Understanding Public Perceptions of Different Options to Fund the Highway System
The purpose of this research was to generate an understanding of the public perceptions of different revenue generation systems that are already in use or that have the potential to be used in the future, and to educate the public on the different revenue generation systems. In addition, this study tested a number of hypotheses that were focused on finding relationships (correlations) between the choice of funding options to support the highway system in the United States and the demographic information. A survey method was used to explore this topic. The survey instrument was sent to 15,945 people representing five states: Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming (Mountain-Plains Consortium states) via mail. Only 1,190 surveys were received, 27 were eliminated due to various issues, and 1,163 were posted as completed surveys, resulting in a response rate of 7.30%. Data analysis of the results consisted of performing descriptive and inferential statistics and running chi-square tests for correlation analysis. The results of this survey indicate that the public in the states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming selected “increasing the federal gas tax that is collected at the time of purchase” as its first choice of funding option. The support for the use of highway tolling to fund the highway system was somewhat moderate among the population across the five states. The collection of additional sales taxes on all goods to fund the highway system was an unpopular funding mechanism among the population in the five states. Similarly, the support for the use of mileage-based user fees was disliked among the population in the five states. This research is significant, as few studies have been done on understanding the public perceptions of different options to fund highway systems. Furthermore, the findings of this survey could be used by the lawmakers in the five states under study to make better decisions with respect to the alternative options of funding the highway system in their state based on the general public’s perceptions in the state. Future research could be aimed to study the impact of the utilized option on each state with regard to its social, economic, and behavioral issues that could result from its implementation.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
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Corporate Authors:
Colorado State University, Fort Collins
Department of Construction Management
Fort Collins, CO United States 80523-1584Colorado State University, Fort Collins
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Fort Collins, CO United States 80525 North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND United States 58108Research and Innovative Technology Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Authors:
- Albeiruti, Nasser T
- Ozbek, Mehmet E
- Atadero, Rebecca A
- Publication Date: 2015-12
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 181p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Demographics; Financing; Fuel taxes; Highway user taxation; Mileage-based user fees; Public opinion; Sales tax; Surveys; Tolls
- Geographic Terms: Colorado; North Dakota; South Dakota; Utah; Wyoming
- Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Planning and Forecasting;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01593703
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: MPC 15-300
- Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, RITA, ATRI, USDOT
- Created Date: Mar 16 2016 9:35AM