Highway Trust Fund: Pilot Program Could Help Determine Viability of Mileage Fees for Certain Vehicles
This 2012 Government Accountability Office study examines: 1) the benefits and challenges of mileage fee initiatives in the United States and other selected nations; 2) mileage fee rates necessary to replace and supplement current Highway Trust Fund revenues and the effect these fees would have on users' costs; and 3) state DOTs' views on future revenue demands and mileage fees.
Using Pricing to Reduce Traffic Congestion
This March 2009 study was prepared for the Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget by the Congressional Budget Office. The study does not make recommendations but explains how congestion pricing works, reviews the best available evidence on projects that make use of such pricing in order to assess the benefits and challenges of the approach, and discusses federal policy options for encouraging congestion pricing.
Reducing Congestion: Congestion Pricing Has Promise for Improving Use of Transportation Infrastructure
In this 2003 statement for the record to the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, the U.S. General Accounting Office identifies two major items related to congestion pricing. The first major item addresses potential benefits that can be expected from pricing congested transportation systems, approaches to using congestion pricing in transportation systems and the implementation challenges that pricing policies pose. Secondly, the document provides examples of projects in which pricing has been applied to date, and what these examples reveal about potential benefits or challenges to implementation.
Toll Roads: A Review of Recent Experience
Completed in February 1997, this Congressional Budget Office (CBO) memorandum describes efforts to develop new toll roads by state and local agencies and the private sector. The memorandum includes an overview of federal-aid highway program and toll-road policies, toll road projects in the 1990s, benefits of toll-financed roads, and obstacles to toll-financed roads. Specific toll road projects described in this document include: State Route 91 Express Lanes, toll roads in Orange County, President George Bush Turnpike, Minnesota Trunk Highway 212, public-private toll projects, and the Dulles Greenway.
Alternative Approaches to Funding Highways
At the request of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, the Congressional Budget Office prepared this March 2011 report on alternative approaches to funding highways. The report examines a broad range of alternatives for federal funding of highways, focusing on fuel taxes and on other taxes that could be assessed on the basis of number of miles that vehicles travel. Equity, efficiency, and privacy issues are also assessed.
Paying Our Way: Report of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission
This February 2009 report by the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission offers specific recommendations for addressing the significant and widening gap between federal investment and the nation's transportation infrastructure needs. With the expected shift to more fuel efficient vehicles, recommendations are also offered to help move the federal government away from reliance on motor fuel taxes toward more direct fees charged to transportation infrastructure users including freight-related charges, tolling, and mileage-based user fees.
Transportation for Tomorrow: Report of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission
"Transportation for Tomorrow" is a study of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission published December 2007. It attempts to chart a course with the goal to create and sustain a best-in-class surface transportation system. The report explains what defines a best-in-class surface transportation system and outlines future surface transportation investment requirements between 2010 and 2025 and post-2025 era. Consequences of inaction and recommendations to reform institutions and programs are also discussed in detail.
