Spending on passenger and freight transport. exceeds $1 trillion annually, representing 11% of the nation's GDP. This report provides info. on: the public and private funding for surface transport. research, the transport. community's view on the Fed. role for such research and the Dept. of Transport's. ability to fulfill that role, and the issues that the transport. community believes the Congress and the Dept. should consider during the reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transport. Efficiency Act of 1991, which covers highways, mass transit, and railroads.

Future federal role for surface transportation : hearing before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, second session, June 25, 2008.

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.

The nation¿s economic vitality and the quality of life depend on the availability, dependability, and security of its surface transportation (ST) network of roads, railways, ports, and transit systems. For the past several decades, demand has outpaced the capacity of the ST system. Furthermore, fed. ST programs are not effectively addressing key challenges, such as congestion, or ensuring that transportation dollars are well spent. This report: (1) identifies key themes emphasized in proposals by stakeholders, incl. assoc. and research org., for restructuring and funding ST programs; and (2) discusses the extent to which various recommendations align with principles developed for evaluating proposals to restructure and fund ST programs. Illus.