The Deteriorating Surface Transportation System

Funding for surface transportation in the United States has evolved over time. The Highway Trust Fund was created in 1956. It established a dedicated source of funds to construct a national system of highways and other roads. Since that time, user fees have been the primary funding source for highway and transit program across the country. Mass transit systems will become more crowded and require maintenance and increases in capacity. Without new tools to solve the various challenges, the situation will continue to worsen. The lack of adequate funding to maintain the surface transportation infrastructure in the United States has implications on the highway infrastructure. Inevitably, it has contributed to the detrimental financial impact on our society because maintenance costs are increased, bridges and roads failed, and delivery timeframes for goods and services are negatively affected.

This paper will discuss the current lack of adequate funding for surface transportation, the impact on the transportation system itself, and the resulting impact on society. Potential solutions will be explored.