Paying for Transportation

A new report written by Steve Jackson of the NC Budget and Tax Center presents an elegant summary of how North Carolina finances its transportation infrastructure and outlines several reforms that would deliver valuable economic and environmental benefits.

From the report At the Crossroads:

It is time to stop business-as usual when it comes to transportation funding. The three major foci of transportation policy – revenues, expenditure priorities and the Department of Transportation – are all in need of serious overhaul.

[snip]

Minor changes at the margins of these three elements will not solve the structural problems .... This crisis demands a comprehensive new approach that transitions to a new revenue system based around vehicle-miles taxation, locates road building and maintenance schedules within a larger plan that promotes greater public-transit use and anti-sprawl land-use planning, and a nimble, efficient and accountable DOT.