The Highway Account (HA) within the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is the principal means for funding fed. highway programs. It channels about $33 billion in highway user excise taxes annually to states for highway and related spending. Estimated outlays from the HA exceeded estimated receipts throughout the authorization period -- FY 2005 through 2009. Furthermore, actual HA receipts were lower than had been estimated and the HA balance dropped more rapidly than anticipated, approaching zero in Aug. 2008. This statement summarizes work on: (1) the collection and distribution process for the HA of the HTF; (2) options for improving long-term sustainability of the HTF; and (3) mechanisms to help manage HA solvency. Figures.

Highway Trust Fund: Options for Improving Sustainability and Mechanisms to Manage Solvency

The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) was created in 1956 to finance the construction of the Interstate Highway System. The 2005 SAFETEA-LU Act authorized $244.1 billion over 5 years for highways, highway safety, and public transport. In addition to authorizing funds for construction and maint. of highways and bridges, the act specifies other purposes for which funding may be used, including safety; metro. planning; transit; and transport. enhancement activities, such as trails for transport. purposes, pedestrian walkways, bicycle lanes and parking, and related projects. This report provides info. on the amount of HTF monies the DoT agencies obligated for purposes other than construction and maint. of highways and bridges during fiscal years 2004-08.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

This report from the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, sets out requirements for travel time reliability within a performance-based planning process. The research includes an effort to determine the economic value of improvements in travel time reliability by applying options theory from the financial sector. The report includes two succinct tables that describe requirements for person and freight trips for reliable transport, as well as a forecast of the year 2030 under alternative assumptions that may influence travel time reliability.