Transportation Finance Mechanisms, Washington, D.C., September 2. Taylor, B
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.