Highway Trust Fund: Federal Highway Administration Should Develop and Apply Criteria to Assess How Pilot Projects Could Inform Expanded Use of Mileage Fee Systems

Since 2007, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that Congress needs to pass a long-term, sustainable funding solution for maintaining the nation’s highways. Existing revenue sources—including fuel taxes—for surface transportation have eroded, contributing to the transfer of over $270 billion in general revenues to the Highway Trust Fund between 2008 and 2021. In 2015, the Department of Transportation (DOT) was required by statute to establish the Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA) program to provide grants to states to explore the feasibility of user-based alternative funding mechanisms, such as mileage fees systems, where drivers would pay fees based on their miles driven. This report examines how states have used STSFA funding and assesses the extent to which the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) followed leading practices when designing and evaluating the STSFA program, among other objectives. GAO reviewed relevant statutes and reports on STSFA-funded activities; surveyed 50 states and the District of Columbia; reviewed FHWA annual reports and evaluations of the state pilots; compared FHWA actions with GAO’s leading practices for designing and evaluating pilot programs; and interviewed FHWA officials and all states awarded STSFA grants from fiscal years 2016 through 2019. GAO recommends that FHWA develop and apply criteria to assess the scalability of the STSFA pilot projects. DOT concurred with the recommendation.

• Record URL:
  https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104299.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104299-highlights.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  U.S. Government Accountability Office

  441 G Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20548
• Publication Date: 2022-1-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 44p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Financing; Mileage-based user fees; Pilot studies; State departments of transportation
• Identifier Terms: Highway Trust Fund; U.S. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01833333
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: GAO-22-104299
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 21 2022 4:47PM