Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects (2009) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 12-24
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Summary During the 1990s, capacity constraints became evident in parts of the U.S. freight transportation system, the consequence of economic and population growth and changing patterns of domestic and global commerce.
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2 Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects The recession that began in December 2007 sharply reduced traffic and congestion and altered the outlook for traffic growth. These events have not reduced the relevance of transportation finance reform.
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Summary 3 congestion, and accidents. Proposed alterations in established government responsibilities should be evaluated carefully and the risks weighed against the possible benefits.
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4 Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects Forms of Government Intervention • Once the determination ismade that government involvement (at the federal, state, or local level) is required, it is necessary to search for the most cost-effective action, considering public investment as well as other forms of intervention.
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Summary 5 the public. The criterion for judging the arrangements was the impact on the performance of the freight transportation system.
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6 Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects sion; and security requirements, especially at ports and land border crossings, impose new costs and administrative bottlenecks.
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Summary 7 RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Guidelines for Federal Assistance to Freight Infrastructure Development Federal programs to assist in the development of freight infrastructure should adhere to the guidelines listed below.
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8 Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects Legislation establishing federal assistance programs should direct the administration of the programs by defining project evaluation criteria rather than by identifying projects to receive aid. Project earmarking in federal transportation assistance programs that circumvents executive agency evaluation weakens the effectiveness of those programs.
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Summary 9 and Regional Significance program ($1.8 billion over 5 years)
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10 Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects • Economic justification: Standardized requirements should be defined for demonstrating economic justification of the project in applications for aid through the program. Applicants would present their own evaluation, to be reviewed by the U.S.
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Summary 11 Tax-Exempt Bond Finance To encourage private-sector participation in provision of freight infrastructure, the tax laws should be neutral with respect to private versus public management and finance of the kinds of facilities that commonly are built by the public sector. Neutralizing this bias fully would require adjusting or eliminating the caps in federal law on the volume of private activity bonds thatmaybe issued for highways andother specific categories of projects.
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12 Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects Promote user charges with incentives. Federal assistance to freight infrastructure projects should include incentives to encourage transportation facility operators to undertake usercharge funding and to establish organizational arrangements for setting charges and providing facilities.
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Summary 13 transportation system and to identify sources of inefficiency. Monitoring should measure performance in physical and in economic terms.
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