Policy Proposals
- Limit the highway program to highways and focus on programs that are truly national in nature.
- Reduce the federal role in transit funding and devolve control for most of the National Highway System to the states.
- Unburden infrastructure from mandates and regulations, such as the Davis-Bacon Act.
Quick Facts
- The latest highway bill diverted nearly 30 percent of authorized spending allocations to programs that are unrelated to highway construction.
- Federal subsidies for construction have led to large cost inflation. Rail projects that received federal funding between 1980 and 2015 generally exhibited cost overruns between 40 percent and 50 percent.
- Currently, state and local governments cover 98 percent of highway operations and maintenance costs.
How to Talk About Infrastructure
Ownership and Jurisdiction
- The vast majority of transportation infrastructure assets are owned, operated, and maintained by state and local governments, businesses, and individuals.
- Excessive federal involvement has led to inefficiencies, delays, and waste, rather than superior infrastructure for our nation.
Local Decision Making and Control
- Infrastructure decisions should be made at a local or state level or by the private sector, each of which is more accountable to the public and knows their community’s transportation needs better than Washington.
Those Who Pay Should Benefit
- Specific transportation infrastructure funds should not be diverted to other unrelated programs. Highway motorists should not have to subsidize urban transit or bike paths.
Articles:
- House Transit Bill Is an Expressway to More Debt and Centralized Power in Washington
- How to Improve America’s Ports
- Mass Transit Is Making Gridlock Worse
- Why Pelosi’s Infrastructure Plan Is the Wrong Way Forward
- How Trump Can Get a Better Deal on Infrastructure
- Why Federal Highway Policy Is a Speed Bump Slowing Down Better Roads
- Yes to Infrastructure, but Not If It Means $2 Trillion in New Debt
